Sunny Side Up @ 37 weeks! EDITED w/Update - Induction?

lolonvive · May 2016

Happy Friday!
I had an exam yesterday and doc said baby is head down, I'm 1cm, but when he listened for a heartbeat he said, "I'd much rather the heartbeat be on the other side" and when I asked, well, WTF does that mean? And he said that baby was facing up, and we'll see if she moves over at our appointment next week. I've never been good at telling where the baby was positioned... so I'll have no idea if she does flip unless they tell me so.
I sit at a desk all day and just switched with my neighbor to her yoga ball as opposed to hunching over in my office chair. Not sure why I feel like this will help. Anyone have suggestions, words of wisdom or reassurance? Is spinning babies and those kinds of sites a sham/old wives tales?
I know they can still turn over, but the alternative sounds like either way I'm ending up with a s*it ton of stitches!

UPDATE: bumping this thread back up to see if there is more advice you ladies can throw my way! Now I'm 38 weeks and had an appointment yesterday and baby is still posterior and on the right side. I asked the doctor what happens if she doesn't move over to the other side and he said, well, then we can discuss inducing you? I was just kind of like, uh, really?? And a little in shock so I didnt push for more info at the time but then when I left the office it kind of clicked and now I have all of these questions! Of course I'll come with more questions to my appointment next week but wondering if anyone has experienced this or has suggestions for questions I should ask?

KRuthie25 · May 2016

Cat and Cow yoga poses....think of your belly like a hammock and no one wants to be belly down on a hammock

Doing this once labor starts is more important as the baby can still switch positions until they are engaged...or so my midwife tells me.

cmac827 · May 2016

In my birthing class we were taught to think of your belly button like a flashlight. The flashlight should always be pointing down to help turn the baby from sunny side up or from being sunny side up. Also check out the spinning babies website for more tips.

WVUPetunia · May 2016

My son was born sunny side up. No one ever even mentioned anything about it, so I didn't even know until boom, there was his face when he was coming out. He did keep getting stuck on my pelvic bone, so it took 2.5 hours to push him out.

I had 2nd degree tearing and some stitches, but the recovery was really not too bad. It can be done, even if she doesn't flip!

StayingFocused · May 2016

Pelvic tilts done on all fours is supposed to help.

rlbrooks84 · May 2016

My first was sunny up when I went to the hospital and the nurse was able to flip him by turning me. It took a couple of hours and she was able to do it, so it is very possible to turn that baby!

gauge1234 · May 2016

Spinning babies is a great resource!
cat cows are great
no reclining
always sit maternally (explained on spinning babies - basically not the normal way we would sit while not pregnant)
or lay on your side

other tips - swimming (kicking around with a paddle board)

basically the way it was explained to me is that the baby has a sense of gravity - so you want to keep your pelvis tipped forward and open (lots of room for the head) and keep your belly button looking at the ground (the flashlight analogy used in a different post above) this will coax baby to turn face in or to the side to feel more comfy with gravity

gauge1234 · May 2016

And lay on your left side, this will encourage the back to the left position which is apparently the best

good luck!!

Bee112309 · May 2016

My second daughter was sunny-side up. I had no idea until I went in for my induction. I was able to successfully deliver her with only one tiny tear (1 stitch), although I did push for a very long time. You're not necessarily doomed to a vagina full of stitches if she doesn't turn! I have heard really great things about the success of Spinning Babies from friends of mine whose babies were breech or sunny-side up, though.

scotten · May 2016

KRuthie25 said:

Cat and Cow yoga poses....think of your belly like a hammock and no one wants to be belly down on a hammock Doing this once labor starts is more important as the baby can still switch positions until they are engaged...or so my midwife tells me.

This! DD1 was sunny side up, but no one knew until I was already 9 cm dialated. We tried the cat and cow yoga poses, but by that point she was practically stuck that way. I ended up with a c-section for other reasons, however I could have continued to labor with her and try to get her to flip.

DSTtots4lyfe · May 2016

There's lots of good advice, but it's hard to know what will most without a specific posterior position, left or right. Either way, you can see a chiropractor and/or do positions from spinning babies to encourage movement in the right direction. LO may also just rotate on its own before or during birth!

lolonvive · May 2016

UPDATE: bumping this thread back up to see if there is more advice you ladies can throw my way! Now I'm 38 weeks and had an appointment yesterday and baby is still posterior and on the right side. I asked the doctor what happens if she doesn't move over to the other side and he said, well, then we can discuss inducing you? I was just kind of like, uh, really?? And a little in shock so I didnt push for more info at the time but then when I left the office it kind of clicked and now I have all of these questions! Of course I'll come with more questions to my appointment next week but wondering if anyone has experienced this or has suggestions for questions I should ask?

xc1148 · May 2016

What all PPs said....pelvic tilts and cat/cow. Especially when the baby is moving. Also sit on a birthing ball as much as you can. Try drinking some cold water/juice to get baby moving, then get on all fours and put gravity to work! Good luck! Try not to worry too much, I know it's hard.

I don't understand why they want to induce just because of the position...you still have 2 more weeks!

meggyme · May 2016

In my birthing class, they recommended spending some time in a forward leaning position, whether on a birthing ball or just a chair. Because baby's spine is the heaviest part it's meant to encourage that to part of baby to move toward the front using gravity.

lolonvive · May 2016

Thanks @xc1148 and @meggyme! At this point I'm more curious why an induction would be necessary at all even if she stays the way to 40+ weeks, and what kinds of questions I should ask my doc on my next visit?

fishwife799 · May 2016

I would also recommend a forward leaning position like on a yoga ball as well as cat and cow poses.

Also, babies spin constantly so I don't really understand why he would want to induce you for that reason alone. I would seriously be questioning my doctor at this point. Women birth perfectly healthy and non induced babies all teh time that are posterior. My little guys is constantly spinning around in the evenings. I can feel his butt at times and his legs at others. I would do some research on reasons NOT to induce and be prepared with them at your next appointment.

nrs164 · May 2016

My son turned sunny side up when I was in labor at the hospital. They brought in a peanut ball and had me on all fours rolling in it. I'm sure it looked ridiculous!

Rosehip15 · May 2016

lolonvive said:

Thanks @xc1148 and @meggyme! At this point I'm more curious why an induction would be necessary at all even if she stays the way to 40+ weeks, and what kinds of questions I should ask my doc on my next visit?

I would ask just this - why? I can't imagine why this position is an indication for induction. It's just giving baby less time to turn on his own.

DSTtots4lyfe · May 2016

lolonvive said:

Thanks @xc1148 and @meggyme! At this point I'm more curious why an induction would be necessary at all even if she stays the way to 40+ weeks, and what kinds of questions I should ask my doc on my next visit?

You have to agree to be induced, so I'd push for a better reason. If anything that seem like a reason to wait and see if he turns. My guy is ROT right now and I have an anterior placenta so I'm facing better than even odds of a posterior birth or at least a longer early labor while he finds OA if he doesn't switch left again. But like @fishwife799 said, they can still rotate side to side, it's not like they're breech.

Emztron500 · May 2016

I went into spontaneous labour (no induction) with a posterior baby for my 1st. Early labour started at 40+2, active labour started at 40+4, and she was born at 40+5. Labour was rough and they ended up augmenting with pitocin about 12 hours into active labour. I delivered vaginally and she came out sunny side up. No one had even realized she was posterior until I was pushing and the doctor could see she was face up. Often babies will rotate on their way through the pelvis and come out face-down even if they were posterior during labour, but not my stubborn kiddo!

I am trying to avoid it this time so that I can have the home birth I'm aiming for and avoid all the interventions that were necessary due to poor positioning (the back pain made me vomit so I needed to go to the hospital for IV zofran and fluids, pitocin was given, I was in too much pain to deal after the pitocin kicked in and got an epidural). All the suggestions above are awesome. I would push to AVOID induction, as forcing labour to start when your baby is poorly positioned could make it a rough experience or lead to C section.

I am 2 days shy of 37 weeks right now and I can feel the baby move side to side at least once a day. I don't think position is exactly written in stone at this point! Just keep doing what you can to encourage a good position. It can even change in labour. Don't stress it!

Emztron500 · May 2016

Just for fun, here's what my little newborn looked like after coming out sunny side up. Wicked cone head with a big bruise across her forehead where she was wedged in my pelvis for several hours. Poor kiddo! She looked fine within a day or two though.

Image: https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7361/14006861648_c5a8ce5929_b.jpg

MynaBird · May 2016

Ditto PPs recommendation that you push for a better reason for induction. My first was sunny side up when I showed up at the hospital (after my water broke), and I will say that back labor is no joke. I sucked it up for close to six hours before I broke down and asked for pain meds to help me sleep -- I could barely breathe during the contractions at that point. Before the pain meds knocked me out, the nurse had me get on all fours and do some cat/cow while she tried to help move the baby. Whether it was that or baby just needed some time, I don't know, but by the time I delivered (25 hours after my water broke), she had turned the right way.

Sydvicious08 · May 2016

I was born sunny side up and they had no idea until I came out. Definitely not a legitimate reason for induction.

cluelesssm · May 2016

My second was born sunny side up at 40+3. They didn't know he was that way until he came out. Labor hurt like you wouldn't believe. 2 epidurals did not help me at all. I am so paranoid about this one being sunny side up too lol. I am going to have them check when i go into labor and if she is i want the doc to hold off on the epidural so that i can move around this time and try different positions to help with the pain. There is no need to be induced when a baby is sunny side up though. It is what it is lol.

jennk0118 · May 2016

My son ended in cesarean. He was sunny side up and was basically stuck. I was induced with cervadil and then when he didn't engage... C-section.

lolonvive · May 2016

Thanks for all the responses ladies!
I have another appointment on Friday so I'm going to be more assertive and actually ask some questions. I don't think he would suggest induction if he didn't think it were necessary, so we'll see what he says!

xc1148 · May 2016

lolonvive said:

Thanks @xc1148 and @meggyme! At this point I'm more curious why an induction would be necessary at all even if she stays the way to 40+ weeks, and what kinds of questions I should ask my doc on my next visit?

Typically, you don't want to go right to or past 42 weeks. Lots of risk during labor/issues with baby staying in that long. So most doctors will start talking about strategies at 41 weeks. You should be involved in all of these discussions. As long as you and baby are healthy, there is no reason to induce early. Just ask why they are worried about the position of baby, and what the alternatives are.

alysemci · June 2016

im 38 weeks, my baby went from on his side, head down to sunny side up during an U/S today. He'll probably move 25 more times before I deliver. You're so far out I don't think it matters yet

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Sunny Side Up @ 37 weeks! EDITED w/Update - Induction?

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