The big day is officially scheduled!

Thursday, November 5th sounds like a lovely birthday, no?

11:30 am it is :)

I cannot wait to meet her.

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Belly Laughs.

I love my baby's feetsies.
I've been able to feel her feet clearly from the outside for a while now, but within the past few days the kicks and pushes have gotten so strong and her movements have become so much like those of an outside baby. When she's moving around I can feel her little heel and her toes. Sometimes she lets me hold onto her foot and shake it around, other times she pulls it back right away. Although I've always felt connected to her an emotional level, having a full-sized baby in there has really made me feel so much more connected to her. Sure, having a good sized kid in there is horribly uncomfortable, but it has helped reality set in that we are really truly having a baby.
I think it is true that I am going to miss this. I am going to miss the moments where one of her little foot wiggles makes me spontaneously giggle and it's just between the two of us.

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Crazy day yesterday!

So, sorry for the lack of picture and update last night, it turned out to be a very very busy day.
My department ended up throwing a surprise baby shower for me at lunchtime. Although baby showers are pretty much the norm around here, It was still a huge surprise because one of my co-workers got in touch with Bob and he came to the shower! It was so weird to see him in my office. It was very nice, and we received a ton of stuff that remained from our registry, plus a gift card. A co-worker/friend also made us a gorgeous baby blanket. I love home-made stuff!!
After that, I had to pull a few work things together and then it was time for the doc's office. News was pretty much as expected, she is still not head down. Considering the fact that I am well aware of where her noggin is, I was not shocked and did not get upset at all. Good news is- fluid looks good and although the cord is near her head, it is not tightly wrapped around her neck, there is plenty of space/fluid between her and the cord. He then took the measurements in order to get the weight estimate. Apparently she is a pretty good sized lady. She is measuring in the 61st percentile and is guesstimated to weigh 6 lb 9 oz already. Considering the fact that I am 5'2, this is a pretty big baby to have in there. No wonder I'm so uncomfortable!
Anyway, after checking all this stuff out, my doc said that considering her size, frank breech position, and cord location, I would not be a good external version candidate. Although I was not going to do the version anyway, I am glad to know that I am not going to have to play the "coulda shoulda woulda" game after the c-section. I just know that this is the only way to go, and go that way we will.
So, the office is working on scheduling my c-section today. Assuming there is room for me in the L&D schedule, Nov. 5th will be the big day. Yes, that is less than 3 weeks away. I am so freaking excited. I have no idea how I am supposed to concentrate on anything else over the next 3 weeks!!

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36 weeks.

And with that, I have officially reached whale status.

I have no idea what I am going to wear for these last couple of weeks at work. I am fighting all day to keep my shirt down over my belly. I also have acquired at least 4 small chocolate stains on my white shirt today. Oh well. I couldn't care less what I look like right now.

Picture to come this evening.

Also, I just audibly said "OW!" outloud during a meeting when one of the baby's tootsies decided to attempt to try to pry my ribs apart. When people discussed uncomfortableness at the end of pregnancy, I had no idea that a majority of that discomfort was due to the fact that movement becomes absolutely painful. Not just occaisionally, but consistently painful! I miss the movement around 26 weeks that was so strong and intense, but still fun and painless.

Anyway, ultrasound, GBS test, and internal today. I can't wait to find out how big he thinks she is!

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My foray into acupuncture.

So, tomorrow is the final attempt we will make in operation flippy baby. Last week I had chiropractics on Monday, Acupuncture on Wednesday, then Chiro again on Friday. I told him last week that I was going to give it two more attempts this week before my ultrasound on Thursday. So, on Monday we did both Chiro and acupuncture and tomorrow we will do the same. Although it has been an interesting experience, so far, it has been completely and utterly fruitless.
Although there has been some pretty grandiose movement over the last week, she clearly is still sitting straight up and down. Every night I hope that she flips while I'm sleeping. And yet, every morning, while eating my cereal, I see and feel a bony little noggin push out right up towards my ribs as if to say "Hi Mom, I'm still here!".
As for the acupuncture itself, it is pretty cool. Before pregnancy, I was rather skeeved out by needles, and to be honest, acupuncture scared the crap out of me. However, after getting stuck by a zillion needles for blood draws up until this point and the zillion more that are to come, I have gotten a lot more used to the idea and they bother me very little now. I had always heard that the needles don't hurt at all. I never could believe this, after all, it is a needle going into the skin, how could that not hurt?? Well, I am here to say, it doesn't hurt AT ALL. It's not even a pinch, or pain so negligible it is almost nothing. There is straight up no pain. Have you ever stuck a needle into a pin cushion, and felt the slight tension or push back you get from the cushion? Obviously, the pin cushion doesn't feel any pain because it is inanimate. However, somehow, that is exactly what it feels like. You just can feel the tension of the needle going in, but that is all. Very interesting stuff! So, basically the acupuncture process includes just 4 needles. One goes in on the top side of each arm near the wrist, and one on the upper side of each foot. Then, he proceeds to burn a stick of moxa (an herb) over the pinky toe. He basically holds it over one side until it gets too hot, then switches to the other.
So, even if we don't get a head-down baby, at least I've had an interesting life experience. As for the chiropractics, that has totally helped with my back pain. I'm going to go once a week for the last few weeks of the pregnancy just to keep things aligned. I've totally noticed an improvement. I always was highly skeptical of chiropractics, but I am now a believer.
As of now, I am quite certain we are going to be scheduling a c-section on Thursday. During this past week, I really have come to terms with it, and I have found myself focusing more on the positive aspects. Most of all, I think it will be great to have a set date to look forward to. Since the doc will likely want to do the c-section at 39 weeks, that means that I am very likely just about 3 weeks from having a baby. Even though this pregnancy has seemed to drag on, the fact that I am going to be a Mom so very soon is mind-blowing.

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Geriatric time.

Sorry for the lack of blogging this last week. To make a long story short, I am a cranky, very pregnant woman with a large head still wedged in my ribs. I'm quite certain she's actually bruised something in there, as it hurts in a very specific spot any time I move a certain way. Fun times. I also can't roll over in the middle of the night without flailing around like a turtle on it's back for about 15 minutes first. Trying to roll over with no ab muscles left to speak of and the equivelent of a ~6 pound weight on your stomach is not so easy. I am sure Bob is just loving it. That said, I did have a pretty good week. We went to the Phillies game (Div playoff game #2) on Thursday. Although they lost, we had some of the last seats on the 3rd baseline, in a seat where there was NO ONE to my left. Just Bob and I in the row.(400 level- you don't get to pick your seats in the postseason). It was an absolutely beautiful day and we had a really nice time. I spent the rest of my nights keeping busy- including 3 appointments with the chiro/acupuncturist. I'm going to write more on that topic tomorrow, pretty interesting stuff!
In the meantime, it hit me this week that I really, really needed a lapdesk for bed. Sitting propped up in bed is really the only way I am comfortable. We skipped off to Bed Bath and Beyond and acquired it yesterday. Let me just say, I feel like a nursing home patient with it, and I love it. I was able to sit there yesterday and pay bills, write all my thank you notes, and do a little work. Bob has dubbed it "command central". It has slots in the side for all my stuff. Now if only I can get a bed pan.

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Chiropractor/acupuncturist consultation

Ok, so I realize I posted yesterday that I'm not going to post about having a breech baby. How silly of me. I know a lot of people are interested in the acupuncture and chiropractic stuff, so I am definitely going to write about it! Just no more sad breech baby posts. Just moving onward and upward with a positive attitude.
So anyway, I met with the chiro/acupuncturist today. The good news is, he looked at my pelvis, and instantly saw what very likely may be the issue. Apparently, the right side of my pelvis has shifted upwards with pregnancy, making my right leg about a half an inch shorter than my left. Funny thing is, I've definitely noticed this when walking! It always feels like my left foot is pressing further into my ground than my right. Who knew I was right! Apparently there is a medical reason for my waddle, and hopefully we can fix it and get this baby to turn!
We talked about all of the options and I pretty much decided to try a combo of chiro, moxibustion (that's the plant being burned over the tootsies) and acupuncture, on a rather rigorous schedule. He said that we can try the chiropractics, and if my pelvis realigns and she STILL doesn’t flip, we will work only on the acupuncture techniques moving forward. So, Monday= Chiro, Tuesday= Acupuncture, Wednesday= Chiro again. Then we’ll go from there. I am praying this works quickly and I’ll only need a week of treatment. If not, I’m willing to try until 37 weeks (3 weeks total). At that point, I will be done.
He didn’t have exact success rates for me but said he has FAR more people end up with head-down babies than those who stay breech. I am really optimistic after talking to him. Let’s hope this works!!

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5 minutes of false hope.

Today, at my Dr.'s appointment, my OB felt my belly and said that he would have guessed head-down if I hadn't of told him I thought she was still breech. Since I am off to the chiropractor/acupuncturist tomorrow, he wanted to do a super quick ultrasound to check the baby's position before I paid for a consultation or treatment. Even though I knew in my heart of hearts that she was still breech, I started to let myself picture what would it would be like to actually have a head-down baby. I thought about coming on here and writing a happy post entitled something along the lines of "head down baby!".
Well, not so much. Doc put the wand at the top of my belly, and there it was. A beautiful little cranium. Sigh.
Bob and I went for a tour of the L&D unit on Tuesday. The hospital is so nice, and the delivery rooms are unbelievably enormous. As we stood in the room, listening to the tour guide tell us about the process and policies around labor and delivery, I realized how utterly and completely sad I am that there is a very good chance that I am never going to get to experience labor and delivery the "old fashioned way". I have no idea why, but seeing the giant blue foam leg holders/stirrups folded underneath the hospital bed just made me so sad. I realized that night that there is a good chance I'm never going to get to have a baby placed on my stomach while she has her first cries. Or that I'm never going to get to have the experience of bonding with my Husband as he helps me through labor. Although I know people have successful VBACs every day, I'm not one for risk, and I know that if I have a c-section with this baby, I'm going to have one for all future babies.
Even though there still is a chance she could flip, and I hope these measures do the trick, I can't help but feel stuck in a terrible sense of limbo. I don't even want to waste my time thinking about a vaginal birth, only to have my hopes shattered later on. If I start to think about what I'd like on my labor Ipod playlist, I push it out of my mind- obviously music is not allowed in the OR. I also can't help but feel this incredible sense of jealousy towards people with head-down babies. Why did it come so easily for them, and not me? Am I doing something wrong?
I know there are a million concerns 3000xs more severe than having a breech baby and therefore a c-section. Heck, I could end up needing a c-section in the end anyway. This is the last post I'm writing about this topic until I have a final verdict around 37 weeks. I don't really buy the "Law of Attraction", but if there is some truth to it, I am breaking every rule. It's time for me to focus on the positive, and be happy tthat I live in a country with doctors that know how to provide the appropriate care for my baby and I, and keep us both safe. I know that in the end when I have her, I'm not going to care how she got here. It is time to focus on that.

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International Communication Fail.

Today, I was on a call with the IT Help Desk which is (of course) in India. As I rattled off the characters of my computer name, I started normally. "B as in boy 1, 7, C as in Charilie.." etc. Then it all went downhill. "P as in.. (mind goes blank as I search my brain for a non-body part word that starts with P)..ummm, Punxsutawney".

Yes, because I am sure busting out the obscure name of Groundhog Phil's hometown is really going to help this lady decipher "P" from "B".

Apparently my international business degree has failed me.

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