what they originally thought felt like a little head was actually a little bum…
Pregnancy & Birth
What, no labour?
The hardest part about the discovery of William’s position was how quickly and significantly my entire birth plan changed. I was scheduled to see a consultant the day after my scan specializing in breach births. Right after exchanging pleasantries we stepped across the hall for a quick check on the position so she knew where everything was sitting. She confirmed his breach position and asked if I had already scheduled my caesarean. My confusion and the fact that my heart was falling must have been written all over my face because she immediately stopped what she was doing realized that we were not alone in the room and suggested that we return to her office to have a chat. Once we were alone, she explained that with the position of William and the fact that I had already had a caesarean it was the hospitals policy to schedule a caesarean. I cried. I think I caught my consultant off guard but she had tissues right away and very kindly asked what was upsetting me. I explained how much I had wanted to have, and had been preparing for a VBAC. On top of my own desire to have a VBAC it somehow made it harder to turn my mind to a caesarean after all of the positive promotion of a VBAC from all of the midwives and a good deal of negative information about having another caesarean at the VBAC workshop.
Smoke signals, bouncing balls
and head rushes
After I (begrudgingly) scheduled my caesarean section for 15 January, the week before my due date, my consultant reassured me that if baby turned “right-way round” the caesarean would simply not go forward and I would be allowed to wait for labour and have a VBAC as I had hoped for and planned. In an attempt to help me get any sense of control back, she provided me with a worksheet of things I could try to encourage baby to turn around. They seemed a bit like old wives tales and long shots at best, but I wasn’t about to give up, sit back and do nothing. I watched T.V. upside down with my hips and legs up on the couch and my blood-filled head on a pillow on the floor. I would lightly bounce and swivel on my swiss ball while watching movies to pass the time. But by far the strangest, and most unpleasant one of the suggestions was also the one that my consultant and the research suggested had the highest probability of success.
I went directly from my consultation to the local alternative medicine shop and picked up two sticks of Mugwort, also known as moxibustion. They looked a bit like Churchill cigars and absolutely stunk but I wasn’t to be deterred. That night after putting Chris to bed, I took all my supplies into the bathroom (to avoid the smell wafting through the whole house) and set myself up. I lit one end of each stick and placed them as close as I could to my baby toes without burning myself, I set the timer for 15 minutes and waited. I didn’t have to wait long. About 30 seconds in, William was moving around like he was trying to get out right then and there and he didn’t slow down much while the sticks were lit. It was doing what I was promised but unfortunately I stunk like the smoke until I took a shower and I had to keep my eyes closed, as the smoke would burn my eyes if I left them open, even with the fan on.
Despite my best efforts William decided in the end to stay put. So my scheduled caesarean date arrived and Bryan and I went to the hospital early in the morning to be prepped for the surgery. It was so different the second time around. I was calmly introduced to everyone who would be in the theatre with us and what each of the team members would be doing during the surgery. Having an opportunity to speak with the team before hand did allow me to feel like I was an active participant in the process as opposed to the previous surgery, which was a blur of activity. I also made sure that skin-to-skin contact would be possible right away. With Christopher, it was almost 15 minutes before I was able to hold him, but William was placed on my chest moments after he was out and while they began to stitch me up. It was not what I had planned but once William was lying on my chest I remembered that VBAC or caesarean it really didn’t matter – we were all healthy and all together and that was good.