36wks & 3days today & at the last appt doc tells me that because the baby is so low & my belly is hanging over the wrong side of the pubic bone, that I won’t be able to labor this one upright. This is baby #3. Hubby & I have been joking for months that this baby is gonna have to climb up to get out. Not a joke anymore! So if I can’t labor upright, does that mean laying down completely or what? And does that mean that I can’t deliver upright either? Next appt is this [name]Wednesday[/name] & will be asking for further explanation, but wondering if anyone else has been told this?
Tried to put in a pic of me at 36wks but it isn’t working.
Laboring on your back defies nature and gravity. I have never heard of a doctor telling a mom she can’t labor upright. I would definitely ask for further explanation.
That does sound odd, and you do need further clairfication. I’ve never heard of anyone being told that (unless it’s a situation where they’re going to be hooked up to a lot of fetal monitors), but since there’s an issue with your belly and your pubic bone, perhaps there is something special about your case. Hopefully, your doc will clear things up on [name]Wednesday[/name].
Unless you plan to be induced, you could labor upright at home for hours before going to the hospital, right? It’s not like your doctor could stop you.
Sounds odd to me too. Lying down makes the pelvis narrower, hence making it more difficult to push baby out. The positions that allow the pelvis to fully open are standing and squatting, so I can’t believe you’ve been advised to lie down!
Be sure to ask for a full explanation and if you aren’t satisfied, don’t be afraid to get a second opinion. Best of luck to you!
Sorry…never heard of this. I’m very interested to hear what your doctor says though when you ask for clarification.
The only thing I can think of is that the position of the baby is such that external fetal monitoring for baby’s heartbeat (constant monitoring is not necessary, but often hospitals do it anyway) can not get an accurate reading. Therefore, your doctor would recommend an internal fetal heartrate monitor, which keeps you in bed/not walking around… you should still be able to sit upright though with that.
If there was a true medical reason that I couldn’t be upright or move around at all to give birth…and this was something I verified with my own research (cause I don’t trust everything doctors say-- and I’m not one of those “anti-medical” people at all really, I just do my own research and get second opinions)…then I’d opt to have a voluntary C-section. That is saying A L O T because I am truly truly against voluntary C-sections and any C-section that is not a true medical necessity. I have to be able to move around during labor though!
I thought of something else. [name]Do[/name] you think your doctor was teasing you or trying to be funny? Like “hey…baby is soooo low already that you don’t even have to sit or stand (upright) to get her to move down!”
Perhaps you might like to check out this website: http://www.spinningbabies.com/
It’s all about fetal positioning, how to encourage baby into the right position for labour/birth and different postures and techniques for the mother to use during pregnancy & labour.
Dr said that because my uterus is flopped so far forward, I will have to start out labor on my back to allow the baby to move down into the pelvis. She said the baby is head down, but not down into the pelvis. She said I don’t have to stay on my back; after baby is moved down into my pelvis then I can be upright for the rest of the birth. I had one of my strong contractions while I was in the clinic. Eventhough to me the contractions feel like they are trying to push the baby down, she said they are pushing the baby up. Hmm… So maybe when I have these strong contractions I need to lay my butt down! And then struggle to get back up. LOL
Yay, it worked! Ok, so there’s a pic of me at 37wks preggo to show just how low my belly (and baby) is. [name]Will[/name] be 38wks tomorrow & OB appt on Thursday.
Well, I certainly believe you that your belly is low! I don’t completely understand the doctor’s explanation, but I think it will just be for the very beginning part of labor. Contractions should help get your baby into the right position. the Spinning babies website that someone else posted is great. It’s not to late to do some of those exercises (just get some support from DH or a friend) – knowing the positions may also help when you are in labor because you might find one of those positions to be comfortable (I’m picturing hands and knees for some reason that may help you) and also help the baby get in the right position.
I did look at the spinning babies site…soo many words!!! I’m a visual learner. I seriously suck at reading comprehension! Hoping that’s something my kids don’t inherit from me!
Crossing my fingers to go into labor tomorrow late afternoon 'cause my 14yr old niece is flying in tomorrow to help out with the other 2 kids. So excited for her to be here!!
Have you felt the baby “drop” yet? Usually the baby will drop before labor starts, right? And if the baby has dropped, then he’s engaged with the pelvis and I don’t see how being horizontal will make a bit of difference. The doctor sounds like he’s got some strange ideas here. Hopefully everything will go normally and you’ll be able to labor however you like.
The baby only drops before labor starts for the 1st pregnancy. This is #3. I totally noticed when my first one dropped. 2nd one dropped at some point during my 12+ hours of back labor. This girls head feels like it’s either pushing into my lower back or one of my legs during contractions. Her butt is just below what used to be my belly button.
I have a few times laid down on my back during some strong contractions to help her head get down into position, but then OMG do I struggle to get back up!! Definitely having more contractions yesterday & today than what I have been having. [name]Hope[/name] that means some progress is being made!
In my experience, my second baby definitely dropped about five days before he was born and I was not having any “real” contractions (when labor finally did start, it lasted only 75 minutes). So I’m not sure that only first babies drop (though I think I’ve heard that stated elsewhere), so keep an eye out for that anyway!
This is what WebMD says about the baby dropping. I think what I read before was from babycenter…which isn’t always accurate. But nearly every [name]Sunday[/name] for the past 2 months I’ve heard, “Wow that baby has dropped!” LOL It can only drop once!
At the end of the third trimester, the baby settles, or drops lower, into the mother’s pelvis. This is known as dropping or lightening.
Dropping is not a good predictor of when labor will begin. In first-time mothers, dropping usually occurs 2 to 4 weeks before delivery, but it can happen earlier. In women who have already had children, the baby may not drop until labor begins.
You may or may not notice a change in the shape of your abdomen after dropping. You may notice that your breathing becomes easier and heartburn occurs less frequently after dropping occurs. But the increased pressure on your bladder after dropping occurs may make you have the urge to urinate more often.
Usually the baby’s head is the first (presenting) part to enter the pelvis, but the feet or a shoulder can present first.
Station
During the last month, your doctor will estimate how far the baby’s head has moved down into (engaged) the pelvis. This is measured in “stations.” A baby is at -3 station when the head is above the pelvis and at 0 station when the head is at the bottom of the pelvis (fully engaged). The baby is at +3 station when the head is beginning to emerge from the birth canal (crowning).[/b]
I don’t completely understand the doctor’s explanation, but I think it will just be for the very beginning part of labor. Contractions should help get your baby into the right position. the Spinning babies website that someone else posted is great. It’s not to late to do some of those exercises (just get some support from DH or a friend) – knowing the positions may also help when you are in labor because you might find one of those positions to be comfortable (I’m picturing hands and knees for some reason that may help you) and also help the baby get in the right position.