Callie is having a little boy. We are SOOOO excited! We're just anxious to see him.
There's something a little bit different about him, though. He's breech. That means that unlike other babies who are generally sitting with their head at the bottom of the mother's uterus and bum and feet up, he is sitting with his bum at the bottom of the uterus and his head at the top. Breech babies occur in only 3-4% of pregnancies. 7% of women will actually have a breech baby when they go into labor. Therefore, sometimes contractions get the baby to flip to the correct delivery position. There are a few common ways for a breech baby to sit in the uterus.
There's another pretty cute breech presentation that seems the most infrequent. The baby can be kneeling with his or her arms folded. Ha. It looks like the baby's praying. It's cute, but I can't imagine that's very comfortable for the number of months he or she is stuck in that position.
For breech babies, doctors generally recommend a C-section. There are a few reasons why. Hopefully, you can see that the bum and abdomen of a baby folded in half would have a very hard time passing through the birth canal. Okay. That was a HUGE understatement. The baby physically wouldn't fit. Or if it did fit, it would take so long that the baby would likely suffocate before the doctor could deliver the baby.
You may be saying, "Well, what's wrong with coming feet first if he's not folded in half?" Doctors will sometimes deliver that way. It is a rare occurrence, but happens. The risks with that are the the cervix could hang onto the baby's neck making it difficult to get the head out. In that time, the placenta could detach from the uterine wall leaving the baby without oxygen. The doctor also doesn't know what's happening with the umbilical cord while the baby is coming out. The cord could get squished between the baby and the uterus or cervix on the way out, which would again suffocate the baby. The other possibility is that the umbilical cord could be short. If that's the case, as the baby comes out, he or she will pull that placenta with him or her. Again, the placenta is the baby's oxygen source until his or her head is out. So if the placenta comes loose from the uterine wall, the baby will suffocate.
Our baby is Frank breech-- completely folded in half with his feet up by his head. There is a concern with the umbilical cord falling between the baby's bum and the uterus. If he were to then sit on the cord, he would suffocate himself.
Needless to say, there are things to worry about.
Some of you may have heard that doctors will try to turn the baby while still in the uterus. Our doctor has been delivering babies for about 30 years. So we trust him. He has tried to turn first babies, but it usually doesn't work because the mother's muscles are too tight with her first pregnancy. It is also a really painful experience.
There is one other thing for us to consider since we live in Utah. In this state, it is illegal for doctors to deliver a breech baby. So all possible worries aside, we don't have a choice as to how to deliver the baby. He's coming C-section.
Please understand that this is not a terrible thing. Many women who have C-sections enjoy them. We are doing what is best for the baby and for Callie. Callie is being strong and looking for the positives. She is being vary faithful and trusting that everything will work out well. And they will. I'm so proud of her. The more she researches about C-sections, the more her mind is at ease.
Our doctor is wonderful. Because he doesn't want to chance things with Callie going into labor and the baby squishing the umbilical cord, he isn't going to let her go past April 25th. Callie will be 39 weeks that day.
So look forward to some pictures soon after April 25th... if he doesn't decide to come sooner.
