problematic baby position for labor?

MtnAsh143

I recently figured out my baby is either positioned LOT or LOP, instead of the hoped for LOA.

I was wondering about the experience of other mothers who also experienced an other than ideal baby positioning during labor. I hear especially LOP can cause longer labor. I'm nearly 34 weeks and he's not dropped yet so I'm hoping he'll rotate to LOA but it seems unlikely.

pixieprincss

I had a fine labor with OP DS2. He actually flipped OA as I was pushing (which did freak us out with heart decels, but wasn't problematic). I did have a day of back contractions before active labor (only 9 hours). But, it was manageable. Water was very helpful as was counter-pressure on the back, deep breathing, etc. 

DS1 was not a great labor. It lasted several days. He was OP and then flipped ROT, which is how I pushed him out.  But, I think that credit for that also needs to go to a hostile provider on-call. Mama's biology will keep that baby in and safe when "fight or flight"  mode is happening. Despite that, I am glad that we held our ground and refused Pitocin just because I wasn't progressing on a "normal" timeline. After almost day laboring in the hospital, we actually checked out and went home for 12 hours and then came back. OP babies can take more time and having a supportive environment for that timeline is key.

At 34 weeks, you have loads of time. My DC3 is still fully transverse (as was DS1 until 37 weeks). Check out spinningbabies.com for some ideas on how to help. But, do know that OP is a normal variation and IS manageable. 

MtnAsh143

I was actually right about him being OP. I ended up delivering him ROT in the end.