Nothing fits. I’m 48 days away from my due date and I’ve had to put aside most of my maternity clothes. I cannot bear the feeling of my waistband or button irritating my lower belly. I don’t think it’s fair to poke me somewhere I can’t see. Now I just need a friend to get pregnant so I can start handing off all my cute maternity stuff, shortly to be followed by lots of adorable baby gear. I’ll probably save a few very favorite kiddie outfits just in case China ever happens, but we’re shutting down baby making in the St. Boggess household — surgically, so no backsies. There was a time I thought I’d never have one baby, much less two. I’m grateful for all the hard work my body has done and have no reservations about sending my uterus into honorable retirement.
Bad news is bebeh is breech. I’m going to pursue all reasonable avenues to get him turned around. That, for me, is acupuncture (moxibustion) plus any other home remedies that are a) free and b) painless. I’ll at least consider a version if nothing else works, but I already know I’m not a great candidate. I’m both short and narrowly built, so not a lot of room to maneuver. We had a frank breech on ultrasound last week, but I know sometimes his legs are down — it feels like someone dragging a knuckle down the inside of my belly.
In the meantime, I’m trying to make peace with the possibility of a surgical birth. Trying. It would be such a waste, such a shame. I have a million anxieties about a c-section, most of which you can probably guess. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.
So much more to say, but I just noticed the time. Bed. More later.
jaysaint 
Posted by travellight on August 13, 2009 at 2:48 am
48 days is a long time to make something happen. I could do that chicken bone dance, if you want.
Posted by travellight on August 13, 2009 at 2:48 am
48 days is a long time to make something happen. I could do that chicken bone dance, if you want.
Posted by jaysaint on August 16, 2009 at 2:52 pm
I did say I was up for anything that is free and painless. So if it’s a dance you enjoy…
Posted by travellight on August 18, 2009 at 1:39 am
Well, no, I don’t enjoy it, particularly, but if you need it, I’ll do it.
Posted by raving_liberal on August 13, 2009 at 3:00 am
It’s too early to be worrying about positioning. You’ve still got nearly
six(my math skills fail, nearly seven!) weeks to go. Don’t make peace w/ surgical birth quite yet — affirmations/visualization about the baby turning have actually been shown to increase the odds of baby turning, possibly because they make you subconsciously relax the right muscles. Also, if you’re not going swimming regularly, start, and if you don’t have a birth ball, get one and sit on it (and only it, no squishy sofas!) at home whenever you can.Posted by raving_liberal on August 13, 2009 at 3:00 am
It’s too early to be worrying about positioning. You’ve still got nearly
six(my math skills fail, nearly seven!) weeks to go. Don’t make peace w/ surgical birth quite yet — affirmations/visualization about the baby turning have actually been shown to increase the odds of baby turning, possibly because they make you subconsciously relax the right muscles. Also, if you’re not going swimming regularly, start, and if you don’t have a birth ball, get one and sit on it (and only it, no squishy sofas!) at home whenever you can.Posted by jaysaint on August 16, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Oh, I’m far from surrendering to the idea. I’ve got an acupuncture/moxibustion consult set up. And I’ve got quite the collection of “turn” “spin” and “flip” songs that I’ve been singing to the baby.
But why no squishy sofa? Seriously, that’s breaking my heart. I LIVE for my super-comfy couch these days.
Posted by raving_liberal on August 16, 2009 at 3:29 pm
You want to keep your back straights and your knees level to or below your pelvis, not above it. Bad posture (and squishy sofas, alas, encourage bad posture) is more likely to put/keep a baby breech or posterior. Have you checked out the spinningbabies.com site? They have lots of pointers.
Posted by jaysaint on August 16, 2009 at 3:44 pm
I’m so sad. My poor achy hips love the soft couch and I spend almost all my sitting time with my knees above my pelvis. I always have. I’m never comfortable with my feet on the floor.
I’ll do whatever helps/works. I just don’t want to in this case.
Posted by raving_liberal on August 16, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Try a birth ball. I had serious hip pain and sitting on one of those for a while, rolling my pelvis around, helped so much. Are you doing pelvic rocks? Those not only help w/ the hip pain, but facilitate proper positioning.
If you’ve got to do some squishy couch sitting for your own health, just try to balance it out with some time doing more positioning friendly stuff.
Posted by heathrow on August 13, 2009 at 11:32 am
I have great hopes that you don’t have a breech baby. Having gone through both a c-section and a VBAC, I know that recovery from a c-section isn’t the end of the world. (It’s not exactly fun either!) I’ll add you to my prayers that things work out that the baby gets in line so you don’t have a painful recovery!
Posted by heathrow on August 13, 2009 at 11:32 am
I have great hopes that you don’t have a breech baby. Having gone through both a c-section and a VBAC, I know that recovery from a c-section isn’t the end of the world. (It’s not exactly fun either!) I’ll add you to my prayers that things work out that the baby gets in line so you don’t have a painful recovery!
Posted by jaysaint on August 16, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Thank you!
Posted by lemon_says on August 13, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Like Morgan said, there is still plenty of time for bebeh to turn, and there has been a lot of success with moxibustion. I think it’s good to be aware that you might not get exactly the birth you want, but don’t go ahead and plan on it.
Posted by lemon_says on August 13, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Like Morgan said, there is still plenty of time for bebeh to turn, and there has been a lot of success with moxibustion. I think it’s good to be aware that you might not get exactly the birth you want, but don’t go ahead and plan on it.
Posted by jaysaint on August 16, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Weird. My response to you seems to have vanished. Did you see it? Where did it go, I wonder?
Posted by lemon_says on August 17, 2009 at 7:25 pm
No, I didn’t.
Posted by geobabe1 on August 13, 2009 at 12:58 pm
http://www.spinningbabies.com in case you hadn’t seen it before. But like the others said, there’s still plenty of time for the baby to turn; I’ve heard plenty of stories about babies being breech until seemingly the last minute.
Posted by geobabe1 on August 13, 2009 at 12:58 pm
http://www.spinningbabies.com in case you hadn’t seen it before. But like the others said, there’s still plenty of time for the baby to turn; I’ve heard plenty of stories about babies being breech until seemingly the last minute.
Posted by jaysaint on August 16, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Thanks for the link! I’ve heard about last-minute flippers too. I plan to keep holding out for that until the last possible second.
Posted by steakums on August 14, 2009 at 1:54 am
Not that you’ll need one – ’cause you’re probably not – but a C-Section isn’t the end of the world. It’s a more difficult recovery to be sure – but I bounced back from mine pretty quickly. I’ve done it both ways, so if you get closer and are still concerned that it might go that way, feel free to call.
Posted by steakums on August 14, 2009 at 1:54 am
Not that you’ll need one – ’cause you’re probably not – but a C-Section isn’t the end of the world. It’s a more difficult recovery to be sure – but I bounced back from mine pretty quickly. I’ve done it both ways, so if you get closer and are still concerned that it might go that way, feel free to call.
Posted by jaysaint on August 16, 2009 at 3:05 pm
Thank you. I think you’re right that odds are still on my side. But I will definitely call on you if another three weeks or so go by with no luck.
Posted by jaysaint on August 16, 2009 at 2:52 pm
I did say I was up for anything that is free and painless. So if it’s a dance you enjoy…
Posted by jaysaint on August 16, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Oh, I’m far from surrendering to the idea. I’ve got an acupuncture/moxibustion consult set up. And I’ve got quite the collection of “turn” “spin” and “flip” songs that I’ve been singing to the baby.
But why no squishy sofa? Seriously, that’s breaking my heart. I LIVE for my super-comfy couch these days.
Posted by jaysaint on August 16, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Thank you!
Posted by jaysaint on August 16, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Thanks for the link! I’ve heard about last-minute flippers too. I plan to keep holding out for that until the last possible second.
Posted by jaysaint on August 16, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Weird. My response to you seems to have vanished. Did you see it? Where did it go, I wonder?
Posted by jaysaint on August 16, 2009 at 3:05 pm
Thank you. I think you’re right that odds are still on my side. But I will definitely call on you if another three weeks or so go by with no luck.
Posted by raving_liberal on August 16, 2009 at 3:29 pm
You want to keep your back straights and your knees level to or below your pelvis, not above it. Bad posture (and squishy sofas, alas, encourage bad posture) is more likely to put/keep a baby breech or posterior. Have you checked out the spinningbabies.com site? They have lots of pointers.
Posted by jaysaint on August 16, 2009 at 3:44 pm
I’m so sad. My poor achy hips love the soft couch and I spend almost all my sitting time with my knees above my pelvis. I always have. I’m never comfortable with my feet on the floor.
I’ll do whatever helps/works. I just don’t want to in this case.
Posted by raving_liberal on August 16, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Try a birth ball. I had serious hip pain and sitting on one of those for a while, rolling my pelvis around, helped so much. Are you doing pelvic rocks? Those not only help w/ the hip pain, but facilitate proper positioning.
If you’ve got to do some squishy couch sitting for your own health, just try to balance it out with some time doing more positioning friendly stuff.
Posted by lemon_says on August 17, 2009 at 7:25 pm
No, I didn’t.
Posted by travellight on August 18, 2009 at 1:39 am
Well, no, I don’t enjoy it, particularly, but if you need it, I’ll do it.