Babycakes

A few days ago I felt the excruciating pain of something happening within me. At first I thought that I had gone into labor and completely skipped early contractions, going straight for the ones that make you writhe off the bed, unable to breath.

Then I realized that Savannah had turned a complete 180 within me in a matter of seconds. Oh god, she has gone breech. A trip to the midwife yesterday confirmed it. They had no real suggestions other than "visualize the baby being head down". Um...thanks, &*#!. I got more information from Dr. Google, thankfully. Stuff like:

*Rock on all fours
*Do downward facing dog (yoga)
*Place frozen peas on top of belly and heat on bottom to make stubborn baby turn towards the heat
*Shine flashlight at bottom of uterus so that baby moves that way
*Have hubby talk into an empty paper towel roll directly onto the lowest part of your belly (again, to make baby move her head down there).
*Play music to lowest part of belly

Of course, during my midwife appointment I immediately said "I'm calling the chiropracter in the area who specializes in the Webster Technique of getting babies to move head down". Midwife had no clue what I was talking about. Ummm...are you actually a midwife? Are you sure? Because midwives usually know all the alternatives to traditional prenatal care and medicine. And you, ma'am, have done nothing but tell me that NO doctor within a 500 mile radius would ever consider helping me birth this breech baby vaginally due to my history. Oh yeah, you also knew nothing about chiropractic care that could help Savannah and I. And you even managed to put in a dire warning that if the chiro tried to move the baby with an external version she needs to know that I have a cesarean scar. Uh...duh.

Needless to say, I followed my own mommy intuition and called the chiro as soon as I stepped foot into my mother's house yesterday (we went there right after the midwife appointment). Well, first I cried some very pitiful tears, but then I jumped on the phone and called a husband/wife team of chiro's who specialize in the Webster Technique. I got in to see Dr. Jessica today at noon, even though I've had a phobia of chiropracters all my life. I can't even stand it when Jared cracks his knuckles! I couldn't possibly believe that I would ever be able to let someone crack my spine!

And yet today, when I walked into the office (a converted house) I was completely at ease. The husband was outside planting flowers and mulching, the receptionist went to the same college that Jae and I did (we had mutual friends, turned out), and the doctor I saw was a smiling, bubbly mom with her 3 year old in tow.

She listened to my concerns, adjusted my back, neck, pelvis, hips, etc. all while her daughter came in and out. It was a lovely, homey atmosphere and I was totally at ease. In fact, I loved it! She said that it feels like the baby has ample room to move around, and that Savannah will be an "easy turn". The best thing about this Dr. Jessica? As she was massaging my belly she spoke to Savannah as if she was a person, not just a fetus (I hate, hate, hate that word!). No other health care practioner has ever done that for me or my baby, and it felt wonderful to hear her saying to Savannah "Come on, sweetheart, you want to move down, don't you? I'll help you out - such a good girl!". My heart melted. Someone else was understanding that this tiny creature inside of me is in fact a real baby with real feelings who can hear us!

I go back next week (tues/thurs) and continue every week until Savvy moves head down. I know that this work (this combined with all the work I'm doing on my own). We will have the birth we need. And we may just hire Dr. Jessica to be our doula. I'm that impressed with her.