A little over two weeks ago at my 34 week check up, Cora, had flipped to be transverse. Now, for those of you who don't know, this is not exactly ideal. Pictured below is first how a baby should be positioned in your belly, and second is how a transverse baby is positioned.
...So as you can see...this poses somewhat of an issue. It's hard to push a baby out, back first...sorry for the graphic mental image there...So of course one of my wonderful midwives suggested seeing a chiropractor and doing some different "exercises" to try and turn the baby and encourage her to go head down. Well, two weeks was going by fast and so far, there was still no change. Graham and I had heard of an acupuncturist in Buckhead that had really great success rates with flipping babies. And since we had some positional issues with Lincoln (you can reread the whole, long birth story here if you like!) we were starting to get a little nervous and feeling a little bit desperate. So this past Wednesday morning, at 36 weeks, we had an appointment and nervously but excitedly went to the acupuncturist.
Now I don't know about you, but thinking about acupuncture kind of freaks me out. I mean sticking needles in yourself for no darn, real reason? Kinda weird, right? Yeah, that's what I thought, too. So like I said, I was excited, but also nervous.
So we walk in for our appointment and the acupuncturist, Jenny, is there waiting for us. (No she doesn't have a long white beard and no she's not some old chinese man, she's a very pretty, normal American woman...surprising I know!) She's very nice and very personable right off the bat. I was feeling better already. So we go into one of the rooms, which is decorated more like a living room than a "doctor's" office and have a seat and just chat for a while. We chatted about my medical history, emotional history, what my past pregnancies and deliveries were like. And just did kind of a get to know you session. Which was super great and put me at ease. Then she explains that the process that they use to actually turn the baby is called moxabustion. And all it really is is burning herbal sticks near a trigger point at the tips of my pinky toes. Yup, you read that right. All we did was made my feet smell incense. Crazy stuff! She did do a few needles in a couple of different points just to calm me and relax me and help some of my ligaments become more flexible than tender. (A lot of times the ligaments in your pelvis will become sore when you are carrying a transverse baby, because they are being pulled on in the wrong direction.) So we burned the herbs (she took one toe while Graham took the other! :) Love that man...) and I had the needles in for about 20 minutes, then she gave us a few sticks to take home with us and told us to keep doing it for the next ten days, every day for twenty minutes.
Well, while we were sitting there letting my feet smell herbs....I asked her about how long it usually takes for babies to turn head down. She got a huge smile on her face and said, "Well, a lot of people will feel movement right away, but everyone's different. There's no guarantee and we'll just see what happens. Just relax."
Let me tell you, I know why she got a huge smile....I had an appointment right after with my midwife and was feeling great, and noticed Cora moving, but not really any more than she had been. I was hopeful, but had no expectations at all... Well, by the time we got to my midwife, she was already turned HEAD DOWN! I couldn't believe it. It was amazing to say the least. At eight o'clock that morning she was totally sideways and felt like she was staying put...She hadn't moved in two weeks from any of the exercises I had done or from going to the chiropractor. But in a matter of two hours she had flipped....unbelievable! And not only that, but it's Saturday....and she hasn't moved back!
I can officially say that I am a believer in acupuncture! It totally works. It's not covered by most insurances, but I would say that any persistent or chronic issue you may have would probably be worth the money spent there. They address all sorts of issues separate from flipping babies and she said another one of their biggest success rates is with infertility. I had no idea! I never would have even thought to go to an acupuncturist for any type of pregnancy related issue, but I definitely do now. So if you are interested at all....here's the website where you can read more information, or if you have had any problems that just don't seem to go away, I would definitely do some research on it. Google "acupuncture and (insert problem here)". Seriously, it doesn't hurt and could make a huge difference in your life....it definitely did for me. I was so worried I was going to end up with another c-section due to some fluke. Not the case anymore! :)
I hope you enjoyed my wonderful news and maybe I'll convert some of you....I can feel it....you know you want to google it...go right ahead. I'm not stopping you....
