March Update

On November 16, 2015 at 23 weeks I had my last appointment with the doctor who has helped us since the very beginning and delivered all three of our boys. At this appointment, he gave me some recommendations for doctors with a similar disposition and I chose to begin seeing the doctor who I had seen with the twins at 37 and 38 weeks. 

All the appointments from there on out with the new doctor were very short and easy. Everything was going perfectly. Good blood pressure, heart rate, and belly measured right on schedule, not ahead. 

On February 22, 2016 at 37 weeks, I began our weekly doctors appointments. At this appointment, I was checked for the first time, and the doctor could not feel the baby's head. He sent me to ultrasound to see what was up. I had our first ultrasound since 19 weeks, and she confirmed that baby's head was up by my ribs. She went ahead and measured his size and my fluid levels. Baby was a good size and fluid was good. I went back to the waiting area and the nurse came and told me that there was still a good chance the baby could flip on his own because of his size and fluid levels and that they would check again next week. If he had not flipped by next week, we could talk about the doctor flipping him. So I set up my next appointment.

That week, we tried putting an ice pack on the top of my tummy to see if he would move away from the cold, or putting a heating pad on the bottom of my tummy to see if he would move toward the warmth. I picked up kid toys on all fours to give him more room to move around. I broke the ironing board by propping it up against the mattress and lying upside down on it.

On March 2nd at 38 weeks and two days, I went back to the doctor's office. I went straight to ultrasound and she confirmed that baby had not shifted. When I met with the doctor he offered to perform a version and I accepted. With a breach baby, it is an automatic c-section. He said we were great candidates for the version, my belly was measuring at 37 weeks, a week behind, so baby was not too big, my fluid levels were good, blood pressure, baby, everything looked good. I had also had two previous deliveries (one with twins!) so it would be a shame to have gone through that and then end up with a c-section this time. I agreed, and we set up an appointment at Huntsville Hospital Women and Children on the delivery floor for Friday March 4th. 

On Friday, March 4th, Noah took a sick day off from school because we did not know what exactly to expect. I knew they were going to hook me up to an IV and give me a drug to relax my uterus that would speed up my heart rate and I wasn't sure how that would affect my driving. We also knew that this increased our risk of going into labor (which is why they only perform it for term babies) or having an emergency c-section if something were to not go right. We dropped the kids off at mother's morning out and arrive at the hospital at 8:15 for our 8:30 appointment.

After a little confusion at the first desk, first with our procedure (we called it an ECV which confused them, they just called it a version) and then with my last name (your license doesn't have a hyphen but my social security card does, because those license people were all like 'we don't do characters') but we got signed in and we sat down to wait to be called back.

The nurse called us back and we went to a triage room on the labor and delivery floor. Just like labor and delivery, I had to put on the gown and lie down in bed and they put on a heart monitor for the baby and a contraction monitor. We then played the 1000 question game for the charts. Baby's heart rate was good and I was having periodic mild contractions, definitely not labor. The doctor came in, explained some more about what would happen and he used the ultrasound to confirm that the baby was still indeed breach. The position of the baby would also determine which way he would attempt to turn him. Our baby was not even halfway turned, he was straight up and down. The nurses prepared to give me the IV.

I didn't have explicit instructions going into the procedure, but just earlier that week, Corder had had one of his ultrasounds, and they always ask for him to fast before his ultrasound, so I decided better safe than sorry and I had not had anything to eat or drink since the night before. Apparently, I was a little dehydrated. The nurses had a hard time finding a vein. They stuck me on my left wrist, and were able to get the blood they needed for possible lab work, but they said a valve was blocking it, and it wouldn't work for the IV. They then stuck me a little farther up on my left arm, but that ended up not working either. Then they went to my right arm in the crook of my elbow and they put the IV in. Pretty much immediately afterward, I knew something was different, because I have had an IV before, but I dismissed my thoughts. My arm felt like it was being inflated like a water balloon. It hurt a whole, whole lot, but I figured it was supposed to be that way, so I didn't say anything. 

The doctor came in with a medical student, because he said, versions were not an everyday occurence and not all doctors perform them or some doctors will ask another doctor who does feel more comfortable or trained to do them. 

The nurses put the drug that relaxes the uterus into the IV, but I didn't really feel any differently. I laid down all the way. The doctor used to ultrasound machine again to confirm the exact position of the baby. After being covered with gel, the doctor used his hands to lift up on the baby and turn him completely around. He had warned me that it would hurt and feel very uncomfortable and to just breathe and relax. The better I could relax, the better the result would be. It honestly wasn't nearly as bad as I feared. It was incredibly weird. There was a lot of pressure and it was hard to feel exactly what was happening, and I also couldn't see it all. Honestly my arm with the IV was hurting worse than the version was. I closed my eyes and just emptied my mind as much as I could. It didn't take very long and then it was over. He used the ultrasound machine to confirm that baby was indeed now head down. Everything went perfectly! Noah was glad he was there, because it was a pretty unique thing to witness. 

The doctor and the medical student left. The nurses hooked me back up to the baby heart rate monitor and the contraction monitor. They needed to monitor the baby's heart rate for one hour uninterrupted before I would be allowed to go. If the baby jumped off the monitor, we would have to start over again.

So we waited and waited. Everything was going perfectly. No problem with heart rate at all. 

At the end of the hour, the nurses came back in, to take the monitors off and the IV out, so I could get dressed. Then she noticed my arm and how swollen it was. She went to go get the other nurse. The other nurse came in, and it turned out that the fluid was filling up my tissue and not just my vein. I wasn't going to get to go home yet. They checked my lungs and then wrapped my arm up in a warm towel and I had to put it over my head to help with the swelling. After about another thirty minutes and another check, the swelling was starting to go down and they said I could go home.

I got dressed with one hand since I really couldn't bend my right arm because it was so swollen and we got our discharge papers and went home. 

My arm is doing much better now, though it's not completely back to normal, but mostly, I can at least touch my nose now!


Video of an ECV in Britain
This is the video I watched before the procedure. Pretty incredible. 

Of course there is still a chance the baby could flip again or something could go wrong in delivery and I will still end up with a c-section. I am glad we have given ourselves this chance though because breach means 100% c-section. My next appointment in Wednesday at 39 weeks two days.