The big flip

Ahhh okay, we're home now, I've had a nap and I'm ready to tell the story. I had to get up at 5am today to get showered and to the hospital on time, so I was a little sleepy. Anyway, we did check in at 6:15am, maybe a little earlier. I had to sign off on a couple of pieces of paper that looked identical at first, so on the second one where it said relationship to patient I wrote "self." Then I realized that one was for the BABY, so I had to cross that out and write "mother" -- boy did that feel weird!

We went and sat in the waiting room for a few minutes until someone came and told us they didn't have any nurses available to get me prepped until the day shift came on at 7am. Ugh. So we took a little walk around the hospital and I showed Eric the pictures in the hallway of my mom and grandma from when they graduated from Sacred Heart School of Nursing! We went back to the waiting room again and watched Sports Center until about 7:15am when the nurse "J" came to get us.

The whole procedure took place in the labor and delivery triage area. I changed into a gown and hopped into bed. J strapped on two monitors - one for the baby's heart rate and one to monitor for contractions. She took my blood pressure which was about 112/72 I think, and started an IV. Boy did she make a mess with that IV, there was blood everywhere, even on her shoes! Then she asked me a whole bunch of health history type questions and we kept an eye on the baby's stats. He did great! His heart rate hovered around 130-135 or so most of the time, except when he was moving around it "accelerated" up to 155 or more. That is exactly what you want to see. I was also having a few contractions apparently, but not anything I could feel. The nurse got a call saying that Dr. H would be running a little late because he had to deliver a baby really quick.

Dr. H showed up just after 8am and got started right away after I signed the consent form. He tilted the table down so I was flat and then actually tipped it backwards (into "maximum heartburn position" he said) so I was on a slight incline with my head down. They took the straps off and the nurse just held the monitor in place while he checked via ultrasound to make sure the baby was still in fact breech, which he was. Then goop went all over my belly and he went to work, trying to make baby do a front flip. Baby's bottom was not too far in my pelvis which made it much easier he said. I have to say, it was uncomfortable but really not all that painful overall. It didn't feel good or anything but it was nowhere near the worst pain I have ever felt. And Dr. H was pushing really hard - so hard that his arms were shaking with the effort. I just laid back and tried to relax, staring at the ceiling. Out of the corner of my eye I could see both Dr. H and Eric glancing at me every once in awhile to see how I was doing. At first it didn't feel to me like it was working, it just felt like a lot of pushing and nothing happening. But the nurse and Dr. H were saying things like "there he goes" and "looks like it's working" - although at one point they stopped and Dr. H said "that's not a good place to get stuck." But he just repositioned his hands and kept going. Then it was over and done, it literally took about 5 minutes total. They checked on ultrasound again to make sure his head was down and then strapped on the monitors again. Yahoo! Success!

Dr. H said a few times that I did a great job! He said "give yourself a pat on the back" because I guess your ability to relax really helps your chances of the procedure working, so YAY! He said some women have said that after an ECV, labor pain was nothing. Now I can't possibly imagine how that could be true, but I'll take the compliment I guess. And they didn't even have to give me any drugs! Score!



After that we got to hang out for awhile monitoring the baby some more to make sure his heart rate didn't drop, which it didn't. I went to the bathroom and walked around for a bit, which felt totally weird! Now that the baby has his head down there is clearly more pressure on my bladder and my cervix and it is way less comfortable than before. However, it's a nice indicator to me that he hasn't flipped BACK over, which of course now is my ultimate fear. Anyway, then I ate some food and they monitored me and the baby for a little while longer. I was still having a few little contractions, but the baby's heart rate stayed steady and jumped up after I drank some really cold juice, just like it was supposed to. He seemed to be happy and healthy and content upside down, so I got dressed and they let us go.

Now we anxiously await the day when we get to go to Labor & Delivery for real! Let's hope it's soon because I can't stand the suspense! Not to mention the constant wondering if Seth is going to decide he doesn't like being upside down and flips right back over while I'm sleeping. I do take some comfort in the fact that up until today he stayed right side up for about 5 weeks at least, so it doesn't seem like he is prone to a bunch of flipping back and forth. Plus, with the effort it took to push him over it's hard to imagine he could get back on his own.

Well I'm off to enjoy the rest of my day off. Eric took the day off, too so we're going to be lazy and watch movies, and then later maybe try some old wives tales to try and induce labor, hee hee. And by that I mean we're going to eat some spicy food ;)