Baby Is Breech and Looks Strange On 4D Ultrasound
The time had come for my follow-up appointment at the ultrasound place to get a second look at the baby’s heart, since they couldn’t get good pictures last time due to the baby’s curled up position. I was happy I’d at least get to see another picture of my baby and hopefully get a confirmation that the baby is indeed a girl–especially because everyone said it looked like I was having a boy since I was carrying so small and in front. I have to admit, I looked pretty good pregnant. No one could even tell I was pregnant unless I turned so they could see my profile. I was still hitting the gym 3 times a week, but just doing mild exercises.
I was now 7 1/2 months pregnant, and at the appointment I saw that the baby had grown a lot since the 20 week ultrasound. In fact you couldn’t even see the baby that well anymore because whereas before you could see the entire profile of the baby’s body, now you can only see certain parts of the baby very close up. I asked the tech if the baby still looks like a girl, and she said yes, so that made me feel a lot better since a lot of people got me “girl” clothes. This is the same tech I had for the past 3 visits, and I really like her a lot. She got the heart pictures she needed, and I asked what certain pictures on the monitor were of, because I sure couldn’t tell (being that they were zoomed in so close). She then zoomed in on the face and switched the machine from 3D to 4D and WOW..there was my baby! It was wild how clear (and freaky) the 4D pictures were. She printed them out for me and told me not to tell anyone since they’re not supposed to use the 4D feature. I know that some people pay big money for 4D ultrasounds, so I thought it was really nice of her to do that for me as a courtesy. When I got a chance to really look at the 4D pictures I got a little nervous. The baby looked weird! The tech explained that shadows occur on the pictures which can distort things, but man, I was getting scared that my baby was going to look like an alien. The nose looked huge, the chin looked too small and almost like the jaw was missing…I was beginning to regret seeing these pictures at all! In the back of my mind I tried to reassure myself that the tech and doctors never said anything about the baby missing her chin or anything, so I guess everything was ok, but I was still a little nervous. Great; another thing that made me feel like a bad mom already: being worried about my baby’s appearance. Isn’t there ever a time when a woman can just relax during pregnancy and not be paranoid about something?
The biggest shock of all during the ultrasound was when the tech told me that the baby was currently in a breech position. Even though she was head down (vertex) about 10 weeks earlier, she was now breech. She said not to worry since there is still time for her to turn, but that I may want to consider different delivery options with my doctor. Oh no, add another thing to worry about during this pregnancy. To make matters worse, I had just sealed in my mind that I was going to have an all-natural labor. If the baby didn’t turn by my delivery, I would have to have a C-section, which I did NOT want. It was time to do what I do best: research like crazy for answers and try to turn this baby around!
Tags: 4D+Ultrasound, baby, breech, exercise, gender, Lamaze, natural+birth, pregnancy, sonogram, ultrasound, vertex