Surprise C-section and Breech Question

Ems2684 · August 2013

Hi Ladies - congrats to all of the August moms! I was starting to get semi-active on this board, but haven't been active lately. Not trying to do a drive-by birth announcement, but do have a question for you breech baby and IUGR moms.

Long story short, I had been having a really easy pregnancy - every time I went to my OB they said Isabelle was measuring on track (fundal height - my last ultrasound was at 20 weeks), and was head down. My OB practice has you rotate through all of the docs in the practice, so since about 32 weeks I was seeing a different doctor each appt, but same story - everything looks great, on track for an on time, vaginal delivery.

This past Monday I was done rotating and back to my original OB for my 37 week appt, and she immediately thought that baby girl had flipped and was now breech. They hooked me up to the ultrasound and not only was she breech, she was measuring very small (they estimated 5.8 lbs - she was actually 5.5 lbs at birth). So basically my normal doctors appt turned into me delivering via C-section that same afternoon at 37 weeks, 2 days.

So now for my question - for those of you who had/have breech babies, when did you find out that they were breech? Same goes for IUGR moms - when and how were you diagnosed? The pediatrician is saying that based on her head and leg shape, she was probably breech for a lot longer than we thought/were told. What's done is done and the most important thing is that Isabelle is here and doing GREAT, but since all of this happened so suddenly I'm curious as to what others' experiences have been. I also posted this on the C-section board, but not sure how active it is over there. Thanks for any insight and again congrats!

ashleyamberRN · August 2013

I was breech and IUGR that turned into preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome. I was breech since at least 27 weeks she never budged. And how they diagnosed your IUGR seems kinda weird to me. That they would c-section you at 37 weeks based on one ultrasound when you were measuring fine the whole time seems odd. 5.5 at 37 weeks is pretty small but not extremely so.

I was IUGR since 28 weeks. Starting at 34 weeks I started getting weekly BPP's and the baby was being measured every 3 weeks. You need to trend growth, a one time spot check doesn't tell you much. Even in my situation they would have let me go to 38-39 weeks if my stupid preeclampsia wasn't so bad. My little was 4 lbs 11oz at 37 weeks and 2 days. Anyways.. After all that lol, at least you had a healthy baby, sucks you were surprised with a c-section, at least I had time to mentally prepare that I was probably having one since she was breech so long

cinderin · August 2013

I was high risk, so I was having weekly u/s. I found out at about 34 weeks that he was breech.

I also had a c/s.

carrotcake06 · August 2013

Slightly diff situation since I had twins but baby A was breech since 20w. My a/s was at 19w and both were head down. Bc of twins, I got growth u/s every 4w starting at 19w and twice weekly NSTs starting at 33w, so monitored closely.

Starting at the next u/s at 23w, baby A was breech and never flipped. Baby B would flip every few weeks but A's bum was crammed down in there.

My water broke at 34w and had then via emergency c/s due to A's prolapsed cord, but would have been c/s regardless bc A was still breech.

No experience w IUGR, though. That weight doesn't sound too bad though. My first is a 37weeker and was 6lbs. Admittedly, the twins were big for 34weekers at 5 and 5 8. But it does seem like a quick dx for an ongoing issue.

Lovehavinggirls · August 2013

Dd1 was breech but my dr does u/ s at every appointment so I knew from 30 weeks that she was breech. With her I ended up with pre e and on hospital bedrest while i was there i atarted havig contractions and she was in distress at 35 weeks so I had a csection.

Dd2 was not breech but I had IUGR and starting at 35 weeks I went to the high risk specialist 2x a week to check for growth and to check on the umbilical cord, placenta etc. At my 37 w 2 d appointment she was not growing as much as they wanted compared to my previous growth u/s and my BP was high(it was also high during other appointments). The high risk dr and my dr met and decided it was best for me to have a RCS. Dd2 was 4lbs 8oz.

Did you have any other issues other then measuring small? I agree with the pp thy said usually they will do more then one u/s to see how baby is growing.

Ems2684 · August 2013

ashleyamberRN said:

That they would c-section you at 37 weeks based on one ultrasound when you were measuring fine the whole time seems odd.

I thought exactly the same thing! I questioned my OB a lot (wouldn't it be better to measure her again in a few days, etc) and she said the rule of thumb is that when babies are at least 37 weeks but measuring less than 10th percentile for growth, it's riskier to leave them in and deal with IUGR. One of my good friends is an OB resident, so I called her for a second opinion and she said the same thing. I think I was just more shocked that it happened so fast.

natsko · August 2013

I was getting ultrasounds every month, every visit, that's just the way my doctor does it, I knew baby was head up since 20 w, he might have flipped during the month but at every visit his head was up, at 36 w they started talking to me about c section since they didn't think he would flip

nicababy · August 2013

I'm 38w4d and my baby has been breech since at least 24 weeks. I'm an ultrasound tech, so I cheated and checked position myself frequently, but even without doing that it has been pretty easy to feel where her head is. I know that's not always the case though, and sometimes heads and bums can be hard to tell apart.

As for the IUGR - do you know if they looked at blood flow to baby at the ultrasound? We do routinely for small babies, and if it was off it could be a reason why they opted to deliver instead of doing follow ups.

I'm glad to hear that you and baby are doing well, even with the last minute scare!

Cocolamo1 · August 2013

With my first, it was not discovered that he was frank breech until I went into labor. I also rotated through doctors, so multiple people had felt and listened to him. The L&D nurse knew right away when she went to put the monitor on him. He had hip dysplasia due to his presentation, so no doubt that he had been that way for a while. Good news is that I have had 2 successful VBACs!

ashleyamberRN · August 2013

Ems2684 said:

ashleyamberRN said:

That they would c-section you at 37 weeks based on one ultrasound when you were measuring fine the whole time seems odd.

I thought exactly the same thing! I questioned my OB a lot (wouldn't it be better to measure her again in a few days, etc) and she said the rule of thumb is that when babies are at least 37 weeks but measuring less than 10th percentile for growth, it's riskier to leave them in and deal with IUGR. One of my good friends is an OB resident, so I called her for a second opinion and she said the same thing. I think I was just more shocked that it happened so fast.

Yea you're right usually at 37 weeks they don't chance it. I'm an L&D nurse and I just hate that some doctors induce or c-s at 37 weeks for bogus reasons sometimes and then the babies come out huge when they were supposed to be "IUGR" and then they have other problems cause they weren't fully cooked. Not saying this is you, it's just a pet peeve of mine when I'm at work.

ludali · August 2013

My DD was breech my whole pregnancy. My water broke at 33w4d and she arrived via emergency section. We later found out that I have a unicornunate uterus...basically half of a uterus. She was basically outta space...the uterus wasn't going to stretch anymore and she was never going to flip.

southernmama8813 · August 2013

I found out LO was frank breech after I went into labor. The nurse said "I don't think that's a head." She called the ob and he said "that's definitely not a head. I'm pretty sure I feel a crack." Lol. After an X-ray to make sure they were correct, she was delivered via c-section. Who knows how long she was like that. My ob thought 2 days prior that she was head down, so maybe she had just shifted. Regardless, she's here & healthy and that's what matters.

snookums2013 · August 2013

I just posted my announcement that I was supposedly head down all along and got induced and when I got to 8cm (after going through all of the horrible contractions), they realized she was breech and had to do a c-section at the last minute. I'm not sure if she flipped during labor or what. She was also pretty small (5lbs 15oz), but always measured normal size for the number of weeks.

Ems2684 · August 2013

I definitely feel for you ladies who went through labor AND a c-section! The c-section and recovery sucked enough by itself, so I can't imagine having to go through that after several hours of contractions. Nicababy, they did look at cord blood flow - they also sent my placenta to the lab to try and determine the cause of IUGR, so should have those results back later this week.

Thanks for the responses - I guess you can never tell head from butt 100%

Congrats on all the healthy babies!

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