January Appointments

mrsc918

@stassischroeder 100% agree you have to trust your gut and advocate for yourself! If I hadn’t advocated for myself, my OB would have me taking inhaler steroids for absolutely no reason! DH is very quick to trust doctors so I know I will always have to advocate for him. 

varimama

mrsc918 said:

Thanks ladies! I feel much better about not having growth scans now! But no @varimama I def don’t trust most doctors. I work in a hospital, so I see a lot of things that make me question how reliable doctors actually are lol 

I didn’t mean trust most doctors I meant trust yours! If you don’t trust your doctor then you should find one that you do. I agree there are a lot of questionable doctors out there and it’s really hard to find a good one. There’s a reason I’m willing to drive an hour to see mine and deliver in a hospital an hour away, it’s because I know his reputation and after DS was born I’ve seen him in action in a risky scenario so I trust his advice completely. I’m sorry you don’t feel that way about yours and I think if you have a next time you should definitely look around more until you do find a doctor that you trust. 

mauvelousone

Hrm, my doctor's been doing monthly growth ultrasounds since the anatomy scan in November. Maybe it's 'cause I'm high risk?

Speaking of, the tech at my appointment yesterday had no bedside manner whatsoever; took a few looks and then was like "Huh, that's weird, let me go talk to the doctor" and left. Then we got escorted to take a Non-Stress Test without a word. Evidently my child's in the 15th percentile, which isn't actually a problem except at the anatomy scan we were told she was 47th, so it's news to us. OB wants us to go to the fetal medicine imaging center next week to get a second opinion on the current measurement.

treetop19

@mrsc918, I get the not trusting thing.. in the town I used to live in, there was only one OB practice so I had no choice but to go with them, and I had a bad experience as a FTM (I was told I should induce when DD was only a few days over her due date.. I later found out that I could have waited a little while longer to see if she would have come on her own.. which made me really annoyed because I had wanted to try for a natural labor. The OB was also very condescending and had terrible bedside manner).  luckily by the time my DS came around, I had moved and was able to choose a midwife practice... if I had stayed in the same town, I know I would have been questioning everything.

@mauvelousone, I too have been having regular scans - I have an ultrasound and an NST each week, but I know mine are due to me having gestational diabetes and being on insulin.  otherwise, the practice usually only does an anatomy scan at 20 weeks and that's it.  I hope everything looks good on your second opinion measurement!

@miss.sally, hope everything went well for your 3 hour test!

aprileia

Had my 34 week check up this week and baby girl is still breech.. my doctor recommended drinking A TON of water and a few exercises, but wanted to see if anyone else had any at home remedies that had worked in the past? TIA!!

EmilyLove25

@aprileia Have you checked out Spinning Babies? This portion is especially relevant: https://spinningbabies.com/learn-more/baby-positions/breech/flip-a-breech/

aprileia

Thanks @EmilyLove25 - super helpful!

puppylove8910

Acupuncture! @Aprilsies and yoga ball bouncing and lots of walking. 

pdx2020

Also, @aprileia, if you're open to other methods, I was reading an article (or book?) that recommended trying to flip through other ways (ECV, moxibustion, spinning babies inversion) earlier. It sounds like a lot of practices do things like ECV around week 37/38, and this book suggested the evidence showed better results flipping from breech earlier (when baby was smaller, has more room, there was more time to try again, etc.). But I can't find the source again -- sorry! 

aprileia

Thanks @pdx2020, will try to see if i can find that!

chichiphin

@aprileia i was reading about this out of curiosity and what I have found is that an ECV before 37 weeks usually is not attempted bc baby is still small enough to flip back to breech after the procedure. There are also preterm labor risks associated with an ECV, so I'd imagine most providers wouldn't want to accept that risk until the baby gets closer to being more developed 

pdx2020

@chichiphin, good points! Maybe the article was about trying less invasive/risky methods earlier? I wish I could find the info again! 

uno_mas

Found some good info on Evidence Based Birth about doing ECV between 34-37 weeks v. >37 weeks.  I’ll screen shot since it’s a lengthy article.

uno_mas

uno_mas

and good luck @aprileia!  Most babies do end up turning head down.  As a doula, I’ve definitely had clients over the years with babies that turned after trying all the tricks mentioned above (moxibustion, chiropractic care, and the forward leaning inversions/breech tilts from spinning babies).  Putting something cold on the top of your belly and
something warm on your lower belly may encourage your baby to move head down towards the warmth. Also, I remember reading in the EBB article a few years ago that using an epidural during ECV increases effectiveness because it involuntarily relaxes and loosens all the muscles supporting the uterus. I 

aprileia

Thanks for all the tips! I'm hoping she'll do it on her own, but anything I can do to help move it along is great to know!