It became very obvious to us today that our unborn daughter is firmly in charge. She is displaying all of the traits of the women on my mother's side of the family. Strong willed, stubborn and in-control. Before I'm inundated with complaints from angry female relatives (by which I really mean just my mum!), I should point out that these women are also incredibly caring, loving and generous.
It has been a pretty fretful baby week so far. Let's take a step back to yesterday afternoon. You may or may not remember that our daughter was breech at her last scan. Yesterday was the presentation scan to see if she had decided to turn herself. My wife was sure she hadn't. She was right. As she always is! Because she was still breech, we were then offered the chance to have an ECV, where the consultant tries to turn the baby externally. Our other option was to book in for a Caesarean-section. We felt we owed it to ourselves and our daughter to give the ECV a try. We knew it would be painful and uncomfortable for my wife and would have only a 50% chance of working. But my wife wanted to give birth naturally, knowing that it would be better for both of them if she could. So, we agreed to the procedure and were booked in for this afternoon.
Full of worry and trepidation, we put the hospital bag in the car (as there is a very small chance that the ECV can distress baby so much that an emergency C-section could become necessary) and headed for the hospital. Once in the delivery suite, my wife was attached to a machine, which listens to the baby's heartbeat, for half an hour. Then came the tough part. A softly spoken and gentle looking female consultant came in briefly to introduce herself and then she left again. It was at this point that my wife commented that at least she looked gentle and wouldn't be able to be too brutal. I retorted that it is always the quiet looking ones who are the toughest (I'm not sure why. Thinking about it now, it wasn't the most supportive thing to say!) I was right. As I never am! She came back in and wasn't gentle. She was pretty brutal. Of course, she had to be. She wasn't just some kind of sadist. The procedure requires a lot of pressure and force.
It was hard to watch my wife and daughter being so forcefully manhandled. The consultant was impressed with my wife's pain threshold, as she said that most other women would have been screaming out in pain under the force and pressure she was having to exert to try and turn our stubborn little lady. It became clear after a while that she wasn't budging. She's very happy that way up thank you very much! So, much to the relief of my wife and probably my daughter, the consultant decided to call it a day. My wife was reattached to the monitor to see if the procedure had caused our little one any distress and almost immediately my daughter started to wriggle. A victory dance perhaps? She had her own way, that's for sure. And, thankfully, her heartbeat was fine. In fact, the midwife said it was better after the ECV than it was before.
We're now booked in for a C-section on 17th July. We were so convinced she was coming sooner through induction that today feels a little anti-climatic. But they are both well and that's the only thing that matters after the stresses of today. I am unspeakably proud of the strength and courage my wife displayed today. Everything she did was for our daughter's well being and health. As for our daughter? Well, I know that her great nanny Beryl will be looking down on her, proud of the stubbornness she is already displaying and also more than just a little pleased with her little victory over the healthcare profession today!
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