Rapid changes coming...

On Monday, I tried some strategies to get Ruth into position - but alas, it was in vain. On Tuesday, I spent the majority of my late morning and early afternoon at the office for my last prenatal appointment. The practitioners made the suggestion to try to turn the baby from the outside. So we tried it and got her to move a quarter of a turn until I felt a sharp stabbing pain and then they stopped and we spent the next 20 minutes listening to Ruth's heartbeat and checking if she was stressed. She was stressed a little bit as she was turning and then resumed her happy heartbeat sounds. If anyone was really stressed, it was me. I then learned that our practitioners highly recommended that we have a c-section scheduled before labor commences. The idea behind this was that my recovery would be faster if I didn't go through labor. Going through labor and then having to stall it for a c-section would be really rough on my body and stress Ruth even more. So, Lawson and I discussed everything and decided to follow Andrea's recommendation.

For the past nine month's and even a couple years ago, I had been mentally dreaming and preparing to handle labor and delivery with our children without the use of any medications/drugs. You can imagine if that was my mindset, how upsetting it would be to discover my dream dashed to pieces. One of my hopes is that our next child will choose not to be breech and want to come out without surgery! This is what is called a VBAC -(a vaginal birth after cesarean). So, that is my plan for our next child and hopefully, it will turn out to be a healing situation for my mind and body! To ensure having a VBAC, Lawson and I are requesting that the surgeon give me a double layer of stitching so that a VBAC will be possible in the future. If women do not get the double layer of stitching done after baby is out, their chances of having a VBAC are zero!

I called my cousin and a friend who have had two c-sections each and learned how to navigate through a c-section and recovery without too much fuss. One of the friends we made through our Bradley class was extremely helpful with the advice she gave online. Who knew that I should support my incision with a pillow every time I walk around or that I would need to get up and walk around to give the nurses the indication that I should be discharged early! I didn't know that it is helpful to keep a cool washcloth nearby to help keep baby awake during feeding sessions. Actually, this makes total sense to me since Ruth will be very sleepy from the meds and pain pills from the c-section and recovery.

My parents commented on the phone to me that I "seemed quite calm" about all of this. Well, I have no choice! I have to view this c-section as a way for Ruth to be born and getting upset about it will only make everything more stressful and make Ruth sad! Yes, believe it or not, a woman's negative emotions can make an unborn baby upset! So, I choose to be happy for Ruth's sake. This is the best situation for her to get out and the surgeon will let us know what clues they find to determine what got baby hung up in the breech position.

Last night, Lawson and I played "hippies" with a Moxa stick. I was given a Moxa stick at my prenatal appointment and instructed to have Lawson light it and hold it close to a pressure point on the outside of my pinky toe. When I felt it as being "hot" I was to say "hot" and Lawson would pull it away. This Moxa stick looks like a long cigar and smells awful. Don't let anyone say that Mugwort herb smells good! It smelled really gross and if we try it again tonight, we'll do it outside on the picnic table! The idea behind a Moxa stick is that for some women, babies will turn from breech to head down due to the pressure point being connected to the bladder. Ruthie didn't turn last night, but she was certainly very active!!! Her little hands and head kept bumping out all over the place.

Today's update on the c-section is that we go in to St. Francis - Bartlett at 5:30am, tomorrow, March 19th! The surgery will take place in the early morning after all the prep stuff of course. We'll have little Ruth out in the world with us before 9am and our new little family will be back home sometime on Saturday if all goes well.