Great Expectations: Liz @ 36 Weeks

The past week brought another rollercoaster ride of emotions. We saw the perinatologist, and they were unable to do the amniocentesis since there wouldn't be enough time to get results back before my birth. As disappointing as that was, the level 2 ultrasound showed no signs of any major defect, reassuring us. We also learned that it is my husband who is affected, and that it's extremely rare for fathers to pass on the congenital form, like my son has (meaning this baby should be okay). In fact, there are only a handful of other cases on record--nothing like being an anomaly! However, if our wild concoction of DNA created this once, it could happen again, and we're not really wanting to chance things.

This brings us back to the the hard reality that we need to change our birth plans. We have settled on the hospital where my last baby was born, in the water, completely free of interventions, so I feel confident that we will have a fantastic experience there once again. Our goal is to bring as many elements from our home birth vision into our hospital birth as possible.

The ultrasound also confirmed what I had feared all along--our little nugget is breech! I have plenty of time and plenty of amniotic fluid to get this little guy or gal headed in the right direction, so we have begun Operation: Flip Baby. Thus far, I have had accupunture and we're doing moxibustion twice daily, or as my husband calls it, Smoking your toes. I had a fabulous Mayan abdominal massage early in the week, with chiropractic care scheduled. At home, my nightly ritual now includes lots of inversions hanging off whatever piece of furniture is closest, and the children have been having lots of discussions with their sibling about turning around, including somersault demonstrations by my oldest daughter. We are far from exhausting our list of baby turning strategies, and I'm hopeful this little one will get it figured out in the next few weeks!

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