Now that Baby B is here, I wanted to share some about my pregnancy journey and eventually fill you in on the actual birth. This post was originally written the week of November 13 when we learned baby wasn't in a great position for a natural birth.
My pregnancy has been awesome! I've felt great and actually enjoyed being pregnant. Yes, I've had aches and pains, but I've tried to be active and to continue eating well and it's seemed to work.
We did have a situation right at 35 weeks when at a third trimester group visit, we learned that baby was transverse. Not breech, which would have been a little worse, but just chilling sideways taking a nap at the top of my uterus right under my ribs with it's head on my left side.
That prompted the midwives to schedule me an External Cephalic Version (ECV) also known as a version.
In the days leading up to the version, I started spinning baby exercises to get the baby to move itself into the proper position. Each evening, I'd kneel on the couch and lower myself to the floor to hang upside down and breathe in 3 deep breaths before coming upright (repeated 3 times). I took warm baths, so baby would move head-down and put ice packs on the top of my abdomen to encourage it to go toward the warmth. I visited my Chiropractor to have the Webster technique performed. This basically opened my sacrum more to allow the baby room to get head-down. And I've been having some massage (bodywork) done throughout the entire pregnancy and can massage myself now to make room in my abdomen for baby, so I did that the morning of to make more room for baby to move.
I was nervous the day of the version as we checking into Wake Med Cary with our Doula, Sue, at 8:30am.
I had read up on the procedure and knew that drugs could be involved to relax my uterus (which is terrifying for someone that hasn't taken so much as a Tums or Tylenol in the last 3 years). I knew that they could try a few times, but if it didn't work, that could lead to a cesarean section and that the success rate of it working was only 58%. I have an anterior placenta, so I knew this procedure could be dangerous in terms of messing with the placenta. Or my water could break. Or the baby's heart rate could drop, which would result in an emergency C-section.
And knowing all of this, Kevin and I packed a hospital bag the night before...(very strange because we're planning on delivering at a birthing center and I hadn't even thought to pack my bag yet).
And so we were there...
And I was told I had to have a port placed on my hand just in case the emergency C-section happened. First try on my right hand went horribly wrong (nurse was fishing for a vein for awhile and caused my blood pressure to rise and me to get overheated and sweaty). Kevin even had to sit down for that one. Second try on my left hand went better, but still hurt.
I was encouraged to get terbutaline (a tocolytic medicine to relax my uterus). I asked if it was mandatory because I didn't want to be pumped with drugs...also knowing that if the version didn't work, I'd ultimately have an epidural with my unplanned C-section....and so I went ahead and got the terbutaline in hopes that the version would work and we could avoid the other scary things I hadn't let myself dwell on yet.
One of the Wake Med nurses said to imagine it was a deep tissue massage. The midwife said, "girl, this is going to hurt like a bitch, get all the drugs you can." So, that was encouraging!
An ultrasound was done and we learned that baby was still chilling sideways, but the head was now on the right side. It flipped over. HOW DID IT MOVE LIKE THAT? And that although I have an anterior placenta, it's off to my right side and wouldn't be in the way of the version.
The terbutaline was administered into my upper left arm and a minute later the doctor was in the room ready to start the version.
With Sue on my right side by my head and Kevin on my left, two nurses on my left, a midwife and a student watching with her at my feet and the doctor on my right, we jumped into it. I had my eyes closed and concentrated on breathing and kept telling myself I was getting a massage and though it hurt, it would be rude to tell the massage therapist to stop.
It probably took a total of 2 minutes and the doctor pressed HARD! At one point I thought I'd have to tell him to stop and thought "if I could just have a second pain free, I can keep going". It felt like his thumb was just piercing through me as it slowly moved across my stomach....and then it was over.
And it worked! Baby is head down!
I had to stay for another hour to two so they could monitor the baby and check my blood pressure. I was having some mild contractions, that I couldn't feel, so that was cool to see on the monitor. At least I know my uterus can contract and hopefully will during birth! And I was given a belly band to wear at all times over the next week
(which turned out to be the remainder of my pregnancy) to hold baby in place so it won't turn. Hopefully it works!
Kevin told me later that the mood in the room was jubilant as soon as the doctor finished. I still had my eyes closed because I didn't know it was over. He also explained how strange it was to see the baby be lifted up and turned. The doctor's hands were in up to at least his knuckles with the baby raised up and he had to put his knee up on the bed at one point to get more force/control. Kevin could see it all happening in my body and said how weird it was.
So now we cross our fingers, pray, and wait for baby to drop even further into my pelvis to get ready to be born.
I've heard (via Kim Kardashian) that a version is more painful than childbirth, so I'm feeling like a rockstar and very hopeful that I can rock out labor! I'm so encouraged that contractions come in waves, because if I can get a break, I can handle the pain!
Reflections:
Side effects of the terbutaline are racing of the heart, nervousness or dizziness, etc. I don't know that I had any of that...and if I did, I contributed it to not being able to eat past midnight the night before, so I was HUNGRY! It wasn't a horrible thing even though I was initially against it.
The digging in my right hand to find a vein ultimately hurt worse than the version (in my opinion) and has started bruising nicely.
The renovations done at Wake Med Cary are GREAT! I would feel comfortable laboring there now. Although I'm still happy to be at the birth center, it wouldn't be the worst thing. They have tubs and showers for laboring and the room was really pretty and nicely done! It helped me relax and didn't smell at all like a hospital!
I fully believe that being active, having massage/bodywork throughout pregnancy, and routinely seeing my chiropractor gave my body a really great shot for a successful version. Baby did have plenty of room to move!
I'm thankful for midwives who encouraged this and a doctor
that did an amazing job. I've heard other stories of women who have
breech and transverse babies and there are doctors who won't even try to
flip them. One story I heard recently, the lady asked for a version
and the doctor said, "oh no, it will break the baby's neck, we'll just
schedule you for a C-section." Ugh! Makes me crazy to hear that!
So from me to you, if you're ever in need of a version and baby hasn't moved on it's own, they're not that bad! I'd recommend it if natural birth is part of your plan!
