We have been waiting patiently and looking forward for our ultrasound & doctor appt on 11/22 (day before thanksgiving) to find out baby's positioning and start to plan for labor/delivery. We got some bad news. Baby was positioned in an "oblique lie" which is very similar to a transverse position, which is also known as breech. Meaning baby was not in my pelvis and there would be no way I could deliver baby vaginally. My doctor said we could wait until Monday (11/27) to see if baby would turn on its own and/or if I could do some "homeopathic" techniques to get baby to go head down. Then on Monday 11/27 she scheduled me for an external cephalic version (link to explain in next blog post), which means the baby will be physically manipulated to flip into the correct positioning. Of course, this procedure comes with many risks, the main one being that Baby does not tolerate the pushing and squeezing and would need to come out in a big hurry (emergency C-section), or the placenta could tear, or I could have issues with it. I will explain more details in the next posting.
Another big thing that changed at 36 weeks is that the blood thinner injectable medication I am taking (safe during pregnancy) changes. At 36 weeks I could go into labor at any point and in order to get an Epidural and/or any complications during delivery, there has to be enough time since the last time I have taken a blood thinner to prevent bleeding in the spine. Since we don't know when I will go into labor they switch me to Heparin blood thinner which is still injected and it is twice per day (morning and night) rather than just nightly. Heparin's half life (meaning how long it takes to get out of my system) is much shorter, typically 4 hours so if I took it in the morning I would still be able to get an Epidural in a decent amount of time, rather than the levonox injections i was on previously lasts for 12 + hours. Thankfully I am a nurse and have experience drawing up medication with a syringe and needle because it is quite the process. The Levonox injections were pre-filled and easy to administer, however the Heparin comes in a little vial and i have to use one needle to draw it up and one needle to give it. Also THANKFULLY my amazing husband gives me the twice daily injections that are very painful in my abdomen. The medication does not burn like the levonox but the needle is a bit bigger and the poke is very uncomfortable. I have yet to give it to myself.
Here are some photos from the last two weeks:
Weekly Photo: 9 months!!
Crazy alien baby photo! This is me laying on the couch and baby moving some body part in my belly. Makes a huge bump on the right. (disregard my ugly stretch marks)
The view from our hotel room in Monterey. We took our baby moon Sunday thru Wednesday.
Jameson enjoying a bellini at breakfast. If I can't drink, he might as well!
Our Surrey ride. It was really fun but a lot of work!
On our way to a sunset sail that ended up being private because no one else had signed up! It was a bit long as there was NO wind! It was absolutely gorgeous though.
Delicious breakfast on our last day. Breakfast burrito for me and "monkey do" pancakes for Jameson.
Adding some giraffe decals to the nursery wall...
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