"Sunny Side Up" Labor and Deliveries?

Mine ended in a c-section after 23 hrs of labor... - which all worked out just fine - she was born healthy and I was fine too! Each birth is different, I'd ask you doctor what to expect. Best of luck!

Three babies for me and I only ever had back labor. I believe all my kids were born facing up though.

They can shift a lot the last few weeks.
Head down is always better than breech.
You can try to spend a lot of time on your hands and knees and try to let gravity turn her over.

talk with your doctor and nurses about your concerns.

If they honestly believe she's going to come early - are you getting the steroid shot to help develop her lungs?

None of my babies were sunny side up so I can't help you with personal experience....

good luck!

My daughter did not turn. We didn't know she was sunny side up until delivery. My doctor tried to turn her over, but failed. The back pain and feeling my doctor try to turn her was the worst pain of my life. I don't want to scare you, but I want you to be prepared for it. I had an epidural, but I'm convinced it didn't work due to the pain and actually feeling my doctor's hand inside me trying to turn her. I ultimately had to have a c-section. It was determined that I had other issues causing the c-section besides her position, so a c-section may not be necessary for you, but be prepared just in case. I think because I decided that I would have a c-section if necessary, when the doctor actually said it was needed, I wasn't scared and in the position to make a decision at the time. The decision was already made.

Our second was sunny side up. Apparently, it's rare for a successful vaginal delivery when the baby is this way. I ended up with the entire L&D dept. there to watch our daughter's birth because most had never seen one end up this way. An intern was doing my delivery, noticed our daughter was faced incorrectly and got the dept. head to finish the delivery. The stream of nurses and doctors soon followed.

Anyway, the pain was much stronger with her than her brother. I was on an epidural and still felt pain through it, where I had zero pain with her brother. However, she was an amazingly easy delivery. I had maybe 10 minutes of pushing and she was out.

Be prepared for a bruised baby. Our daughter's face was purple and smashed from the experience. Within a few days, though, she looked more normal. When people wanted to see photos, we did distance shots and changed them to black and white. No one really wants to hear that your child is purple because she traveled through the birth canal the wrong direction. A bit TMI for most people and that saved us the discussion.

My first came out sunny side up. I delivered her naturally. It was my first labor, and it was long......30plus hours. And yes, it was back labor. i remember at one point my glut muscles actually cramped! It was painful, but I was a first time mom and I hadnt mastered breathing and meditation yet. I have no doubt the labor would have been be super easy if I had to do it again now ;-)

Since this will be your second labor, it should go quickly, so you should easily be able to deliver naturally ;-)

My son turned while I was in labor. He had to see what was going on as he entered this world. He is still very into everything and has to know everything that is going on around him. It was fine, he was delivered by forceps but ended up just fine.

My first was sunny side up and premature. Long story short, I ended up with a c-section.

My first was born this way. I had an epidural, so can't comment on back labor. But my doc had a heck of a time getting him out! He had to use a suction cup thing on his head twice to get him out after I pushed and pushed. He was also a big baby at 8 lbs. 10 oz.

My second was sunny side up but we didn't even know it until after she was born. The only difference between her labor and the others was the time between my water breaking and delivery, hers was nine hours and the others were within two hours. They all pushed out really fast though. Try not to worry too much and best of luck, hope that baby stays in a bit longer!

My 2nd was sunny side up. I did the hula - literally hula danced around the hospital room - for 45 minutes to turn her. I looked and felt like an idiot, but it worked. My L&D nurse said that's what she does with all moms in my situation, and it usually works. Worst part was no epidural till she turned and by then it was too late, I got one but it didn't have time to take effect before I delivered. At 33 weeks you have plenty of time for her to turn, I wouldn't get too worried about it at this point.

My 3rd was sunny side up. My doctor (when she finally arrived) had to stick her arm up there and turn him. It wasn't easy, but it worked.

2nd baby was " sunny side up", no back labor but pushed for 2.5 hrs & ended up with C-section.

My DD was face up through labor. She never flipped over.
We had other issues that resulted in an emergency C section (her should was stuck on my pelvis), but had that not been the case, she could have been born normally.

For labor pain...I had an epidural, so I can't speak to whether or not it hurt more than my son. But no one on the OB staff at my hospital even flinched when she was face up. It's pretty routine for them, from what they made it sound like.

Both of mine were sunny side up. Ugh. I had epidurals with both, but could still feel SO much pressure, and it was painful. Basically the baby's head smashes into your pelvis, which feels just as wonderful as it sounds. But both of them were born healthy with no problems, so that's good! Best of luck with your upcoming delivery! I'm sure your baby will turn in time.

My second was this way (oh and my mom said I was this way, too!). I didn't use epidural or drugs with either of my kiddos.
So with my "sunny side up" kiddo, I used the bar a lot more and it was more work than with #1. He got stuck for a while at which point I looked at my nurse and asked what we could do - she said forceps or episiotomy or push - so I just pushed more - LOL. I say that so you will be prepared. Gravity and the use of the squat bar was a life saver.

You can have natural, you can do it. Stay positive, be flexible and know that one way or another this little one will be in your arms at the end of the process and that is the goal:)

Go to the spinning babies website for exercises that can correct the posterior position. Their breech spin exercises work in one of my pregnancies and the front to back ones look pretty effective. I would focus on that and hope for a positive outcome. I don't know what position my singleton babies were facing at 33 weeks (other than head down) but they were all anterior by the time labor started.

When I had twins (I was a surrogate), the first baby was in a great position and she was out in a few pushes. Baby #2 was bigger and when he descended, he was sunny side up. He took about 40 minutes of pushing, which was a lot for me. The doctor wasn't my regular doctor and didn't realize the position he was in until he was crowning. I really think that my regular doctor would have figured it out earlier than that and would have had a good chance of guiding him into the right position - she fixed a cord wrapped around the neck in the middle of one of my other deliveries and was not squeamish about literally going in, pushing a baby back and doing what she needed to do to correct something for a safe and easy delivery.

Good luck to you!

For what it's worth, here's my experience. Both of mine were sunny side up. My second I managed naturally. My first, even my Korean midwife told the doc to give me an epidural (something not normally done in Korea), because the back labor was so intense that I was having trouble breathing. In both cases, though, there were no complications other than the back labor. Massage and getting off my back and upright or onto my side did help with the one I delivered drug free. Nothing short of the epidural helped with the first. Both of my labors were also fast, so that may have been a part of the intensity of pain I experienced. I went from "this might be labor" to "welcome baby" in under five hours both times. I refused to allow episiotomies, and I did tear some, but I healed quickly and cleanly. For me, the pushing phase only lasted a few minutes, and my babies didn't need forceps or any other help getting out into the world. All we needed was for somebody to catch them.

As for what back labor is like, remember your last labor? Now switch the sensations you experienced from your abdomen to your back. I didn't even feel contractions along the front of my body. (They were probably there, but my back had all my attention.)

Unlike what some other posters have reported from their experiences, my babies did not come out any more smushed or bruised than one who was born face down.

If you can't get the baby to turn, please don't let it frighten you. Back labor isn't fun, but neither is the usual kind, and it IS manageable, especially if you are flexible about options and your caregivers are paying attention.

I wish you a good birth experience and a healthy baby.

To be clear by sunny side up do you mean face up or bum first? I am thinking face up but wanted to make sure. My first was NOT but I had the back labor issue anyway. Icy hot can take the edge off and make sure you have something to massage your back (a tennis ball?). Your partner will need to do that for you. My second was face up. She was smaller than my first (7Lbs 12oz vs. 9lbs 6oz.) so that helped. my first was 2 pushes and my second was 3. It can be more difficult because it is going against the grain but its not always way worse.

My first daughter was born sunny side up which we didn't know about until she arrived. I didn't use any drugs during labor and the back pain was truly terrible. No complications during delivery and the pain ended once she was out. You can have a natural L&D.

My first was born sunny side up. No epidural. Back then they were not used. Wasn't bad. Back labor yes but it was not anything that I cold not deal with.

Most of the time, face up babies turn on their own. But they don't always. My second baby was face up and because I had a doctor I had never met who really didn't care how much I labored, (my own doctor had been up all night the night before...) I was in labor for 23 hours. My baby was stuck and could not come out until the nurse at shift change turned him for me. She had delivered babies herself as a midwife and knew what she was doing. As soon as she turned him, he came shooting through the birth canal and was born without a contraction.

Yes, I had back labor and it was really painful. The epidural only covered my stomach (thank God for that) because I wasn't able to have a lot of medicine. It was frightening, to be honest. I would NOT have been able to handle 23 hours of labor without some pain relief.

Since you know he is face-up (they call it OP, btw), the first thing you want to know when you go to L&D is if he has turned. If that lazy doctor I had would have even asked himself WHY I was taking so long with a second baby, I could have shaved SO many hours off of my laboring. They can do an ultrasound to check that. Make sure they do.