Breech and transverse baby no more!

Dear Baby P,

You and I are halfway through our 39th week now and I had just been to our doctor last Saturday to have my first IE (internal exam). But before that, I had become an anxious momma because of my worries about your presentation during the earlier weeks of my third trimester.



Photo from SpinningBabies.com



I wasn’t worried when we found out from our congenital anomaly scan that you were in breech presentation at 19 weeks because I knew you still had enough space to move around and turn. I wasn’t too worried either when we found you in transverse presentation during our 4D ultrasound on my 30th week because there was still enough space as assured by the sonographer. Even our doctor told me not to worry when she tried to feel you through my tummy on my 35th week and felt your head resting under my ribcage, and confirmed that you were breech. But it was the 35th week already and for each remaining week that would pass, you would continue to grow bigger and have less space in my uterus.

I was starting to worry because every time you moved, I always felt a hard round thing on the surface of the upper part of my belly. And sometimes, I feel two hard surfaces on both sides which might mean you were transverse. That was when I started doing all the exercises I learned from our Lamaze class and even searched the internet for more ways to turn breech and transverse babies. I religiously did the breech tilt, a position wherein I’m lying on my back with hips raised, and a lot of pillows underneath to make my hips as maximally elevated as possible. I would have wanted to do the knee-chest position and the forward-leaning inversion but my carpal tunnel syndrome would make it hard for me because of the pressure from my shoulders to my wrists. I also did pelvic circles, which is a basic in belly dancing. Your Papa and I also talked to you every day, begging you to turn around.

The most comfortable exercise for me was the breech tilt, although I would often feel like choking and have minor headaches because my elevated hips would make my whole weight push down against my upper body. And to make sure that my breech tilt worked, I would play classical music and have the player closest to my hips.

As I would go back to my relaxed position during bedtime, I would again feel a hard round surface on my upper belly which made me think it was your head. Sometimes, I would still feel two hard surfaces on both sides of my belly which made me think you were transverse. And every day when I’m at work, I could feel your movements in the lower part of my abdomen, making me think they were your feet kicking down. I would sigh with the thought that all my efforts in making you turn around would never work, with the worry that maybe you were really trying to turn around but you couldn’t, probably because of cord coil or anything in my uterus that was preventing you from doing so. And it was never your fault at all. It was during those times when I started to convince myself to accept the possibility of an unavoidable c-section.

The last time our doctor confirmed your breech presentation was on my 35th week, and my next appointment with her would be on my 37th week, and from there my appointments would start to increase from bi-weekly to weekly. It was also on my 37th week when Doc would perform her first IE on me. However, the appointment did not push through because Doc had a patient who was having a delivery. And since I was still alright and stable, our next appointment was moved to my 38th week. I still had another week to do all the tricks to make you turn around. I didn’t want to lose hope because aside from the exercises I religiously did and the daily talking your Papa did to you through the lower part of my belly, I prayed to God every day that you would be in cephalic presentation if it is His will.

My appointment on my 38th week came, and I told Doc that I still felt like you were breech. She touched my upper abdomen and felt the hard surface that we all thought to be your head. Doc became worried so she asked help from a clinic staff to perform a quick ultrasound scan on my belly.

When the staff probed my belly as Doc and your Papa watched the screen, Doc and the staff exclaimed in unison “O, cephalic naman pala eh!” I couldn’t believe what I just heard. I just said “Oh, my God!” in disbelief. Your Papa and I were so happy and I couldn’t stop thanking God in my mind. And then I asked Doc and the clinic staff about what the hard surface was on my upper belly. Doc joked that maybe it was another head (a twin perhaps), but found out that it was just a part of your lower body. The ideal presentation and position for a full-term fetus is cephalic anterior, but I didn’t mind anymore that you were a bit posterior in position as long as you’re already in cephalic presentation!

After the quick scan, it was time for Doc to do the IE. As soon as she started, she told your Papa and me that she felt your head! She found out that I was already almost 2 cm dilated and that my uterus was already effacing, which was a good start. Doc wanted me to deliver as early as possible from then on so that you wouldn’t have to grow bigger and that it wouldn’t be more difficult for you to come out.

Doc finally gave us her admission order form, and advised us to bring our Lamaze certificate to make sure that your Papa would be with me in the delivery room. However, if I would suddenly decide to take any pain relief like the epidural, your Papa would have to leave the room. But as I have really wanted your Papa to witness your birth, I am still pushing for a natural delivery. I have become more determined to discourage myself from taking the epidural because you are now cephalic! I believe God has granted my wish for a pleasant childbirth experience, and it is now all up to me to go with nature or against it. The next thing I’ve been praying for is for your healthy delivery and for my smooth capability to breastfeed you. GOD is good indeed!