35 weeks

I had my 35 week check up today, also my ultrasound to check baby Sam's position and get his weight estimate. There was a distinct moment one night (a couple weeks ago) when I thought I felt him turn. Since then movements have felt a little different and he hasn't felt as high... I was convinced he was no longer breech. But I was wrong! He is still head up and even had both feet by his head (instead of just the one), making his current position "frank breech" (translation: bum and manly parts "presenting" first... this kid might be a show-off). :) Ha. His current weight estimate is just a little over 6 lbs, putting him in the 69th percentile. 

My doctor's office was totally laid back about Sam's position, offering me a number of options if I would like to do anything. The truth is, I want a c-section, but I don't want it to be elective... I want it to be what I should do (because my baby is breech, for example). So, I totally scheduled that sucker for November 9 (they like to do it the week before your due date). It's very difficult for me to reconcile how different I feel between Elana's pregnancy/birth and Sam's. With Elana, I wanted to reduce interventions for the sake of an easier birth on my baby. After my first experience giving birth, I had a very long recovery and I feel confident that many of those lingering issues would be felt again during the postpartum phase (think years). My OB and I talked a little about complications/recovery of a c-section and she pointed out that there is a significant difference in outcomes between planned c-sections and ones that occur after labor has begun--basically if they're planned and completed ahead of time, they tend to go much smoother. I know a c-section will still require a recovery period, but at least the pain will be in a different location. Sam could absolutely still turn, but at this point I'm not sure that I would change my birth plan.