My Breech Baby’s Birth Story
In honor of Labor Day, here is Noah’s long awaited birth story.
One week before our second child’s due date we had a regular check-up with one of our midwives. While at that appointment we talked about my history of low amniotic fluid levels with Grace, our first born. We decided that I should have an ultra sound that night to check my levels. This is a test that is normally done 1 week past a woman’s due date, but we bumped it up because of my history.
I was pretty nervous. This was the same test that determined that I needed to be induced with Grace. Would I need to be induced with this baby too?
The first thing the ultra sound tech said was that the baby was breech. I felt like I had been slapped in the face. We had no idea. Just that morning our midwife confirmed that she believed the baby was head down.
I was devastated. A breech baby meant a c-section and I could be having one that very night. We sat in the waiting room for what felt like an eternity. Thankfully, the fluid was within a normal range and the next morning I was able to talk to a doctor about our options for dealing with a breech baby at 39 weeks. We decided to have the doctor try to turn the baby manually the next day through external version.
The turning was a crazy experience. I could feel the doctor’s hands shaking as he struggled to move the baby. The doctor literally tried as hard as he could, but the baby would not move more than 90 degrees.
I didn’t have any pain medication for the external version, although some women get an epidural. It was a lot of intense pressure. For a few days afterwards my stomach was really tender where the doctor was applying the most force.
A c-section was scheduled for the next Friday and we left the hospital.
Some friends suggested that I try to turn the baby by seeing a chiropractor. I’ve never visited one before and I had my doubts, but since the turning didn’t work I was willing to try anything. I called a place and they squeezed me in that very day.
The chiropractor gave me a slight adjustment using the “Webster Method.” He realigned my pelvis/tailbone and then applied very slight pressure on a ligament in stomach. It was very non-invasive and I had little faith that it was going to work, but at least I was trying everything I could to get the baby to turn.
Why did I want to avoid a c-section so badly?
- Unnatural – I had been mentally preparing myself for a natural delivery for months. My goal was to go epidural and pain med free. A c-section is the exact opposite of that!
- Recovery Time – A vaginal delivery isn’t a walk in the park, but there are many more restrictions with a c-section. I was concerned about child care with the longer hospital stay, being able to care for Grace at home, not being able to drive for several weeks, and feeling bad overall.
- Cost – We were already dreading the medical bills of a vaginal birth. A c-section with double the hospital stay? *shudder*
- Breastfeeding – I was scared about being separated from my baby after delivery and missing that golden hour of opportunity for initiating breastfeeding.
- Missing Out – This is the big one and the one that still makes me cry. Grace’s birth was great. It didn’t go how I planned, but in many ways it went so much better. Still there were things that I missed out on that I was looking forward to experiencing this time around. I never felt my water break, never timed a contraction, and most importantly – I didn’t get to hold Grace immediately after delivery. She needed to go to the NICU for observation for 30 minutes. Above all, I was looking forward to that moment of being able to hold my new baby to my chest.
On Monday at 1:00 PM Nate and I went to meet with the doctor scheduled to do our c-section on Friday. The doctor decided I should have one more ultra sound done to check my amniotic fluid level and we scheduled it for that afternoon. Here we were again – having another appointment that could determine if I needed to have the baby that day or not. This was the 3rd appointment in a week that could have resulted in an immediate induction (or I guess a c-section because the baby was breech).
The ultra sound was uneventful. We couldn’t even get a look at the baby’s face and of course, the baby was still breech. After waiting a few minutes we were told we could go home. We figured that everything was fine since we were being sent home. However…
Five minutes after walking in the door back home, the phone rings. It is the doctor telling me that my fluid level is low and we should come to the hospital to have a c-section that night. I just laughed. At that point, it was all I could do. I had been so stressed out about the whole thing. At least the end was coming.
The entire time we were waiting and being prepped for surgery, I had only one concern. Will I be able to stay with my baby? I hated the fact that I couldn’t hold Grace immediately after her delivery and I was terrified of that happening again. Again and again I was told that it shouldn’t be a problem for me to recover from the c-section on the maternity floor with my baby in the room with me.
Nate had to wait outside of the operating room while they did the final prep work on me. I felt tense, uncomfortable, and sad from the moment I got into the room. The big room, all the people, and bright lights just didn’t feel right.
Things about the surgery that stood out to me:
- My legs tingled as they were falling asleep. One of my legs felt uncomfortable and I kept debating if I should ask someone to move it for me, but that seemed silly since I knew I would be completely numb soon and wouldn’t feel it anymore.
- I had been warned that there was a time when I would feel a lot of intense pressure on my chest as they were going after the baby, but I didn’t feel it. Maybe that was because the baby was breech.
- The thing that bothered me the most was the blood pressure cuff on my arm! It was squeezing me so tight! My arm was throbbing with pain. I complained over and over about the pain in my arm until they finally moved the cuff to my forearm. Later I noticed broken blood vessels on my arm from it being squeezed so tight.
Then there was the cry. The beautiful, precious cry. Nate and I both started crying ourselves. We had a baby!
We didn’t know beforehand if the baby was a boy or a girl. They took the baby over the scales right away. Nate went to see the baby. He came back to me and gently said in my ear, “It’s a boy. We have a boy!” Little Noah was here.
Noah was born at 10:33 PM, just 1.5 hours away from his due date. He weighed 7 pounds and 2.8 ounces. Since he was breech, his legs wouldn’t straighten out at all. The nurse decided to guess his height and said he was 19 inches long. In reality he was probably longer than that. He is a tall little man!
Nate went up to the maternity ward with Noah while the doctor finished up with me in the operating room. I was so anxious to finish and go be with my baby. Unfortunately it didn’t work out that way.
The nurses were changing shifts when I got onto the maternity floor. For some reason they wouldn’t bring Noah into my room until their shift change was completed. I was so frustrated. Nate checked on Noah through the nursery window several times and Noah was crying. This was exactly what I feared would happen.
Finally 90 minutes after Noah was born, I was able to hold him. Ninety minutes. One and a half hours. It still makes me sad to think about that. After my 30 minute separation from Grace during her natural birth, I was desperate for that moment of being able to instantly have my newborn on my chest after delivery. I didn’t get it. But…
Noah was still very awake and alert when he came into my room. He latched on and nursed beautifully right away. Thankfully, our breastfeeding relationship was not harmed by our separation.
Noah was so beautiful and tiny. I loved him instantly. It was amazing that I had this new little baby. I didn’t want to let go of him. Our first night together we slept skin-to-skin with him on my chest. I couldn’t get enough of him.
Closing Thoughts: I hope I never have a c-section again. I had one thought running through my head over and over in the operating room, “This is not how God intended for us to have our babies.” I’m extremely grateful that a c-section was an option for me and my breech baby, but I would never choose to have another one.
After I found out that Noah was breech, a lot of people offered comforting words when I expressed my concerns and disappointments about having a c-section instead of the natural delivery that I was hoping for. Again and again I was told that having a healthy baby is the only thing that matters. I would like to argue that those people are wrong.
Having a healthy baby is the most important thing, but it isn’t the only thing that matters. Health and safety clearly come at the very top of the “Important Things” list, but the general feelings a woman has about her delivery is also somewhere on that list. Did you get to hold your baby right away? Did you have any tearing or hemorrhaging? Was the pain more than you could handle? Did you feel confident in your body or were you riddled with doubt? Were scary words like suction, forceps, or rupture used in your delivery room? These things matter. And it is ok to be disappointed.
Since having my healthy, but disappointing delivery, a close girlfriend had the ultimate delivery nightmare. Her experience has greatly affected how I feel about Noah’s birth. At the time I was devastated, but now I know what true devastation looks like. Instead I am thankful for my beautiful boy. I will always be disappointed that I wasn’t able to have the natural delivery that I was hoping for, but my new perspective on child birth has erased away the pain.
Thank you, God, for my precious little Noah. He is truly a gift from you and I am thankful for every day that you have given us to be together. I love you, Noah!
Do you want to read more birth stories? Visit Amy’s Finer Things to read all her Labor Day Link Ups!
Oh my goodness, Rebecca. There is so much I want to comment on here, but this… THIS is truth: “Having a healthy baby is the most important thing, but it isn’t the only thing that matters.” Thank you for that!
You are just TOO STINKIN’ CUTE, by the way. You look fabulous and so very happy in your photos. I’m sorry your delivery wasn’t all you wanted it to be. (Been there…) but I’m thrilled for you that Noah is beautiful and healthy, that he latched on right away even after a (too long!) separation, and that they let you sleep with him skin to skin. Yay!
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Amy. I feel very blessed by this little man in my life. I’m glad you found meaning in my “only thing vs. most important thing” comments.
Beautiful story, beautiful baby, beautiful YOU!
I do get what you’re saying. And I don’t think (most) people mean to minimize the importance of the overall birth experience. I do believe strongly, however, that we have a lot of control over how we feel about that experience. We have to opportunity to choose what we focus on and I think it’s important to be able to let go of some of the “imperfect” pieces in order to honor the big, amazing, miraculous picture.
I think you are right, JessieLeigh. My friend’s stillbirth has dramatically changed how I view Noah’s birth. Half of this story was written before her stillbirth and half was written after. That second half was very hard to write. How do I dare say that I was disappointed when I still have my baby here with me? That was a question I struggled with a lot while writing. Yet, this is my story.
It is a valid disappointment! And also an important part of your story. I often think the biggest reason I didn’t ever struggle with those feelings is simply that we lived in constant fear that C. would die– it doesn’t change that it wasn’t my ideal birth, but there wasn’t much time to dwell on it. (if that makes sense)
Thank you for your honesty. Yes, a stillbirth is a horrific experience. Yes, you are abundantly blessed by sweet Noah. However, your feelings about your delivery and postpartum maternity ward experience should not be dismissed simply because you brought home a healthy baby boy. Your dissatisfaction and hurt is valid. It is important to express. While i am thankful for medical interventions in emergency cases, so much of the time it is used for convenience or out of fear. Younger OB’s admit that they have no idea how to deliver a breech baby vaginally. It is hard to find someone who is able and willing to deliver a breech baby vaginally. Two of my friends are home-birth midwives and have delivered many successfully. It can be done and can be done safely, however, we are not given that choice many times.
I will say that I was angered nearly out of my skin when I read about you not being allowed to see your baby until the shift change. There is NO excuse for that. I fought similar issues the whole time I was in the hospital with Fletch’s birth. I feel ya! There is an organization called ICAN that deals with issues surrounding c-sections – you may want to look in to it for support and some closure (plus support for future vbacs). Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, thank you, thank you. *hug*
Thank you for sharing your story. I can relate to your disappointment. My first baby was breech (double footling) and the doc would not try to turn the baby when it was a first pregnancy, so I was given a date for a c-section. I was all set to vbac the second child naturally even though the doctors thought a c-section would give them better control of my meds (blood clot after first c-sec) when the ultrasound showed that she was still in breech position. Time to schedule a second c-section. When they cut me open she had turned, but they deemed my uterus “a little thin” and therefore at a greater chance of rupturing during a vbac, so there was no option of vbac for babies 3 and 4.
Yes, I have my regrets (never experiencing labor and being limited to 4 children are the big ones), but I also have 4 great, healthy kids. At both hospitals I was able to hold my babies while still on the operating table, but had to wait for the first feeding. Baby number 1 wasn’t getting enough oxygen and they couldn’t bring him to me because he was under an oxygen hood. He was transferred to another hospital that has a NICU and on a ventilator for a week. Starting to breast feed with a pump is not the best way to go and we didn’t last long. With baby number 2 I was in recovery for several hours waiting for someone to go home so I could get a room and they eventually allowed my husband to bring the baby to the recovery area for feeding. Baby 3 was brought to me in my room after recovery and Baby 4 went to recovery with me as the hospital had changed procedures.
I noticed changes through the years to help mothers and babies bond. The hospital my first baby was born in kept the babies in the nursery during general visiting hours. Only immediate family was allowed in the mother’s room when the baby was there. The hospital my other 3 were born in has an open visitation policy and anyone is allowed anytime. Through the years they have started to encourage rooming in more and more, but they do still have a policy that you are not to be alone with the baby for the first 24 hours after surgery because of limited mobility.
Wow, Christina. You have quite the birth history. Thank you for sharing your stories with me.
Now let’s go eat some chocolate and feel bad for ourselves. haha! (Kidding!)
I think you probably did the wise thing. My second child was born breech and I spent a looooonnnng time on the delivery table. Sigh.
I wasn’t even given the OPTION of trying to deliver Noah naturally. My practice wasn’t willing to let me try. Oh well. It all worked out in the end. 🙂
After reading your birth story I can totally feel for you. This was my fifth child and we had determined no more doctors, no medications, etc. (All our other children were born with doctors and meds) We were going to have it naturally and with a midwife. Plus, we were going to take the placenta and have it made into a pill form for me to take afterwards for hormones. (After my fourth child I had serious post partum depression so we had decided to do this in order to prevent it or at least make it less severe) Everything was going as plan, went into labor, drove the nine miles to the Birthing Center, and got on the bed to be checked, and Bam, from then on nothing went as planned. Heard a “pop” sound and started to bleed heavily. Baby’s heartbeat was okay. Midwife said we needed to go to hospital (1 block away). Got to the hospital and told may have to have a C-section. Started bleeding even more….now it was very serious and the nurses started prepping me for an emergency C-section. Got down to the OR feeling like I was ready to push the baby out and given medicine to sleep. Next thing I knew I was waking up in the recovery room asking for my baby and my husband. Very scary! Baby was fine and weighed a whopping 8.9 lbs. However, I felt devastated I didn’t have a natural birth. On top of it, my placenta was taken away for examination. (No pills to help with hormone replacement) (Turns out that the umbilical cord was to short and pulling the placenta away from the uterine wall) On top of it all, it just was such a hard experience and sure enough I got post partum depression when baby was 2 months old. (It lasts for two weeks and is so awful) Thank you to my dear husband who knows what to do and progesterone cream for helping me get through it! That’s my story…..
Oh my, Jennifer. That is scary! Thank goodness everyone was ok, but… That must have been horrible. Is this your last baby? I think it must be extra hard to have a bad experience with the last baby. It leaves a bad taste in your mouth that you can’t rinse away. I’m so sorry.
Thank you for sharing your story.
No, I hope it isn’t my last God willing. I just love babies, children, and being a wife. I’ve wanted to get married and raise a large family since I was thirteen! Something like what happened doesn’t scare me away from another just makes me hope that I won’t have anymore problems with my babies. (Everyone of my babies has had me have some issues, all except my second oldest) First baby was kidney issues, second baby fine, third baby (gallbladder surgery-found out recently that was hormonal) fourth and fifth baby post-partum depression (which we hope to God have figured out how to control it). I’m really trying to get fit and more healthy so that my body can handle another child. It wouldn’t hurt for me to lose a little weight!
I hope the Lord blesses you with good health and an amazing pregnancy soon! You’ll have to email me when you are expecting again. 🙂
I know that this is an older post, but I have been searching for support after my recent unplanned c-section, and found great comfort in reading your story!
My first (son) was born vaginally, and I had an overall good experience, despite needing to be induced. My second baby (girl) was a tougher pregnancy – she was a 9 lb baby and I had debilitating hip pain and was unable to fully play with my toddler towards the end of the third trimester. It broke my heart! All I could think about was having this baby so I could spend time with my son and “be myself” again.
Fast forward to delivery day, I actually went into labor on my own (!), but the contractions were causing my daughter to have an elevated heart rate. After 3 hours of being monitored, my dr called for a c-section and my husband and I just cried. I had worked so hard this pregnancy towards a healthy birth, like yourself, and felt it all go out the window. I was also mostly concerned with establishing breastfeeding.
The OR was such a cold (literally) environment, and I ache to think of my girl being born into that. Music was blaring, her vernix was immediately rubbed off, her cord was clamped immediately, she was whisked away to have her heart monitored (thankfully that checked out okay), and my only consolation was that my husband was able to do skin-to-skin while they monitored me for the next 60-90 minutes. Thankfully she picked up on nursing immediately, and has been a healthy little girl!
Like you, I believe that a healthy baby is ABSOLUTELY important, but the mom’s feelings/experiences should factor in, too. My hospital is moving towards gentle cesareans, which is wonderful, but they didn’t allow me to have one because of her heart. It still makes me cry to think of it.
The hardest part, for me, is the recovery. I was so ready to bounce back and care for my son, but with a c-section I haven’t been able to lift him or play with him. He doesn’t fully understand, just enough to know that mama couldn’t do bedtime for the first two weeks, and he went to grandmas house in-between nap time, and he really acted differently during that time. Now that I am past the two week mark, I am able to care for him fully, and it has been better. He is not acting out, he adores his sister, and I love having my sweet boy back.
Blessings to you and your family – I love listening to you on Sorta Awesome! Thank you for sharing your story here.
Whitney, I am sorry for your loss. It wasn’t NEARLY as serious as the loss of a loved one, but it was still a small loss. You lost the beauty of a birthing experience, which can be really hard for you to wrap your head around after having such a pleasant experience the first time around.
It took me a long time before I stopped crying every time I thought about my c-section. But that time did come and I hope it will come for you soon too.