Hi, I'm ShadowLark. I actually posted this in the other thread, but I'll make my own, too. I certainly didn't intend to hijack anything and this is LONG! But I need some help.
Also, if anyone has stats for me, that would be AWESOME! Dh is kind of scared about home birthing, he could use more reassurance than I can. TIA!
You guys have some great advice! I came here with some fears and questions of my own, but I THINK I've found my answer.
Bit of background - I'm 28 1/2 weeks pg, baby is frank breech and keeping sex a surprise (silly cutie), third kid, first homebirth, other two were Hospital vag deliveries. My son (1st baby) was born with IUGR due to a partial placental abruption in the 3rd trimester which NO ONE caught - there was blood in the amniotic fluid but he sailed right through an induction (my water broke, or so I thought. They tested it and came back pos for amniotic fluid but it WASN'T bloody until they broke the rest of my water during labor. Go figure!) with PITOCIN! And yes, I had the Stadol and the epi and the whole crappy, yucky birth experience that generally goes with inductions - the only good part was being able to deliver vaginally. He was 4 lbs 14 oz, (at 37 weeks 2 days), they never did figure out what caused the abruption (it was 5%) and my best guess is that his umbilical cord was on the short end of normal.
My daughter was born 13 1/2 months later. PERFECT pg, TONS more energy than with Boy Boy. They found a "soft marker for Down's" on her heart at the 20 week u/s, so when I read that babies with Down's who are late have a higher than average risk of m/c, I called and asked about it. I'd been begging for an induction and they told me 41 weeks. Well, after my question came up, it was suddenly "you have an induction scheduled". Dude, it was a QUESTION! But who am I to complain, right? (And ftr, late still means late - 42 weeks plus, NOT 40 weeks and a day. And the reason the risk is higher is because babies with DS lay down more calcium and it's calcification of the placenta that causes the aging that leads to failure and dead post-term babies. So 41 weeks would have been FINE, unless a NST said otherwise.) So she was born with back labor (she hadn't dropped yet - oops!) and Pit and NO PAIN MEDS!!!!!!! Yep, I'm still proud. 8 lbs 4 oz 14 inch circ head AND her arm was up and BARELY any tears (up top). Oh - and she doesn't even have Down's! (Which is a blessing, because my boy has ASD and developmental delays and I'm still trying to figure out HIS care.) They're 3 1/2 and 2 1/2 now.
So - on to my concerns. I'm pretty much happy with the fact that baby is frank breech right now. I'm a bit scared of the prospect of baby flipping because I DO have a low lying placenta (it was partial placenta previa but it moved) and I'm worried about the possibility of a short cord. (Within normal limits, but on the short side.) If baby has a shorter cord like I think Boy Boy did (and that will forever remain a guess, btw, because some student reached in and cut the darn thing before he was even out of me all the way! Yes, she got reamed a new one, but we're STILL mad - that was SUPPOSED to be daddy's job, and Boy Boy CLEARLY needed the oxygen!) and baby tries to flip, it could cause another abruption. And Boy Boy got lucky - his clotted off and he was fine. What happens if it's a COMPLETE abruption? I'd rather have a breech baby and have him/her be healthy.
So - baby stays breech. Delivery day comes along. I'm doing a homebirth with my m/w (who needs the experience) and her backup (who's done this sort of thing a hundred times). Cord comes out with baby (not prolapsing, just normally, since the butt comes first) and then it's time to get baby's head past the cervix. The placenta is above the baby and the head is the widest part of the baby's body. Won't getting the head through the cervix cause a cord compression? How would that be avoided? (Is it even possible to avoid it?) What would it do to the baby? I know I can push the baby right through - my girl and boy BOTH slipped right past the cervix with me barely noticing. They were out in 4 pushes, even Girl Girl! So we wouldn't be talking about 20 minutes worth of compression, here, more like two or three. Would that even be enough to matter?
And would the risks of cord compression in a transient situation like that be outweighed by the risks of a C Section? (Which I guarantee would be the ONLY option in a Hospital around here.) And I don't mean an emergency C Section because the compression has been going on for too long. I mean a "we know your baby is breech so how does this date sound" C Section like they'd want me to have? HELP!
Also, if anyone has stats for me, that would be AWESOME! Dh is kind of scared about home birthing, he could use more reassurance than I can. TIA!
You guys have some great advice! I came here with some fears and questions of my own, but I THINK I've found my answer.
Bit of background - I'm 28 1/2 weeks pg, baby is frank breech and keeping sex a surprise (silly cutie), third kid, first homebirth, other two were Hospital vag deliveries. My son (1st baby) was born with IUGR due to a partial placental abruption in the 3rd trimester which NO ONE caught - there was blood in the amniotic fluid but he sailed right through an induction (my water broke, or so I thought. They tested it and came back pos for amniotic fluid but it WASN'T bloody until they broke the rest of my water during labor. Go figure!) with PITOCIN! And yes, I had the Stadol and the epi and the whole crappy, yucky birth experience that generally goes with inductions - the only good part was being able to deliver vaginally. He was 4 lbs 14 oz, (at 37 weeks 2 days), they never did figure out what caused the abruption (it was 5%) and my best guess is that his umbilical cord was on the short end of normal.
My daughter was born 13 1/2 months later. PERFECT pg, TONS more energy than with Boy Boy. They found a "soft marker for Down's" on her heart at the 20 week u/s, so when I read that babies with Down's who are late have a higher than average risk of m/c, I called and asked about it. I'd been begging for an induction and they told me 41 weeks. Well, after my question came up, it was suddenly "you have an induction scheduled". Dude, it was a QUESTION! But who am I to complain, right? (And ftr, late still means late - 42 weeks plus, NOT 40 weeks and a day. And the reason the risk is higher is because babies with DS lay down more calcium and it's calcification of the placenta that causes the aging that leads to failure and dead post-term babies. So 41 weeks would have been FINE, unless a NST said otherwise.) So she was born with back labor (she hadn't dropped yet - oops!) and Pit and NO PAIN MEDS!!!!!!! Yep, I'm still proud. 8 lbs 4 oz 14 inch circ head AND her arm was up and BARELY any tears (up top). Oh - and she doesn't even have Down's! (Which is a blessing, because my boy has ASD and developmental delays and I'm still trying to figure out HIS care.) They're 3 1/2 and 2 1/2 now.
So - on to my concerns. I'm pretty much happy with the fact that baby is frank breech right now. I'm a bit scared of the prospect of baby flipping because I DO have a low lying placenta (it was partial placenta previa but it moved) and I'm worried about the possibility of a short cord. (Within normal limits, but on the short side.) If baby has a shorter cord like I think Boy Boy did (and that will forever remain a guess, btw, because some student reached in and cut the darn thing before he was even out of me all the way! Yes, she got reamed a new one, but we're STILL mad - that was SUPPOSED to be daddy's job, and Boy Boy CLEARLY needed the oxygen!) and baby tries to flip, it could cause another abruption. And Boy Boy got lucky - his clotted off and he was fine. What happens if it's a COMPLETE abruption? I'd rather have a breech baby and have him/her be healthy.
So - baby stays breech. Delivery day comes along. I'm doing a homebirth with my m/w (who needs the experience) and her backup (who's done this sort of thing a hundred times). Cord comes out with baby (not prolapsing, just normally, since the butt comes first) and then it's time to get baby's head past the cervix. The placenta is above the baby and the head is the widest part of the baby's body. Won't getting the head through the cervix cause a cord compression? How would that be avoided? (Is it even possible to avoid it?) What would it do to the baby? I know I can push the baby right through - my girl and boy BOTH slipped right past the cervix with me barely noticing. They were out in 4 pushes, even Girl Girl! So we wouldn't be talking about 20 minutes worth of compression, here, more like two or three. Would that even be enough to matter?
And would the risks of cord compression in a transient situation like that be outweighed by the risks of a C Section? (Which I guarantee would be the ONLY option in a Hospital around here.) And I don't mean an emergency C Section because the compression has been going on for too long. I mean a "we know your baby is breech so how does this date sound" C Section like they'd want me to have? HELP!
