Let me back up - this was not just a fun thing we decided to try on a whim. This really was kind of a last effort and it came with many risks and possible complications to consider. Here are the main things we had to take in to consideration.
1. It may not even work - I think the success rate for a version is about 50% with a good doctor. We had to wait until we got in with a doctor who is good at it, and I'm glad I had Helen doing all the leg work this week to get us here. We had the best in Calgary
2. It includes a lot of monitoring and being in a hospital for quite a while, which I am not entirely comfortable with. I've almost never been in a hospital before - and not at all that I can remember. I know it may seem like a silly price to pay to turn the baby, but I really had to decide whether I wanted to spend an extra day in there. It was comforting to find out that my midwife would be with me the whole time. That made it easier.
3. Most importantly - we could have had this baby today. The version has a slight chance of stressing the baby out - if there is a specific reason he/she isn't moving and we disturb it - and in that case I would be rushed in immediately for an emergency C Section.
Those were some heavy things to consider, but with much thought and prayer and reading and a blessing from my lovely husband and father-in-law we were ready to say "Yes, let's do this" when we got the call.
I started my day at 4 am with breakfast. Because of the risk of surgery being needed, I was not allowed to eat for 6 hours before the procedure. I got up, ate some food and then went back to bed.
A lovely nurse named Margot came in and did a quick ultrasound scan to confirm that baby was still in the wrong position - which of course it still was. Then came the IV. I have never gotten an IV before, and we were just chatting at New Year's brunch, comparing IV stories. Well I almost topped them all today, on my first try! I got poked 5 times, by 4 different people. My midwife gave it a try first, but only once. She said she's not very good and didn't want to poke me much. She grabbed a nurse who tried twice with no success, and then we got Margot back in - I think she was the pro nurse of the floor. She couldn't even get it, so she was very kind and went and got me the anesthesiologist. He was brilliant - in and out of the room in less than 2 minutes and with only one poke. Julie noted my file and said we'd always get the pros in here first from now on. I seriously think this was the worst part of the whole day, especially since I hadn't eaten at this point in about 6 or 7 hours.
He pushed me some meds to try to relax my uterus, and they made me very flushed and a little queezy. My face apparently went very red and so they waited a minute or two for my heart rate to be in a comfortable place and then asked if I was ready to go. With the go ahead he grabbed my belly - presumably the head and the bum of the baby - and he just gave it everything he had. It was the most bizarre thing I have ever experienced. It was very sore and I was breathing very hard, but as I was watching him do it I just could not believe it didn't hurt more. You should have seen this guy - a full grown man pushing on my body as hard as he could and making a face and even a little bit of almost sweat coming to his forehead. Then he let go. There was a collective sigh in the room. He explained to me that he was able to get the head to move almost all the way around, and the bum to come up some, but it didn't have enough room to follow. The placenta was blocking its way. He said he'd give it one more try, and that's all. Eric watched the first time from his chair, then the second time he came up by my head and stayed with me. (He told me later that from where we sat he was actually able to see him grab the head and watch it slide down my belly, and then fall back in to place when he let go.) He gave it one more good go, but still nothing. This baby is not ready or willing to move! He apologized and the he left.
Again, I'm so glad I had Julie (and obviously Eric) there with me the whole time. The rest of the staff was so busy with other patients it would have been hard to not have her there to ask questions to and to keep me comfortable. That was it. He was there for about 6 minutes, and the rest of the time was monitoring and supervision. We watched the baby's heart rate mostly, to make sure he/she wasn't stressed - it didn't even notice. All that I went through and the whole time it just chilled and stayed mellow. I am grateful for that.
We laid there a long time and waited for Dr. Wood to be available to come back for a consult. He advised me a bit about how a vaginal breech delivery would go, and gave me a study to read about them. He told me that if I were to come to that hospital and he was on duty, it was about a 50% chance for a completely successful delivery, and if not a C Section would be done. It was a long day of lots of information and by the end of it I was exhausted - partly from the meds as well.
I was a little disappointed leaving. After that I am assuming there is just about no chance that baby is going to give in. It looks like it is going to be born breech - either by natural delivery or C Section - and we're just going to have to remember to be so so grateful that we are both healthy and well.
I was upset and a little disappointed, but really have never felt so connected to my baby. I just lied on the couch wanting the baby to know that we were only trying to do what we thought was the best option. I wanted him/her to know that we were going to do everything we could to let it come safely in to the world and that we were just so excited to welcome it here, whenever and however the time comes.
No comments:
Post a Comment