I finally finished the baby blanket I've been knitting. Perhaps (please?) just in the nick of time. It's a lovely deep green color (Knitpicks' jalapeno).
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Later, I'm hoping we can pray the famous St. Patrick's Breastplate prayer, from which you might recognize these lines:
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ in breadth, Christ in length, Christ in height,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
When I was younger, I would go all out on St. Patrick's Day, and deck myself out in green and shamrocks. My heritage is more than 50% Irish, which is something I'm fairly proud of. But today, I am ashamed to admit, I accidentally found myself wearing orange :-(
(In my defense, the orange top is one of the few I have left that doesn't leave my big bare belly popping out the bottom.)
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I'm starting to feel a little nervous about my labor. The baby is due on the 25th, but the other two were born about a week early. I had been pretty much expecting the same this time around. But recently, I've had EVERYONE and her mother (ha - literally), reminding me that "third child is the wild card!!" with a big smile on her face. Each of the midwives in the practice, as well as anyone I know who has three or more kids has said this to me. Great.
Plus, this baby is not facing the right way!! He's head-down, thank goodness, but he's looking towards my front instead of my back (the "posterior position"). According to what I've read, this can mean a longer pregnancy, longer labor, and more chances for interventions. Gah! I have visions of going two weeks past my due date, being in labor for 24 hours, and ending up with a C-section. I might be kinda a pessimist.
I've been trying to do inversions to help the baby turn the right way, but so far, no luck. I feel like I'm running out of time here! Any ideas for what else might coax him to turn?
Has anyone else had experience with a posterior baby and natural childbirth?
Orange!! Haha!
ReplyDeleteno advice about the positioning but I will pray.
I love the blanket!
ReplyDeleteOrange?! I'm appalled ;-)
I think Grace (Camp Patton) delivered Theodore "sunny side up" (which I believe is what you're saying). I wouldn't go looking for the birth story, because I remember thinking how awful it sounded BUT she was able to do it without a c-section. So there's that?
haha...you can't tell me "hey there's a birth story about this situation" and then expect me not to go find it!
DeleteI'd have to join the throngs of people who tell you the third baby can be a wild card. My first two were born exactly two weeks early. But not my third one, oh no, that one decided that she was going to hang around until 41 weeks on the nose. Talk about frustrating! She came out facing sideways, because, you know, she just had to be different! Now with our fourth one on the way I figure with 7 1/2 weeks to go until my due date that I have somewhere between 5 1/2-8 1/2 weeks to go.
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ReplyDeleteI sometimes wonder if maybe my latest baby was posterior. I had terrible back pain for several weeks leading up to the birth. I went to 40 wks 1 day (longest gestation by 8 days) and when I did go into labor it took a really long time to progress. Once I finally went to the hospital I was in transition but still not really dilating. My doctor suggested that I labor on all fours for a bit to get the baby in better position. After several contractions like that it was time to push. It may have been that he was in somewhat less than ideal position but still not exactly posterior. I went natural. And I don't always so that should tell you something. And this was my 4th baby; if you're like me you'll just breeze right through your 3 childbirth :)
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of a multipara having to have a c-section for a posterior baby. I think you can relax a little about that one.
ReplyDeleteMy pelvis encourages posterior babies, or so they tell me. I've had 2 (out of 5). The first was my first. The labor was long and excruciating-but she was my first, so it could have had as much to do with that. The second sunny-sider was my 3rd. My labor was really weird, stop-and-go, with serious back pain. Pushing, when we got to it, felt soooo good because it relieved the pain on my back! He still came out in 3 pushes. My husband said he rotated as he crowned. I was too busy pushing to feel it, but he said he could see it. I went all natural and it wasn't really that bad. I think you'll be fine. Rocking back and forth on all fours (so flattering) might help the baby turn, though. It doesn't hurt to try.
Oh man...I keep hearing about the back pain. Thanks for sharing your experiences. It's further motivation for me to try various positions before going into labor to try to get this baby turned around!
DeleteI had a posterior baby that managed to change in early labor. It was a looong stop and go labor, like three days, but I want in agony, you know, and I had periods I could sleep. Just draining mentally. Frustrating. But then she must have turned because all of a sudden things started moving right along and she came out face down. :)
ReplyDeleteMeant to say, I *wasn't in agony. Was not. Lol
DeleteI'm totally unmotivated to cook when my husband won't be home for dinner!
ReplyDeleteAnd that's funny about the third baby. I hadn't heard it before. My third was the craziest of my births. But not posterior.
My baby was sunnyside up and she flipped while I was pushing. It made for a long pushing session (almost 3 hours) but I was completely intervention free and only had a 10 hour labor total. Sending prayers and love!
ReplyDeleteI have heard that third trimester is the time to clean the baseboards throughout the whole house. Crawling around on hands and knees while you clean is supposed to encourage baby into the best position. Good luck, Mama!
ReplyDeleteYeah I also accidentally wore orange on St. Patrick's Day. Although I've got some Ulster Scots, so what can you do.
ReplyDeleteI saw your recent post about your baby turning, so glad! I just had to comment and tell you about my 3rd... my best pregnancy, my best labor! I went to 41 weeks, but that's normal for me. I labored lightly through the night, labored harder from about 4-8am (but not so hard it wasn't tolerable), doctor broke my water and he was born 45 minutes later. It really was a dream labor. I'll pray the same happens for you. :)
ReplyDeleteha - good to finally hear something positive about a 3rd labor! Thanks for the prayers :-)
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