Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Birthdays

I've been busy celebrating the Daughter's birthday - and myself. Because her birthday is also my day. There are few days in your life so big as the day you give birth, that's for sure. So in between blowing candles, cleaning up wrapping paper, singing birthday songs, assembling Playmobil houses (when it says on the Playmobil package that it will take 3 hours to assemble something - they're not lying...), I've been trying to celebrate myself and remember that day, five years ago. Trying to recall the feeling, the swirling thoughts and the miracle of it all.

And I can't help to wonder how things have been differently had I been in Sweden - what would have been different, what would that day have been like. Not in terms of "better" or "worse" - just what the experience would have been like. The Daughter was an "unplanned planned c-section" since she was discovered to breech on her due date. In the US you (normally) don't go through labor with breech babies , whereas in Sweden they might.

And what would it have been to get that traditional "sandwich and pommac"-tray...

3 comments:

BritGirl said...

Thats slightly worrying to me as my last baby only turned at the last minute while I was in labor in England. They had said that they would try to turn him manually in half an hour and I'm guessing that he didn't like the sound of that and turned himself before they could!
This baby was shown at the scan to be breech although of course it is early days. Hmmn...will they book me for a ceasar at some point if he doesn't then? Gosh Im going home quick if they start saying that!

Anna, Fair and True said...

In Sweden they try to turn the baby a few weeks before and if it turns back they give you the option of turning it on the day and trying to give birth the "regular way" or have a C-section.

JaCal said...

Britgirl - there is still plenty of time for him to turn and find the right way out. Discuss it with your doctor - I do know that some DR allows it - depending on experience and such. Since you've been around before, if you have the right DR it might happen. IF he stays breech - but things can happen yet! Don't worry now...

Anna - in my case it was way too late to turn her and when she was born they also said it would have been hard - she was a frank breech baby and she would probably not had had the space to turn - it would just have been very painful.