There are days when I can't believe it has been almost an entire year since Dylan was born, and then there are those days when I feel like it has been several. A year ago this month I was doing everything I could to turn Dylan back into the head down position. After my midwife visit in May, it was determined that Dylan was head down, in the perfect position and too big to turn around. Wouldn't you know it, that stubborn little boy decided that he was going to accomplish what they said he couldn't do. At my early June appointment, he was head up and happy to be there. We were a short window of opportunity get him to turn back around without medical intervention. Despite my resistance to showing my extra large and extra white thighs, I went swimming frequently and did hand stands in the pool. I laid on the floor with pillows propped under my hips and headphones positioned low on my belly for hours on end. We took a flashlight and held it up to my belly, and then slowly moved it downward. This made Dylan move around, but he refused to flip. Chad and I even went to an acupuncturist to learn moxibustion. I, more appropriately, called it burning my toes.
Moxibustion is a form of traditional Chinese medicine where you burn a stick made of mugwort (aka moxa) and hold it at the outer corners of your pinkie toes until it starts to burn. You then take it away for a few seconds and start again, repeating for 20 minutes twice a day. Despite my American skepticism, it did cause me to have contractions but didn't cause Dylan to turn.
If you can't tell already, I was determined not to need medical intervention.My whole plan was to give birth with no medication, in a tub in a quiet room with no one around but my husband and midwife. Unfortunately, my determination was not enough. I was a sobbing, hysterical wreck as I set up my appointment for an external cephalic version. Basically, this involved monitoring through ultrasound while a doctor placed her hands behind the baby's head, and a nurse placed her hands behind his bottom. They push and push until he flips around and is head down. Imagine how hard they have to push to get enough grip on the baby's body to push him around in utero. Not pleasant, and pretty scary thinking about what my poor baby was going through. The good part is he's a happy and healthy 11 month old now, so I guess I did the right thing.
