External Version

Monday morning we were supposed to go to the Birthing Center to have an external version performed. I got a call about an hour before our appointment saying that the version needed to postponed for a day due to a couple of emergency Cesareans that needed to be performed. The next morning David and I called to make sure our appointment was still going to be held. It was. We got to the center and got checked in.

They took us to one of the labor rooms and performed a quick ultrasound to see if she was still breeched and where her heart was. She was still there so they hooked me up to a fetal monitor to perform a stress test. Basically it was just observing the baby to see if she was in shape to handle the version. It was only supposed to take 20 minuets, but the nurse was really busy and didn't come back for an hour. By this time I hadn't had anything to eat for 10 hours and all I had was a cup of water a few hours beforehand (I was only supposed to drink 8oz of clear liquid an hour and wasn't supposed to drink anything once I left home), so I was pretty dehydrated. This was when they decided to put the IV in me. It took a while for them to get a vein to come up, but the nurse was very patient and did a lot of different of techniques to find it to make sure it was going to be a one and only poke. She then used the IV port to draw some blood (which David helped her with-to my surprise. He doesn't handle blood very well. Neither do I, but I just didn't look). I hope the picture below isn't too gross for anyone...

It did cause my hand to swell a bit. Then David and I were left alone again. We sat and waited for doctor to come.

Get that baby to move now!

Awhile later we met with an anaesthesiologist just in case this procedure was going to cause me to go into labor. Then the nurse came back with the doctor and the anaesthesiologist sat in the corner waiting...

They gave me a drug that softened my uterus (don't remember the name if it), it took affect right away but it made me feel really jittery as if I had just had 4 straight shots of espresso. Then the doctor went to work. She had me take deep breaths while she pressed on my abdomen. She tried to move her but she wouldn't budge. Then tried again. And again. And again. And again. It wasn't like she wasn't able to grasp her, she just didn't want to move. They kept checking her to make sure she wasn't in any distress and she was doing just fine. A procedure that should only take about 10 minuets ended up taking a half hour! The doctor said she was pressing harder than she normally would, but nothing worked.

Since it was not successful a C-Section was scheduled. Unless she goes back down she is set to be born on September 23rd. I never wanted to go through a C-Section, but I had a feeling this wasn't going to work mainly due to the history I already have her. (Remember trying to get her to move with the club foot incident?)

Waiting for the doctor to come back with a date of the C-Section.

While the version didn't really hurt it was it did take a lot of energy out of me (well one of the attempts did hurt my lower back, but that was it).

Right now I've accepted that this going to happen. While it wasn't my ideal plan to do this, God is in control and He has everything pre-planned, so who am I to question that?

I'm getting excited since I have a date and we can get the final details completed. We get to meet our daughter in just one week!