Collin Robert...

Oh my goodness....I LOVE being his mommy!! I know every mom feels this way, but he's just so wonderful!!!

We have more family pictures on my mom's camera which I will post later. But until then, I thought I would give you a little taste of the many future picture posts. Hope you enjoy!!

Tuesday

February 24....that's the day Collin will be in our arms!

I went to Dr. Bohl-Witchey and she felt it was best to go ahead and get him delivered. So unless he miraculously flips this weekend, we will be holding him on Tuesday!

Thank you for your support, now please forgive me...

Ok, this is the last post about this situation, I promise.

I was emailing a friend this morning asking her some questions about her c-section when the Lord sternly hit me over the head about how terribly self-absorbed I have been. Let me explain. I was telling my friend that I'm nervous about the recovery from a c-section because the only thing I have to compare it to is when I was 12 years old, had an emergency appendectomy and 10 days later had another major surgery. That knocked me out for a very long time and seeing as how a c-section is surgery, I was wondering if the recovery time would be comparable. That's what the Lord hit me over the head...

He quite sternly reminded me that medically speaking, there was a very good chance that I would never be able to conceive a child because of that emergency appendectomy and subsequent surgery, yet He made that happen. He gave me the desire of my heart to have a baby and here I am complaining about how Collin is going to be born. Are you kidding me?! Honestly, I have had a good pregnancy and have had a healthy baby boy growing inside of me for the past 9 months and yet I STILL found something to complain about. How He puts up with me day in and day out I will never know!

So I say this to say, thank you so much for your continued support throughout this journey. I covet your prayers and am so very thankful for them! Now, it's my turn to ask for your forgiveness, so please forgive me for being so selfish and self-absorbed. Next time I do that, because unfortunately I'm sure there will be a 'next time', call me out on it.

Clarification

I talked with Dr. Bohl-Witchey today and she was able to clear some things up for us. First off, Collin is fine...praise the Lord! She said his dilation is about 2cm and it's been about 1.8cm, so it was increased a little bit but not much and still nothing to be concerned about. She also said that the tiniest flick of your finger while doing the ultrasound can make things look worse than they actually are. So she assured me that everything was fine with Collin. Good news!

However, when Dr. Fumia was talking with her yesterday, he said that while he was doing the ultrasound he was pushing on Collin some to see if he would move at all and when he did that, my uterus began contracting. (I didn't feel it when he was pushing...I felt him pushing on Collin but didn't realize that I was having a contraction.) So because of that, he told Dr. Bohl-Witchey that an external aversion wouldn't work. She explained that the uterus muscles need to be relaxed and not contracting in order to flip him. And while there is a medication she could give me to keep my uterus muscles relaxed while she attempted the aversion, it still wouldn't work. The plan was to do the aversion and if it worked to immediately start me on pitocin and begin labor. Well, if she gave me medication to keep my muscles relaxed, she couldn't give me the pitocin right away which would give Collin a chance to flip back, thus the aversion won't work. Big bummer!

So, now the plan is to have my regular appointment on Friday and check my amniotic fluid levels. If they are still good, then we can wait until March 2 to do the c-section. If they aren't good, we'll have to go in Tuesday for the c-section. However, she did still say that if I came in on Friday and he was head down she would go ahead and induce me right then.

As of today, I'm going to the chiropractor twice today and tomorrow with the hopes of getting Collin to flip. I'd love to go in on Friday and have him be head down and begin labor, but obviously I don't have a choice in the matter. I'm so glad in our childbirth class they had us plan out our ideal labor and delivery and then made us realize that rarely does that happen, so go in as open-minded as possible. I'm still working on that.

In the mean time, I'm going to continue going to the chiropractor, trying this acupuncture and above all else, pray. Pray that everything continues to look good with Collin and that ideally, he'll flip.

Latest Update

I'm truly not trying to be a drama queen these last few weeks with Collin, so please forgive me if I'm coming across that way. But here's the latest.

We went to see Dr. Fumia, the specialist, today and we always do an ultrasound at these visits. I knew Collin didn't feel right this morning in that he felt much higher and breech than he has nearly the past week. I was not too happy about this and not looking forward to the ultrasound for fear that it would burst my little bubble that he's flipping. Unfortunately, my bubble has been burst. The little stinker is breech again! Ugh!! Now, there are some good things to this latest situation. 1) He's not frank breech anymore, meaning his little legs are NOT up over his head...this is a good thing for the potential of him flipping on his own or for a successful aversion 2) He's no longer 'sunny-side up' meaning he's facing my back and if he would simply flip to head down he would be in the ideal position for a vaginal birth. So, although it wasn't the news I was hoping for, it's not the worst thing either.

Collin does still have dilation in his collecting system. He's had this all along and Dr. Fumia has always felt that it's not been cause for concern and that in fact all male babies have a dilated collecting system due to increased hormones during pregnancy. However, at this point in pregnancy, your amniotic fluid begins to decrease, or so he told me. Because of this, the dilation could become a little worse and because Collin is considered full term, Dr. Fumia suggests we deliver him next week. His reasoning is because he wants to ensure that Collin's dilation is simply due to the increased hormones and not a blockage in his kidneys and that'll be evident at birth. However, he also said that he would definitely need to be delivered asap if my fluid levels have decreased at my next appointment with Dr. Bohl-Witchey which is Friday. Quite frankly, Robert and I are once again confused with what he's saying. On the one hand, he says it's time to get Collin out but on the other hand if my fluid hasn't decreased by Friday, we'll just keep playing it by ear and keep him in me a little longer. Confusing. So, I'm planning on calling Dr. Bohl-Witchey tomorrow and asking her to clear things up for us. (Dr. Fumia said he was going to call her and talk with her about this situation)

So, all that to say he's flipped back to being breech...we probably don't have as long anymore to go to the chiropractor and get him to flip naturally...there is a good chance I will be holding my baby on Monday, this Monday! So much to swallow and absorb!

I'm really not trying to beat a dead horse here, but if you could please say some extra prayers for us, we would very much appreciate it!

Exciting news!!

First of all, thank you thank you thank you for praying for Collin and I!! I have very exciting news to share with you. No, he hasn't flipped yet.....but, he's in position to and trying to!! Hooray!!

On Monday, I started going to a chiropractor who has been doing acupunture on me and although being 36 1/2 weeks along isn't the ideal time to flip a breech baby because he's getting too big, she was very hopeful and optimistic that she could get him to flip. Well, after only 3 days of seeing her, he has become unlodged, is nearly sideways and is in flipping position. He is no longer considered 'frank breech'! When I went to Dr. Bohl-Witchey today and did the ultrasound, she said she is very encouraged by his change in position and really thinks that he'll flip on his own! PRAISE THE LORD!! She told me to keep going to the chiropractor, keep doing my exercises, and keep praying! All of which I absolutely plan on doing!! So, please continue to keep us in your prayers.

Although he is in position to flip, Dr. Bohl-Witchey wanted to go ahead and schedule the aversion. So...we are scheduled to go in on March 2....that's right, 2 weeks and 4 days from today! At that point, if he hasn't flipped, she will attempt the aversion, hopefully he'll flip, I'll begin pitocin and labor will begin. If he doesn't flip, then they'll do a c-section right then.

Now, my next question was, what if he flips before the 2nd? We won't keep that scheduled date right? I'll just go into labor on my own? To which she said that if I come in and he's head down, it'll be our decision but she would be willing to start me on pitocin and begin
labor immediately that way he doesn't have the option to flip back. (She knows how badly I desire to have him vaginally.)

So we are certainly moving in the right direction!! I truly believe that he's going to flip on his own. If he has moved this much after only 3 days of going to the chiropractor, surely by the 2nd he'll have flipped on his own.

I'm going to keep on keepin' on.

Breech baby

Here's the situation...Collin is breech and very much settled into the position he's in. Ugh! As is, a c-section is my only option. I'm not a fan of this....oddly enough because I worry about the recovery. I'd rather attempt to have a vaginal delivery without an epidural than have a c-section with an epidural. Weird, I know.

I was asking Dr. Bohl-Witchey today how she felt about an aversion (externally flipping Collin) and she is not a fan of it. However, if I really want to try it, she will absolutely try it. There is enough amniotic fluid and the placenta is in the right position to attempt an aversion....Collin is not. He's currently head up, facing out with his hands up by his head and his feet straight over his head! What a little stinker!! He obviously has his momma's stubbornness in him.

So I'm asking you to please pray hard that he will flip. There are some exercises I can try, and will be doing as often as I can but I definitely believe in the power of pray. Dr. Bohl-Witchey said that if he would simply bend his legs, then she thinks an aversion would be successful. So, if you would keep that in mind and pray yes that he flips but at the very least would bend his little legs.

With doing an aversion, she requires me to get an epidural because her best friend, who is also a nurse, had an aversion and begged Dr. Bohl-Witchey to never, ever do that to another woman because it was so painful. As a result, if she does an aversion she requires you to have an epidural. In that case, she would schedule the aversion at 38 or 39 weeks, give me the epidural, attempt the aversion and if successful would start me on pitocin and induce labor. If it wasn't successful, I could either have the c-section right then since the epidural was already in place or, if Collin was still doing ok, we could wait a week and schedule a c-section then. Obviously, I would want to go ahead and have the c-section then....no way would I want to wait with the option of having him then! Therefore, probably in 2 or 3 weeks we'll be meeting our little man....unless he decided to come earlier.

In the mean time, though, please pray that he flips on his own so I can do this on my own. Thanks friends!