Pregnancy Update 16

Yesterday was my Midwife appointment. I was 39w4d at the time of the appointment. I have gained 1 pound since last week. Hopefully that is NOT all from the baby! LOL! My urine was negative for Glucose but +1 for protein. We retested at the end of the appointment after I drank a bunch of water and my urine was negative for protein at that point. We think that the protein is from me being dehydrated since I have no other symptoms of anything else. My Blood pressure was a 122/78 which is great! It is a bit higher than my average but not too high. Baby's heart rate was in the 130's and my fundus height is at 40 cm which is down from last week. But it probably has everything to do with his position and not his actual growth.

Linda checked for the position of our little baby and he is/was posterior. This is the second week in a row that they have mentioned that position. Last week was with a guest MW so I was less convinced that she was correct. But when my regular MW Linda said that baby was ROP or Right Occiput Posterior I knew that I better pay attention. *sigh*

So baby is in the ROP which is on the far left of the examples below. We want him to flip to LOA or ROA. Basically anything OA which stands for Occiput Anterior.

So ways to get him to turn are hanging out in hands and knees positions, pelvic rocks, lunges, stair climbing, walking, sitting on a birth ball, and doing an inversion. The inversion is where I have my body on the couch for instance and then put my hands on the floor so that my hips and butt are 24 inches higher than my head. And I hold that position until my head feels like its gonna explode or 2 minutes, whichever comes first. LOL! Apparently it helps stretch the ligaments on the sides of your uterus and encourages the baby to flip around, so his back is out and he is facing my spine.

I also had the MW check my cervix. It is still long (meaning NOT effaced) but soft. It is dilated to 3cm which is 1.5 more cm than it was 2 weeks ago. But it is still high and posterior. Baby's head is at -3 station. The baby's head being at -3 station is why my MW is not concerned about him being posterior. He has not engaged in my pelvis yet so he can still flip around. She also feels that because I am a 4th time Mom with a "proven pelvis" that even if he stays posterior that I can push him out on my own. But that most likely he will turn into a OA position either during early labor or before the onset of labor. She told me not to stress about doing pelvic rocks or birth ball sitting unless I really felt compelled to since most likely he will turn on his own when labor begins.

My opinion is that labor may not start until he is in a good position and his head settles down into my pelvis and onto my cervix. So I am gonna do the exercises and all to help him move into a better position. Besides the fact that the exercises help with lower back pain anyway. It is a win win in my opinion. And it helps me relax to be doing SOMETHING to help him get into is position.

I do feel like my ligaments are relaxing because I am sore and feel like my hips are all out of joint. And I am waddling. Yes.... like a duck. It is really sad. And getting out of bed and off the couch or really moving in general is becoming more difficult and painful.

So due date is Sunday. Sunday is also the full moon. Send me good position for baby and labor vibes!