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Natural Birth
mommameag
member
worried..first natural delivery may be sunny side up
mommameag
member
I had my 36 week appointment today (with midwife at my birth center) and discussed my back pain (terrible, constant, so frustrating) and found out that baby is sunny side up. I know the chances of her flipping over are high but i'm very concerned about having back labor and delivering my baby OP. My midwife mentioned if the baby is delivered OP and has a bruised face her recommending the vitamin K shot. I have this vision of a very difficult and even more painful labor than I have been preparing for and a difficult delivery with a bruised up baby 
If anyone has any words of wisdom, advice, or has simply BTDT I would really appreciate it! Thank you!
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Re: worried..first natural delivery may be sunny side up
Do everything you can to flip the baby to the proper position.
NO LOUNGING! If you are going to watch TV make sure your knees are below your hips. Sitting backwards on a hard chair or sitting on a yoga ball is best.
Other ideas:
See a chiropractor
www.spinningbabies.com
FWIW, my baby was posterior when I went into labor and eventually turned before coming out. It was a long labor though (with lots of back labor) and it probably wouldn't have worked if I had been dealing with an impatient MW.
Best wishes.
My MW said DS was sunny side up at my 37 week appointment. I had my doubts, to be honest with you, since I could feel the "map" of him. But, I looked at spinningbabies.com and did all the recommended postions. He was born less than a week later, and was face down. So (1) the MW was wrong, (2) he turned before labor, or (3) he turned during labor.
Do spinningbabies, and it's easier said than done, but try not to stress out about it.
Try not to stress about it too much. DD was posterior during labor, but turned before she came out, no problems.
DS was posterior during labor and never turned. The labor was harder, especially the pushing, but it was completely doable med free (I birthed at home and he was 9lb 5oz!). He didn't have any bruising, but did end up with a cephalohematoma, which looked a little funny for awhile but was completely harmless. He did get the vitamin K shot. We had decided to only do it if needed and after the birth our midwife recommended it.
i think that pinksweetpea said it best! i would have said everything that she said.
also i would recommend cat/cow exercises. basically you get on your hands and knees either on the bed or on the floor and first you raise your back up (like a cat) take a deep breath, picture your baby turning and then hold it there for a few and then lower your back and let it sag (like a cow), again taking a deep breath. then repeat that slowly for about 5 mins a few times a day.
the idea is that using gravity, the heaviest part of the baby will "sink to the bottom", this would be with baby facing your spine. does that explanation make sense?
GL!
agreed, agreed, agreed.
I also agree w/ Tex, do lots of cat/cows.
Any time you are sitting make sure your knees are below your hips.
If you are in the car bring a pillow for under your bum and tip the seat down as far as it will go.
Spend lots of time on your hands and knees, tailor sitting etc GL!
DD came out sunny side up, and it was kind of hard work but other than that, no big deal. I did not have back labor. She wasn't posterior in the days leading up to labor, but the night I woke up with contractions, I could tell by her hiccups that she had slipped to my side. I think she continued to slip toward my back, because she came out facing up and a little to my left. Maybe she wasn't straight-on posterior during the labor so that may be why I didn't have back labor.
My total labor was only 14 hours, 3 of which were pushing. I found pushing to be hard work, but I also never doubted I could do it. She had a lot of molding, but no bruises. The reason for the longer pushing and it being so much work is that it just took time to do the work of molding her head to fit through my pelvis the way she chose. We opted to do the vitamin K shot due to the molding. I consider my birth to have been a great experience, and right afterward I was like "I'd do that again!" (And my DH later told me he was thinking "are you kidding me? I thought your face was going to explode").
I guess I wouldn't dwell on it, because that's not going to be productive. But do educate yourself on how a normal labor with a posterior baby might differ from a "textbook" labor, so you and your partner can confidently and firmly advocate for yourself if you are getting pressure from your care provider to fit into a certain pattern.
https://midwifethinking.com/2010/08/13/in-celebration-of-the-op-baby/
Take a look at spinningbabies.com, do lots of pelvic rocks (also described above as cat/cow), and figure your baby will navigate through your pelvis the best way it knows how and that YOU CAN DO IT! It may not even suck at all. It may be totally awesome!
Definitely agree with this. DD was posterior at my 36 week appointment and was really stubborn about turning. I saw my chiro, lived on my stability ball, and did the spinning babies techniques. She eventually turned and I had a great labor and delivery. Good luck!
We were convinced this baby was OP - even when I was in labor it seemed that she likely was. I'm not sure when she turned (but I felt some mighty painful baby movements right before I started pushing!) but she did come out the "right" way. I didn't have any back labor but I did stall out for a bit at 8 cm and she wasn't aligned correctly on my cervix until the very end.
Definitely check out the spinning babies stuff. My midwives also had me doing lots of different positions during labor to try to get her in a better position.
You can do it!
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