Poll Alert!
Please vote on my poll in the sidebar. Your vote will support a statistical gathering in my book proposal. Thanks!She’s breech. Bum down, feet up. I think they call it frank breech.
And since I’ve dropped, I doubt (and so does the OB) that she’ll turn, since she’s now wedged her butt in place.
I don’t have C section date yet. But it’s supposed to be one or two weeks before my actual due date of July 25. That means…Yikes! A few more weeks!
I only hope that I don’t go into labor before my unscheduled-as-of-yet C section date, because then I have to rush to the hospital and have an emergency C section! The only reason that freaks me out is that my husband is 45 minutes away during the work day hours, and I’m home alone. I do have some neighbours around that could drive me to the hospital, but it’s the concept of it being an “emergency” that also freaks me out. 
Monica
Breech presentation. That’s what they call it.
I’m 33 1/2 weeks pregnant and my baby is in breech. My OB says he doesn’t believe in the old wives’ tales of turning a baby in breech. Some of which I’ve read are placing a bag of frozen peas on your belly so that the baby will move down towards a warmer place; swimming in breast stroke fashion; going on all 4’s and putting your head down leaving your bum in the air for 3 times a day, 20 minutes at a time.
My OB is going to check the baby’s position next Monday, and if she’s still in breech, I have two choices:
1. Go to the hospital on Father’s Day weekend and have them attempt to turn the baby with careful monitoring through ultrasound
2. Schedule a C-section closer to my due date
There’s risks in attempting to turn the baby. The cord could become pressed, blood supply cut off for baby, members rupture, in short the baby goes into distress. If the baby goes into distress then they have to do an emergency C-section right then and there!
After what we’ve already been through, we’re not willing to risk having the baby go into distress and possibly having to do the “C” at the end of week 35. So we’ll go with the second option. Usually they schedule the “C” at the 38th week, and the extra 3 weeks that baby is in utero I feel is beneficial.
Also, I’ve read that sometimes babies just can’t turn because of the shape of the uterus or because of a short umbilical cord. There’s even a chance it could flip back again.
So we’ll see what the verdict is on Monday. But just out of fun I’m curious, what other wives’ tales are there to flip a baby in breech?
Monica
Last month I discussed about the two soft markers they found in one of the earlier ultrasounds: Echogenic Focus, and Choroid Plexius Cyst, and how we were given the opportunity to go for genetic counseling.
As a result of that counseling my husband and I decided to opt for another ultrasound later on down the road as opposed to getting the amnio done. See post here.
So we had that ultrasound and here are the updates:
The Choroid Plexius Cyst in the head is gone, but the Echogenic Focus in the heart is still present. All parts of baby are still growing in proportion, and that alone convinced me to rule out Trisomy 18 as being a real risk.
The fact that the Focus is still present doesn’t worry us. The doctor reiterated that it’s a normal part of development and most likely is just a calcium deposit that causes no harm now, nor later on in the child’s life.
So, since we feel a thousand times better with these facts and findings, we’ve decided that there is no need to further go with the amniocentisis.
I’m 32 weeks pregnant now. Baby is moving around like a break dancer on ice. My only concern now is the labor, which after all this, is welcoming!
Monica
You’ve finished a hard day’s work, and can’t wait to get home. You race to the GO Train to improve your chances of getting a seat. You’ve found one, sit, and take the time to slow down from the rush.
You have to pick up the kids, get dinner ready, get them to bed. Maybe you have to go to the gym, or to a night class. It doesn’t matter; whatever it is you have to do after work is more important than the next person. You’ve just spent half an hour or an hour on the train, and you can’t possibly contemplate having to wait ten minutes in a parking lot jam to exit. You have to get out of the parking lot fast.
The train stops, doors open. You’re probably a runner. I’m a walker. I get to my car when I get there, and go in line among the plentiful of cars waiting to get out.
Last night I got in my car, and edged forward so that I could merge with the traffic exiting the lot. Those runners that got in their cars early are the first ones out as they have ample room to speed along the laneway. It’s too risky to jump in front of those commuters. But eventually a backlog occurs, and becomes my moment to merge.
I edge forward slowly. Car number 1 didn’t let me in. I edge forward more. Car number 2 is crawling behind Car number 1, but not leaving a gap for me to merge. Car number 2 stops perpendicular to my left headlight. There’s room for me to finally merge. I go.
She honks (car number 2). I turn my head to see a woman flabbergasted, her face distorted as if I had nearly caused an accident by my carelessness. Her hands are raised up in the air, to match her eyebrows that might as well have lifted right off her face. I have ruined her entire evening. Matching her hand motion, I mouthed “what?” She mouthed something back. I can’t remember what. Perhaps it was “what are you doing?” I mouthed “take turns”, and held my eyebrows up, waiting for her to comprehend the civility with which so many commuters have lost. Instead, she waves her arms again, and mouths, “Go!”
Crawling at a snail’s pace, another car wants to merge in front of me. I figure this would be a good time to remind the lady behind me of some common manners. I waved the car ahead of me, looking for her reaction in the rear view mirror. Nothing. She was still getting over her distress.
I am not more important than you. My importance (or lack thereof) ends when I leave my desk. I am the elderly, the Father and Mother with the child in the stroller, the disabled, the pregnant woman; I am a commuter as equal as you.
To the lady that honked at me yesterday, I hope that the next time you wish to merge with parking lot commuters, that you are shown the same respect as you have shown me.
Monica Pap
I recently read a blog post (site shall remain nameless) regarding relationships. I was appalled by it.
The main topic of the post was focused towards women and what they should do after a break up. They implied that women figure out what went wrong (that’s it the woman’s fault), know their weaknesses, fix it, get a new man, and show the old man what he’s missing.
There are so many things wrong with this. First, ladies, it may not be your fault. Each situation is different, but don’t automatically put yourself into a category of blame.
Second, don’t fix whatever your think isn’t working. Ever hear the phrase “you can’t change a person”, then why change yourself for someone?
Third, don’t get a new man out of spite to “show him what he’s missing”. Obviously, this tactic proves that you are not over him and are playing games. You’ll only end up hurting yourself in the long run.
I’m not an expert relationship-advice-type person. But hey, I’ve been there, I’ve made bad choices in trying to get “the one” back, but in the end I discovered that he was the wrong guy for me all along. Had I been successful in winning him back, I would have been miserable.
There are many books out there that will coach you on how to get over a man who dumped you. Just go the bookstore and check out the Relationship / Self Help section.
My story (that I’m attempting to get published one day) is how I utilized one of those suggested ways of getting over him: travelling.
I travelled to Kenya and Tanzania and climbed the Rongai route on Kilimanjaro. Nothing else put me into perspective of where I wanted to go in life than experiencing the breathlessness of walking the Rongai route.
So, if you’re heart is breaking yet you suspect that he’s the wrong guy for you, or even if you still believe he’s really really really “the one”, my advice is to take some time for yourself first.
Has your heart healed? How so? I’d love for you to share how you got over him. Is your heart currently breaking? I’d love to hear your side. Please leave a comment.
Monica Pap
I’m new to blogging. (Can you tell?) I’ve decided to join the 31 day challenge of writing a better blog. So far, I’m behind in the Day 1 challenge of writing an elevator pitch and this post is meant to complete Day 2: Write a list post. You can check out the challenge here.
I’ll have to get back to the elevator pitch, because the last thing I want is to look like an idiot and change my pitch over and over to something I think is more suiting.
So here are my top 5 pet peeve’s in my new category Rants & Raves:
1. People who park right next to my 2-door car, given the ample space in an empty parking lot.
2. Cream and lotion hand pumps that haven’t been used in a while where upon next use, you get that hard tube of cream formed in the spout of the pump. It’s like a piece of slippery snot.
3. Women who squat over the toilet in a public bathroom and leave their pee splash all over the seat and don’t bother to clean it off. Men, sometimes women are more gross than you are.
4. People who smoke just outside the office doors right under the No Smoking sign.
5. Back to number 3 above, those pee-happy women who think it’s just as good to turn on the tap and rinse their fingertips for 5 seconds with no soap- thinking they haven’t “touched” anything – and walk out the door. Did the toilet magically flush itself? Did the bathroom stall door open automatically when you tooted on it?
What are some of your pet peeves?
By now most of my friends on my favourite writing forum, Editor Unleashed (www.editorunleashed.com) know that I am actively working on my first non-fiction book whom I am co-authoring with my lovely friend and former African adventure companion: Leona Ernewein.
The picture you see at the top of my blog is a photo I took of Kilimanjaro as I was walking up the mountain via the Rongai route. Specifically, it’s a shot taken at the very spot where the “saddle” begins, between Mawenzi Tarn and Kili.
What a fantastic route this was! And what’s even more outrageous is what lead me to our adventures in Africa. I was dumped! My world was over! Well, at that time it was.
So I’m curious. How many people have been dumped at least once in their life? Please use the poll on the sidebar to vote. Your vote will help support a statistic I’m gathering for our book proposal.
Thanks for your support!
Monica Pap
Tuesday was by far a better day than Monday. We were informed and educated in the risks associated with doing an amniocentesis and in our chances of our child developing Down Syndrome or Trisomy 18.
After the Genetic Counselor reminded us that the risks of doing the amniocentesis were greater than the risks associated with the two soft markers, and coupled with my Integrated Prenatal Screening, and even before she left the room to allow my husband and I to discuss, we both pretty much had made our decision. Fortunately, our decision was unanimous. We would not have an amniocentesis done but we would like another ultrasound.
We understand that the ultrasound will not tell us any definite answers, but given the stress we went through, we feel we deserve a third look. We would like the ultrasound technician to take measurements again, and upon their report to the doctor, would like to know if all organs and external limbs are still developing at their normal expected rate.
We don’t care if the two soft markers are still there or not. If, and only if, this third ultrasound test shows abnormal development rates, we will make a decision whether to pursue it further with the amniocentesis. But we are confident that since the growth rate has so far been normal, and the results of the Integrated Prenatal Screening are still in our favour, we anticipate the growth rate to continue as normal.
We are slowly coming back to our euphoric parenthood expectation. There is no greater fear than the unknown especially when it comes to your child. Positive thinking has its rewards, but meeting with the Genetic Counselor was one of the smartest and most educated things my husband and I have both done.
Without the counselor we would not have been able to make an informed decision, and for that, we are grateful.
I was devastated on Monday. But on Tuesday, I went for an education lesson. My husband and I talked with the Genetic Counselor for about two hours. Most of it was running through numbers and probability rates in much more detail than the rough 1 in 3500 estimate.
She explained the soft markers in detail, and what they could mean, but more importantly used facts from the Integrated Prenatal Screening (IPS) to educate us so that we could make an informed decision about our next steps.
She explained that although the Echogenic Focus indicated an increased risk in Down Syndrome, my chemical levels in the IPS all came back really good. And though the Choroid Plexus Cyst indicated an increased risk in Trisomy 18, on the ultrasound results one would normally find another indication of it.
I never knew what Trisomy 18 was. It can be a deformity in any of the organs or limbs, and usually causes greater physical limitations in a person as opposed to a person with Down Syndrome. This can usually be seen in the ultrasound by measurements of the fetus showing an abnormal growth rate month over month. For instance, perhaps the hands would be smaller than expected, or the lungs would not be as developed as they should be at this stage. This wasn’t the case with my ultrasound results. Everything was developing according to the book and at a normal rate.
These soft markers may disappear in the third trimester, or they may not, and still everything could be fine. Some adults have the cyst in their head and don’t cause any problems. It could be nothing, or everything you fear. The only way you would know for sure if you do an amniocentesis where they match up the chromosomes of the fetus with that of the Mother.
There’s risk in the amniocentesis. Again, the book says 1 in 200 chance of problems associated with doing the amniocentesis, but the Genetic Counselor said that now they’re thinking of the risk to be 1 in 400. The risk in doing an amniocentesis in the first trimester is miscarriage. The risk after that is premature labor.
I’m in my second trimester.
She advised that the risk of doing the amniocentesis was still greater than the risk of our child having one of these chromosome disorders. The other option she presented to us was doing another ultrasound, however, if they found that the soft markers were still there or had disappeared, it doesn’t increase or decrease the risks at all.
The most important thing she counseled us on, was to assess whether we wanted to keep the child. Now I’m not debating about what’s right or wrong in regards to abortion and beliefs, I’m merely stating the options that were presented to us so that others may also be educated in a sense.
If we wanted to keep the child regardless of him or her having Down Syndrome or Trisomy 18, then why present the risk of premature labor by having the amniocentesis done? If we wanted an abortion pending the results of the amniocentesis, there is a factor of timing to be considered.
Timing is two-fold. If the results came back clean, I’d still have the risk of premature labor. They can’t tell when the premature labor could begin. It could be the next day, the next week, or two months from now. The fact that I am 22 ½ weeks pregnant, if I were to have premature labor soon, the risk of the child surviving is greater than say if I were to have the amniocentesis in the 30th week. A premature child after the 30th week stands a better chance at survival.
However, if the results came back as I would fear, I have a very short window in Ontario to have an abortion. Each hospital in Ontario has a slightly different gestation cut-off date for when an abortion may be performed. If we wanted an abortion, I would have to get the amniocentesis done on Wednesday so that I’m not over the cut-off date: around the 23rd week.
If we did not want to risk the premature labor so early, but still have the amniocentesis done, I could go down to the U.S. as some states can perform abortion later in the gestation cycle. OHIP will cover it, we’d just have to pay our travel expenses.
After the counselor explained these options to us, she drew a family tree of us, researching any clues about genetic disorders in both sides of our family. She also explained how she’s seen cases where the risk was 1 in 20,000 with no soft marker indications, and the child was born with Down Syndrome, and in another case where the risk was so great, including many soft markers, and the child was born without any abnormality.
At the end, she left the room and gave us 15 minutes to talk and perhaps come to a decision on our next steps.
My doctor gave me these findings in a not-so-concerned way. His report did little to ease my growing fears, however now that I look back, I believe it had a positive effect on me. That is, I hadn’t lost all hope.
He claimed that he was annoyed that the ultrasound technician would put these findings on the report, because these soft markers are in most cases a normal part of the development cycle of a fetus. And considering that my pre-screening results came back remarkably well, my doctor wasn’t too concerned about it. He said it just causes unnecessary stress on the parents. And I proved him right.
So now my odds went from 1 in 7000 down to about 1 in 3500. Still pretty good. Many pregnancies will have one soft marker. About 1 in 20 women will have 2 soft markers. That means it’s pretty common. Okay, I was feeling a bit calmer.
I guess by law, they have to report these findings to me, run down the details of the risks, what it means, and so on. For if they didn’t, God forbid upon deliver something were wrong, and I say “Why didn’t you warn me about the odds?”.
The fact that they found the two soft markers, my doctor was obliged to offer me Genetic Counseling where the counselor would assess all my pregnancy reports to date, and discuss options: an amniocentesis and a detailed ultrasound.
My doctor arranged for us to meet the Genetic Counselor on Tuesday.
I was in fear. What would come of this? As I exited the doctor’s office and got into my car, and only when I had closed the door, my tears began.
