Our 'Naughty' Daughter

Already I feel like one of those parents whose child can do no wrong!  My unborn daughter was called naughty by two different healthcare professionals on Monday.  I didn't like it.  The reason was that, during our scan to check on her size, it was discovered that she is still breech.  She has been breech for at least 4 weeks now.  The chances of her turning before we need to have an induction are getting smaller. 

Some of our rapidly expanding reading materials 

We had been so busy worrying that she would get too big because of my wife's gestational diabetes, that we had just assumed her position would take care of itself.  We had got used to the idea of an early induction and now we have some other possibilities to get our heads around.

The good news is that her size is perfect.  This means that, with everything else being normal, my wife would be induced at about 38 weeks.  However, the sonographer, of course, found that our baby is the wrong way up.  She was the first to comment on our little one's behaviour.  I know she was only joking, but I felt very defensive of my daughter.  It doesn't bode well for the future.  How am I going to react when my daughter's teachers say she has done something wrong?  Will I believe them?  I am delusional enough at this point in the pregnancy to believe that my daughter will be perfectly behaved all of the time once she is born.

One bit of other news from the scan is that we are definitely having a daughter.  This will stop me worrying about what happens if, when our baby arrives, we hear the words 'It's a boy!' when we have spent the last 6 months getting prepared for welcoming a daughter to our family.  She also has hair on the back of her head.  We don't know about the top!

We then had an appointment with the obstetrician.  During these appointments we are seen by a midwife first.  She was the second person to admonish our baby bump.  Silently irritated, I listened as we were told everything else was going well by the registrar.  Then we were told what would happen next.  This is the moment where things get a little complicated.  Bear with me.

At 37 weeks, a little over a week from now, we go to the hospital for a presentation scan.  This will tell use which way up our 'naughty' little girl is.  If she has turned, then we will be on for an induction during the following week.  We have been told that the induction process can take a few days for some people, which we are obviously very excited about!  This is the ideal scenario.  But, if she is still breech then we will be given the option of having an ECV.  This is an External Cephalic Version.  It is a process where the obstetrician externally attempts to turn your baby.  I've seen this done on TV and it looks pretty brutal.  If we choose this option, then we will need to take our hospital bag, as there is a very small risk that baby won't like it and become distressed, which may need an emergency cesarean section.

If the ECV is successful, and our little one doesn't decide to immediately turn herself around on the way home (she is naughty after all), then we'll be back on for an induction at 38 weeks.  If it isn't (and there is close to a 50% chance) then we will be booked in for a cesarean section a couple of weeks later.  We were helpfully informed that people do come in for their cesareans only to discover that their child has turned!  We are not sure what would happen to us at this stage.  We were feeling a little overwhelmed and didn't think to ask this question.  My guess is we'll be induced that day.

So we're a little confused and quite uncertain about what will happen and when it will happen, but we'd be even less certain if everything was going normally!  We'd have no idea when our little lady would be making an appearance.  The important thing is my wife and baby are well and are being very well looked after.  Aside from the behaviour issues we clearly have to address with our daughter the moment she is born (maybe some time of the naughty step will do it!), that is all that matters to me.