Time To Hang Upside Down

Yes, really.

I just came from my ultrasound where I found out that this girl of mine (who is indeed a girl, I did find out) is now completely Breech. No good.

I'm going to begin inversion exercises. And continue going to my chiropractor for the Webster's technique (see video on my last post). And I'm also going to find a Chinese Medicine/acupuncturist and go. I'm not looking forward to that one. I tried acupuncture once and hated it. But it's certainly better than the alternative.

Here's the inversion technique I will try. I'm not looking forward to it, either.

I'll let you know how it goes...

Are Baby Girls More Difficult?

My supposed baby girl ( I say "supposed" because it's possible that the doctor made a mistake, and it's not a girl I'm carrying) is being difficult. I have heard that boys are much easier, and girls are more complicated... I wonder if she's starting already?

Last week I went for a checkup to find that the baby was lying in a somewhat transverse position.

This is a true transverse lie. The baby is going side-to-side instead of up and down. A baby in this position cannot be delivered vaginally. It would have to move into a better position, or be delivered surgically. I don't think I have a true transverse baby; she seems to be more oblique.

This is an oblique position. The head is at least in the right "hemisphere" (down). This baby still needs to move before coming out, but it's a lot closer.

This is an optimally positioned baby. This is what I want. Head down, in the middle, with the baby's back facing outward.

There are things that I can do/have done to help my baby turn into the right position.

One is the Webster's Breech Turning Technique, performed by a chiropractor. I had this done 2 times last week, and on the third visit, my legs were completely balanced, so he didn't perform it.

I have been diligently trying to discern the baby's position, but I really can't tell. So, I'm going for an ultrasound in just a little while to see what she's up to.

I'll let you know!

"For Low-Risk Births, Home Is As Safe As Hospital"

I just read a great article, on Quality Health, put out by Reuters Health in New York. It states that for low-risk births, home is as safe as hospital.

"Low-risk women should be encouraged to plan their birth at the place of their preference, provided the maternity care system is well equipped to underpin women's choice," Dr. A. de Jonge, from TNO Quality of Life, Leiden, the Netherlands, and co-researchers note in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

I am tired of people looking at me like I have two heads when I say that I am planning to give birth at home, that I have done so for all four of my babies, and that I wouldn't want it any other way. Even if it is free of charge in the hospital, and I'd have to pay out of my pocket for a midwife at home. (we have socialized medicine here in Israel.)

I think the tide is turning.

"The findings, they conclude, indicate that with proper services in place, home births are just as safe as hospital births for low-risk women."

This study was done in the Netherlands, a place that has a lower rate of both maternal and fetal deaths than the US. Maybe we should listen to them.

People are getting wise to the motivation (from the hospital's side) behind most hospital births, and I am so glad to see more people seeking alternatives. The documentary movie The Business of Being Born gives great details about hospital births; watch the trailer here: http://bit.ly/f1Tzi

Cindy Crawford chose to have a home birth and shares her story in 4 parts. Here is the link to watch part 4 of her interview:

http://bit.ly/MwvTp

If you want to watch all of it, you can follow links on that site to the previous webisodes.





You can read the full article from Reuters here: http://bit.ly/KqNXW