Sunny side up babies

alphaphi98

I'm 36 weeks and at my appt today, dr said my baby boy is sunny side up, which will made it harder for baby to come out. I hope I don't need a c-section. Anyone else deliver sunny side up? Maybe baby will still turn before delivery. Oh well...we'll see.

versed

DS2 was sunny-side-up. All this means is baby is hanging out with back to your right side, rather than left. This translates to back-labor and working against gravity to push him out. It's vert doable - just hurts a bit more. Check out spinning babies for info on how to get baby to turn. My DS was in the right position until he turned at the very end.

Good luck!

alandaim

FTM, so no real experience, but I watched my sister give birth to both of her sons "sunny side up". The doctors didn't make too big of a deal about it, but they did say that she mostlikely pushed longer because of this. Her second also had his whole forehead bruised from his positioning. I am not completely sure the doctors knew/ said anything about their position prior to birth. So that is one experience, I am sure different doctors handle this differently.

christen_z1

I have delivered two babies that were sunny side up. The back labor from it was horrible but they came out just fine other than that.

Beachmommy1029

My SIL just had her boy sunny side up. I know it took a while for him to come out but she did it vaginally.

mayamoo

DS was sunnyside up too. I pushed for 3 hours and he eventually a forceps delivery and I had a 3rd degree tear. I hope this guy cooperates

cauliflowereyes

I have a sunny side up baby too! From what I've been told, it's generally not an issue, the same way that say a breech would be. It may make things harder during labor, but babies have been known to turn around the "easier" way beforehand, even during labor.

karich

DD1 was sunny side up. Painful
back labor and ended up with forceps and 4th degree tears. I don't think this presentation alone is an indication for a c-section.

1ofme4ofthem

DS3 was sunny side up. The contractions were worse then the other 2 but only had a tiny tear (no stitches required) pushed for about 15-20 min.

Sweets11

Both my babies have been sunny side up. It makes for a more uncomfortable back labour, but shouldn't cause issues with delivery.

sprashley

My daughter #1 was sunny side up and hate to disappoint but it was way more painful than my natural no epi daughter #2. And my pain tolerance is fairly high...

You might want to go to the spinning babies website and see if any of their stretches might help? Not sure of they would do anything or not but I hated back labor so much I would try if needed! With that said, I do have sacroiliac joint issues so maybe that's why it was so painful for me...

Good luck and hope baby flips over for you!!

eg214

BG flips from sunny side up to butt up on the regular. If she is sunny side up during labor, my MW's said this mean massive back labor which sucks a big one. Other than that, no big deal. Read Spinning Babies website and do lots of pelvic tilts.

eg214

@junebugz1 Usually sunny side up means head down with their back on moms back.

pinkgrl84

LO was sunny side up for most of my labor. I will admit back labor sucks! My lil girl flipped around though right before I started pushing so she came out face down after all!

Oasismomma

DH was sunny side up and my MIL delivered him vaginally, without drugs.

DS1 was sunny side up and I ended up with an emergency c-section. It wasn't entirely related to his position, but I believe it had something to do with it.

Check out spinning babies. It's possible to deliver a posterior baby vaginally (without drugs, even!), but it's definitely harder than an optimally positioned baby.

boogerbearoriginal

My Mom gave birth to all four of us face-up, it means back labor and possibly harder to push (but that's more based on the way the head is tilted too). Basically when sunny-side up babies head can "seem" larger because of how it enters the pelvis. Definitely not ZOMGS c-section though. AND many babies will flip around during labor so I wouldn't worry much about it.

FWIW my Mom said while the back labor sucked, she never felt any contractions in her belly. So, at least that's something?

ETA - and all labor sucks, back/front/etc.

CactusGirl

alphaphi98 said:

Anyone else deliver sunny side up? Maybe baby will still turn before delivery. Oh well...we'll see.

I'm not exactly a member of this board, but lurking and wanted to post

I delivered my DD sunny side up. I pushed for 45 minutes and ended up having an episiotomy, but there was never any mention that I'd need a c section. We didn't even know she was up until she headed out! It wasn't a big deal, the doc just said it would be a bit harder. GL!

lalaith50

My doula showed me a diagram and said you can tell if it's posterior (sunnyside up) or anterior by where your doctor finds the heartbeat. If it's to the left of your belly button, baby is anterior (good!), but if it's to the right of your belly button baby is probably sunnyside up. Which makes sense if you think about how baby's heart is on the left side of his body, so which side will it be on if he is "upside down." It's probably not 100% accurate, like if baby is turned a certain way but still facing front or back, but it makes sense to me.

ksCowgirl78

My DS1 was sunnyside up. I tried pushing for a while, and had horrible back labor. His heart rate eventually started going down and he got stressed because he just wouldn't come out. Ended up with a c-section. His poor head was so squished and his one ear was tipped down because he got stuck. Ended up fine, but I sure worried about that ear!

teaforthree

lalaith50 said:

My doula showed me a diagram and said you can tell if it's posterior (sunnyside up) or anterior by where your doctor finds the heartbeat. If it's to the left of your belly button, baby is anterior (good!), but if it's to the right of your belly button baby is probably sunnyside up. Which makes sense if you think about how baby's heart is on the left side of his body, so which side will it be on if he is "upside down." It's probably not 100% accurate, like if baby is turned a certain way but still facing front or back, but it makes sense to me.

Hm, my last baby always had hiccups on right and was born face up.  This one always has hiccups on left though - so there is a glimmer of hope!  I'm praying this is true...

And yes, sunny side up baby here, born med-free, and it was incredibly painful, required an episiotomy and took quite a while to push her out.  But she was born perfectly healthy (no bruising, etc), I was fine, and c-section was never mentioned.  Good luck!

Beachmommy1029

Well after reading this thread and paying attention to what I'm feeling (and doing a bit of research myself) it appears I am also carrying a sunny side up baby! I wish I had figured this out sooner, although I know he could spin my EDD is Saturday. Yaaaay. 

My doctor has never mentioned it and knows I am aiming for a med-free vaginal birth so I'm going with "it'll all be okay"  

Flyingtoast

My LO had been head down, sunny side up since 32w. My MW suggested cat/cow position and yoga ball leaning forward as much as possable. It works.

Personally this one really prefers sunny side up and will go back if I don't do it enough. But I am more then willing to read a book sitting on a yoga ball stretched out (belly hanging) onto the bed/sofa if it means an easier labor.