C-Section for Breeched baby?

BabyMakes 3

Hi ladies. I've posted a few times on my BMB discussing baby's breeched position with other moms. I am currently 37 weeks and baby is currently breeched. He moves a TON, especially in the last few days, which I'm hoping could mean that he has room and could still turn. My Dr will not let me go past 39 weeks due to high BP. So he only has 2 weeks to get that head down. I have been to spinningbabies.com and have done all exercises as well as others I have seen.

I am trying to remain positive that he'll flip. But if not, I want to prepare myself for a c section. I am terrified. I never thought that a c section would even be a possibility. This is my first and for whatever reason, this just never crossed my mind. I am worried about the fact that it is major abdominal surgery(I've never had anything done except my wisdom teeth pulled! haha)

 Have any of you had c sections because of your baby being breeched? How is recovery? One of my main concerns is not having baby directly on my chest right after. It makes me so sad to think that I can't touch him right away. What's that like? And do you go right to a regular room after being stitched up with your baby? As far as visitors are concerned, is it much different than with a vaginal birth? 

Sorry for all the questions! Any info would be great. I'm doing my research but it's nice to hear from real women with the real experiences. There's some comfort in that. In my situation, no one I know has had a c section. I'll be the first in the family if this happens. And the first of my friends.

TIA! 

JSabs09

Hi -

I had my daughter a month ago tomorrow via c section because she was a complete breech.  It was fine.  DD was transverse at 28 weeks and breech 31 weeks on.  We scheduled my 40 week c section at my 36 week appointment because by this time- typically, they don't flip.  It's possible, but not likely.  Next time, I will go at 39 weeks- I didn't this time because they couldn't fit me in the schedule at the hospital with my doctor at my 39th week- the time slot was already booked.  

 The c section was fine.  I feel like there are pros-cons to c sections and vaginal births.  My recovery was fine as well- not as difficult as I thought it would be.  By day 2 (I counted, the 40th hour after), I felt so much better.  I also was thinking about the skin to skin but you know what, we did plenty of skin to skin after DD and my DH were brought to me in the recovery room a little bit later on.  It wasn't an issue.  We snuggle every day and I exclusively breast feed and it's fine.  What was actually nice is my DH got to spend time with DD when she was born and in the nursery- typically you're doing all the work and bonding immediately after birth- I found it nice that DH got to do the initial bonding.  He loved it.  He helps with DD all the time even now that he's back at work and it's wonderful.  You're in recovery approximately an hour after- DH leaves with the baby while they finish up your surgery for the nursery.  You get moved to a regular room after recovery and then you can have visitors.  My DD's birth was at 1204pm, surgery scheduled for 11am (we didn't start until 1115am) and my family came around 3pm - I think I was in my room by 2pm the latest?  Probably sooner - between 130-2pm I didn't look at the clock.  We didn't have anyone wait for us but a friend of mine who had a breech baby via c section in May did- the grandparents were in the waiting room.  All of our family came later that afternoon. 

 I'm not sure what else you'd like to know- if you have any specific questions, feel free to ask! 

 PS.  DD was a crazy mover as well all the way up until the day she was born and she still didn't flip...! 

Winomama

My son was head down, and then flipped to breech at 36 weeks. I tried acupuncture, chiropractor, laying upside down on ironing board for hours, the hot/cold packs and light, and handstands in the pool. I had no luck.

At first, I was so upset about the c-section, as I had been planning an all-natural birth with as little intervention as possible. I spent the entire pregnancy coming up with my birth plan, like I am sure you have to. The thing is, if you and baby are both healthy, what does it matter how he gets here? What really matters is how you parent your sweet little baby. I do not grieve for any part of my delivery. We have had plenty of time to bond, and have certainly made up for not being able to cuddle or nurse for the first hour.

DS was 10lbs, and all of his measurements were off the charts, and I think via c-section just supposed to be the way he was born. My recovery was very easy- I stayed in the hospital just short of 48 hours, and I actually walked out of the hospital, quite a long ways, to the car because they had no wheelchair, and then up three flights of stairs to my place without any issues. I took a few percocets at home, and switched to ibuprofen once my milk came in.

JSabs09

Winomama:

The thing is, if you and baby are both healthy, what does it matter how he gets here? What really matters is how you parent your sweet little baby. I do not grieve for any part of my delivery. We have had plenty of time to bond, and have certainly made up for not being able to cuddle or nurse for the first hour.

 Agreed!  Healthy baby, healthy mommy - that's all that matters!

HarrietNJMommy

My first 2 c-sections were for breech babies. I did fine, recoveries were great.

GL! 

RayRay007

BabyMakes 3:

 Have any of you had c sections because of your baby being breeched? How is recovery? One of my main concerns is not having baby directly on my chest right after. It makes me so sad to think that I can't touch him right away. What's that like? And do you go right to a regular room after being stitched up with your baby? As far as visitors are concerned, is it much different than with a vaginal birth? 

Talk with your dr. You may be able to make certain requests for a family centered, "natural" c/s. They can do things like lower the drapes, place baby on you immediately, wait for cord to stop pulsing, etc.

I had an emergency c/s so any discussion about anything flew out the window. My MW made it there by the end though and she made sure to bring the baby to me as soon as the NICU team cleared her (after her second Apgar, I guess), and we did skin to skin and bf'ing in the OR as they were sewing me up. Then DH carried her to recovery (he was there by then too) while I was wheeled there, and I held her and BF'd her some more there, including holding her for the newborn procedures. And I held her while I was wheeled up to the maternity ward.

We had planned on not having visitors for a few hours after birth anyway. After the surgery we called our parents, and DH's parents came after work that day (8 hours after c/s) and my parents from out of town were there the next morning. It was nice to have some time to get our bearings before visitors showed up.

The recovery was really good, as far as major surgeries go. GL.

Vegasbb

I can completely relate to this post. I wanted a natural birth and had hired a doula and taken 14 weeks of classes. I was so completely devastated that I needed a C-section because baby was breech! I tried everything to flip him (chiropractor, accupuncture, spinning babies, etc) but we ended up with a C-section. 

The procedure itself wasn't all that bad. Honestly the worst part for me was the IV, and I would have needed that to have a vaginal birth anyways. I was super worried about skin to skin and things like that, but it ended up being no big deal. I was stitched up for about 10 minutes while MH and LO were in the recovery room doing newborn tests and procedures. I had LO on my chest in the recovery room less than 30 minutes after birth. He BF immediately and it went really well. The 30 minute delay seemed like a big deal ahead of time, but honestly the day of it didn't matter at all. My parents came into recovery to meet him, but that's up to you.

After the "recovery room", LO and I were wheeled together to my long term room. We stayed there with DH for 3 days afterwards. I had my parents in the room most of the first day, and some friends came by the next day.

Recovery kind of sucked the first week. I should have taken more pain meds, but I was paranoid about running out and didn't want to take too many. I only took 1 pill per day the first week, but if I had taken 1 every 4-6 hours I would have felt so much better! After the first week, I felt great and now a month out I feel completely back to normal. Recovery was much much faster than I thought. I have friends who have had vaginal births and have had FAR worse recoveries than I have had with my C-section.

Sorry for the long post! Good luck to you, it really isn't that bad! 

spiffy7

My DS was breech as well.  I was 38 1/2 weeks when I went into labor.  I was scheduled for a Version to try and turn DS the next day.  Since I was in labor, they gave me some medication to slow the contractions and my doctor and I decided to try the Version then.  I was planning on an all natural birth plan, but since DS had been head down the whole time, my doctor had been preparing me for a c-section at 39 weeks.  I got an epidural and then my doctor attempted the Version, which didn't work, so we prepared and went in for a c-section since I already had the epidural.  You don't normally get the epidural for a Version, I just did to completely relax me and then if DS didn't turn, the plan was to go right into a c-section.  The c-section was fine... went quickly.  I was sad that I didn't get to hold DS right away, but my DH got to go cut the cord and the nurses helped out to take pictures. My DH brought my DS over as soon as DH could and as soon as the surgery was finished I went into a recovery room with my DH, DS, and a nurse where I got to nurse and have skin-on-skin contact with DS.  It was amazing.  I will say, ask the doctor to at least show you your baby over the curtain, because I thought it was a given and it isn't... you have to ask!

After an hour in the recovery room, we went back to our room and family was welcome to come in.  I really liked the recovery room because it gave DS, DH and I time to bond and relax before all the visitors came in to the regular room.

Recovery was fine, though take all the recommended days in the hospital.  My DS stayed with me the whole time, but the extra help from the nurses is nice.  Make sure you drink plenty of water and avoid constipation foods.  I was up and around the next day and showering.  The only thing I battled was driving, since we only own manuals, it was 8 weeks before I could drive comfortably.  

It really is still an amazing event and once you see your baby the surgery seems like nothing.  Relax and have your doctor help you with a plan for c-section just in case.  Good luck and congrats!

Potatertot

Your situation sounds very similar to what mine was: high BP, first child, breech position. I had no idea what exactly to expect, except everyone was telling me how horrible it would be, and how sore I would be and just general horror stories.

I have to say while it was not the childbirth I had in mind, it definitely has not been a bad experience. I too was concerned about not being able to have LO put on my chest immediately, and I was also concerned with how this would affect my breast feeding since I wouldn't be able to try immediately.

 The surgery went great, and was not as scary or as long as I anticipated, and while I wasn't able to see LO right away, I was able to watch as they cleaned her and got her all stabilized. Unfortunately she had to go to the NICU due to low oxygen levels (she was only there for less than an hour total), but they placed her on my chest and let me hold her and see her for a few minutes before they took her away.

As for the recovery, I've been very lucky to have an easy one so far. The nurses had me up and walking a bit in about 8ish hours, and I got to enjoy solid foods for lunch and dinner with no ill effects. I was put in a special room to recover until the spinal wore off a bit and I was able to move my legs, then I was moved to my permanent recovery room for the rest of my time there.

I'm sure the visitor policy will vary by hospital, but as soon as I was wheeled into the post op recovery room, I had family waiting there for me. Just a few people, as I'm sure they wouldn't allow a ton of people, but the lady in the room next to me seemed to have a TON of visitors in and out immediately. 

I would suggest keeping on top of your pain meds. They had me on a rotation of Ibuprofen and Tylenol and offered oxycodon if I needed it. It's also really easy to over do it, especially if you are managing the pain well, and it can come back and bite you big time.

Good luck! I'm sure everything will turn out fine  

Jdogs12

Mine was because he was big and coming out face up.  I didn't get to hold him right away because they were checking him due to meconium being present.  He was fine and by the time I was closed up and ready to go back to the labor room I had him travel with me on my chest and was able to breastfeed right away.  My mother and mother in law, who were both in my room during labor, had been brought to the waiting room when they brought me to the OR but were brought right back in after.  It may depend on your hospital though. 

A c-section was the last thing I ever wanted or thought I'd need and I cried when they told me we had to go to the OR but it really wasn't as bad as I'd made it out to be.  You'll be fine...good luck and just make sure they know ahead of time that you want that baby on your chest ASAP.