Pronunciation: \ˈkiŋk\
Function: noun
Etymology: Dutch; akin to Middle Low German kinke kink
Date: 1678
1: a short tight twist or curl caused by a doubling or winding of something upon itself
2: a mental or physical peculiarity : eccentricity, quirk b: whim
3: a clever unusual way of doing something
4: a cramp in some part of the body
5: an imperfection likely to cause difficulties in the operation of something
Definition #5 applies to this lovely post. (If you have a good sense of humor, the others fit too.)
A few weeks ago, I had an OB appointment with another doctor in our clinic. They do this so that, on the off-chance that your doctor is not able to get to you when you're in labor, you will be somewhat comfortable with her on-call replacement. During this appointment, we chatted briefly and she did the usual exam, informing me that THE BOY was head-down, engaged and ready to go. Thumbs-up to one happy, pregnant lady.
Fast forward two weeks, my OB discovered that her colleague was mistaken... big time. The other doctor had mistaken the head for his little rear; I'm sure it's an easy mistake to make, but hence:
THE KINK.Our sweet BOY had decided to get cozy the unconventional way - who wants to be head down when you can just kick back in the womb, heads-up and bum wedged into my pelvis? I'm sure the Frank Breech position (at left) is a much more comfortable way to percolate, to be sure. Doesn't it look oh so cozy?
Suddenly, my easy pregnancy changed - drastically.
I had two options: try to get THE BOY to do an acrobatic flip in utero -OR- move forward with the dreaded c-section. As I wanted desperately to go the normal route, I chose the ECV (external cephalic version), in hopes that we could avoid The Incision. However, and you heard it here first - the ECV is NOT a fun procedure.
Suddenly, I had an appointment two days later in the hospital's Fetal & Maternity Center triage unit. As it was a bit of an emergency, the doctor scheduled it on Sunday which meant we missed church - which then caused a good number of folks to wonder if we had gone into labor early. While that definitely was not the case, the procedure involved a lot of pain, pressure, pushing and labored breathing.
Folks, as I mentioned above, this was not fun. Also, not successful. After all of the manipulation and work, my doctor patted my belly & playfully exclaimed to the sweet, stubborn & immovable BOY (and I quote), "C'mon, you little turd."
So, in the end, a c-section is in my not-too-distant future. Tuesday, August 11th, to be exact. At 1:30pm. I suppose doing things the easy or normal way is not THE BOY's way.
And I'm sure this new thing called Parenthood (aka: Life) will continue to throw kinks into our plans for many years to come.
11 comments:
August 11th!!! Well you have a date! Hopefully no more "kinks"!!! It will be exciting none the less!!! Yay!!!!!
I'm sorry Michelle! Hopefully recover goes smoothly for you.
Your story reminded me of a conversation I had recently with a neighbor kid.
Kid: There's something stuck in that tractor.
Me: Yeah. I know. It's a nerd. Do you know what a nerd is?
Kid: Yeah. It's a little poop.
Me: [laugh] No. that's a turd.
UGG, he's a stubborn one isn't he!! You're in my prayers!!!
Sarinah had all her boys C-Section because there were complications going on. She did good.Only problem when nursing him later you need a pillow on your tummy to lay the baby on to help the discomfort.Our prayers are with you too. All will go well.
Wow! That is quite the kink.
Luckily, you know about this in advance so you don't have to do hours of labor only to find out you have to do a c-section.
August 11th! Happy Day!
I'm so sorry to hear the baby is being stubborn. :(
It's good that you found all this out now though instead of when you were in labor. That is sort, what happened to me. Preston wasn't breech but he was sunny-side up, which causes lots of horrible back labor and then his shoulder got stuck and basically wasn't able to come out on his own anyway.
So....I ended up with a Csection.
BUT, I have heard and can probably agree with the rumor/fact that recovery from a SCHEDULED Csection is much easier than if you labor first. Which, for me, was about 24 hours of labor before they finally did the Csection.
My doctor said that doing labor first and then a csection, is like going out and running a marathon and then getting into a car accident.LOL super right?
They are pretty keen on csections these days though. They are pretty common and I'm sure your doctor knows what he/she is doing.
A couple of things I can recommend...(that if i could go back and do things over again, these are what I would change)...
1 - bring chapstick. For some weird reason, I was absolutely parched during the surgery and they wouldn't let me drink anything. My lips were killing me. I wish I had chapstick.
2 - remember that a csection is still a birth, even if its not the "traditional" way of birthing a child. It's still a joyous occassion. I was mad that as they wheeled me into the surgery room I forgot to have Will snag my cds. I delivered at Overlake Hospital in Bellevue and they allow you to have music in the Csection room. I had burned a bunch of mixes for labor (think I was going to have Preston vaginally) - anything from "yoga/zen" music, to the MoTab. Csections are about 45-60 minutes long and I was realy wishing I had music in there to take my mind off of things. (it takes 2 min to get the baby out, but about 45 to get you all sewn up afterwards).
3 - Video. At the time, I didn't really want to be videoed getting my stomach cut open because I have this fear of blood/guts. however, in hindsight, I am SUPER sad that we don't have any video of Preston's birth. We do have a short clip of the nurses weighing him on the scale, but what I really wanted was a video of them pulling him out. maybe I'm weird...but its probably because when you're the one who is getting operated on, they have a sheet in front of you so you can't see anything and I would have liked to have at least seen them pull Preston out. Of course NOT DURING SURGERY (I would have passed out) but maybe like a month afterwards when I was okay with everything. LOL. And it's not like I wanted to see detail, maybe a faraway video...LOL I just wanted to see him being "born".
I had to break this up into 2 comments...sorry...
As for Csection recovery, mine was brutal. Percoset was my friend for 2 weeks. I could barely even get out of a chair (no kidding, it took me about 5 minutes to slowly get up out of a chair). And I couldn't sleep lying down for about 5 weeks because it used too many ab muscles to pull myself up, or even to turn over. I would get stuck.LOL. Again I'm sure your recovery will be much easier since you are going in and skipping the whole labor part.
don't be afraid to let others do things for you. You are only allowed to lift your baby after a csection, and even then sometimes that was hard for me. I slept out in the living room on our huge oversized chair with Preston in a portable bassinet next to me. Will slept on the couch and whenever Preston woke up, Will would get him and hand him to me. There was one night when I thought Preston was choking (the things that freak you out as a new mom are astronomical!LOL) and so I instantly jumped up and ran over to the bassinet. I swear I thought I ripped stitches from that and after a few seconds the pain stepped in and I cried for about 20 minutes afterwards.
Ok I'm probably scaring you, and I'm sorry this has gotten to be the longest comment of the century.
Just don't be scared,it's actually a great thing.You get to know exactly when the baby is going to be born and it'll be over super quick! :) And you get to stay in the hospital for up to 5 days if you want - LOL (we left after 3).
Anyway, good luck. I'll be thinking aboutcha.
When I was pregnant my sister-in-law told me about her first. He didn't put his head the right direction until the week he was born. She said it was the strangest feeling and watching it was crazy too. Her entire belly flopped. So it could still all go well :) He could decide to do the flip.
Michelle, I can't say I'm sorry because the goal is the delivery of a healthy baby. Which you will have. I had mine that way and I don't feel badly one bit...and Hannah turned head up in the 2 days before I had her:) (And I never knew until they were in). Tell Dae to get ALL the pics because later you'll want them, no matter how gross!
Oh and I agree with Jenni...chapstick...the oxygen mask will dry you out where ever it covers. (or if you're lucky you'll have a cannula).
I wish you both the absolute best and am so excited for you.
The "kink" will all pan out. Your frind, Jenni has some great advice. I've had 2 c-sections and it's fine (not perfect, but fine). You will be a great mom and on August 11th, YOUR BOY will get to meet his parents!
thats not fun, I've heard that that procedure is painful and often unsuccessful. I hope everything else goes well!
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