Breech Position?

We had another one of our checkups today. It is always a bit scary until you hear that little heart beating away. Music to our ears. We also found out that everything is looking good from the ultrasound except that the baby is in a breech position. He told us that we do not have to be afraid of anything and that most babies turn before being born. I asked him and he indicated that if it was still breeched closer to the due time that he would perform a cesarean section (c-section).

I had heard about this before and knew it was a surgery but what does it really mean and why do babies breech. That is what I am learning about now online as I write this post.

Breech

Parenting iVillage has an article entitled, "Breech Baby: Should You be Concerned." It indicates that, "The vast majority of breech babies are fine. There are, unfortunately, increased risks of problems (abnormalities) in babies that stay breech into the last few months of pregnancy. Therefore, you have some reason to be concerned about your baby's health. Remember, an increased risk does not mean a high risk, just a higher risk than normal. Fortunately, the normal risk is low, so even an increased risk is still low.... About 30 percent or so are breech earlier in pregnancy (16 to 20 weeks), but only about 3 percent are breech at birth. Most do turn around at sometime during the pregnancy, but when they turn around is subject to chance, as far as we can tell. When we see a breech baby later in pregnancy (after 34 weeks), we talk about version. This is the process of turning the baby by pushing on your belly to get it to turn around." Click on the article name above for more information.

Cesarean Section (C-Section)

Baby Center has a great article entitled, "Giving Birth by Cesarean Section."
It indicates that, "A cesarean section, or c-section, is the delivery of a baby through a surgical incision in the mother's abdomen and uterus. In certain circumstances, a c-section is scheduled in advance. In others, it's done in response to an unforeseen complication."
It also answers the following questions:
What is a cesarean section?
Why would I have a planned c-section?
Why would I have an unplanned cesarean delivery?
What happens right before a c-section?
How is a c-section done?

What are your experiences with a breech position or Cesarean Sections?

A Scare with a Happy Ending: Fetal Doppler

Monday started out as one of those days that you hope you never have. We had a scheduled appointment with a specialist that we have been seeing after we lost our first pregnancy. The doctor went over all of our tests and things looked like they were going well. He then decided to use the fetal doppler to check for the baby's heart beat. He was unable to find one. I felt our hearts drop and began to think about what happened last time. Not again, I kept thinking. The doctor called the Ultrasound clinic and unable to get us in for an appointment until Wednesday. He indicated that it was still early and that he did not like to use the fetal doppler. The look on his face did not make me feel any better.

I know that waiting until Wednesday was not going to work, so we went down to the ultrasound clinic to see if we could get in any earlier. The lady at the desk said there may be a cancellation. She new what happened last time and told us that she would call us if something opened up, but could not promise anything. She did call a few hours latter and we did get in, I guess I can not complain about our health care system. I still can't believe that we got in. We went into the clinic scared and not sure what to expect. Well........ as they say a picture is worth a million words:



As you can see things worked out. The baby positioning caused us not to be able to hear the heartbeat when using the fetal doppler. We were able to hear the heartbeat during the ultrasound (music to our ears) but do to the positioning they could not determine if we are having a boy or a girl, only time will tell. Life could not be any better. What are your experiences with fetal dopplers?