Adventures of Vertical Living!

I just realized today that it was time for an update here. We've had some excitement in the past week that is due to be shared...

Last Thursday, I was hit with a stomach bug that totally wiped me out and sent me into the hospital for re-hydration (3 bags of IV fluids). We stayed overnight and went home in the morning, once I could keep food down. Poor Paul got hit with the same bug the next day, as well as my sister and mother-in-law. It was a family affair. Upon discharge, our Perinatologist remarked that, since I had hit the 36 week mark, I no longer needed to be on bedrest. So, for the past week I have been taking advantage of getting back to "vertical living" (with caution). My legs and feet aren't really sure about all of this up-rightness, because they have been the source of much discomfort. I get very tired quickly, once I've been walking around, and I have lost pretty much ALL flexibility. I remarked to Paul the other day that I don't know how I am actually going to labor, when the time comes, because my body is so outta whack!

Our next bit of excitement happened today. We had an appointment to remove the cerclage, but since the baby is still breech, they would not remove the cerclage, and attempted to do an external version (ECV) instead. The ECV is where the doctor tries to manipulate the baby into the head-down position. We gave it a shot and he would not budge! The protocol after the procedure is to monitor the baby for a bit to make sure that he tolerated being pushed around and there were no adverse effects. His heart rate following the ECV was great, but we quickly realized that I was having regular contractions that weren't really slowing down. We ended up staying for a few hours so that I could receive IV fluids, which did the trick.

So, we returned home this evening with the friendly advice to, "call your OB and schedule your c-section." I am still swallowing this directive, as many of you know, I am "slow to react" and it usually takes me some time to collect my thoughts about anything. I will not feel like I "failed" if I end up needing to have a surgical birth, but it is a disappointing reality that I had hoped (and still hope) to avoid. Right now, I will just continue to be thankful that Leo is still healthy and growing. Maybe tomorrow I will start seeking peace in the pending probability of a c-section.

Thanks, everyone, for all of your prayers!