Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Turn baby turn

We had an ultrasound done at 30 weeks and we found that baby girl was still breech. I already figured this, because I have always been kicked in my bladder. Hallie turned head down around 28 weeks so I figured Raegan was just taking longer. But then week by week I could still feel her head in my rib cage. Around 34 weeks the NP that I see thought she was head down, but I told her I really didn't think so. She pulled out the hand held sonogram machine and sure enough, still breech. I went straight to my mom for suggestions on how to turn her. She gave me several suggestions and I also found quite a few online. So I tried them. Laying inverted, getting my hips elevated off the floor with pillows, doing the breech tilt off the couch, scrubbing my entire kitchen floor on my hands and knees. And I knew nothing was working. I started worrying that something was preventing her from being able to turn. They thought her head was a bit big, so I thought maybe she didn't have enough room. One night I was crying in pain from her trying to move. It hurt worse than any contractions I had with Hallie. But the next morning she was back to her same spot. She moved side to side with her head by my ribs. At 35 weeks my Dr talked to me about getting an external version, where they physically turn the baby. I had severe anxiety about if. I asked around and did some research. It all didn't sound too good. There were several risks involved, and also the possibility of it just not working. Tyler and his Uncle gave me a blessing that I would know what I needed to do. I went back and forth millions of times. Do I try it, or just give her more time and if she doesn't turn then I get a c-section? I met with my Dr again and expressed my concerns. He had me come in last Friday to do an ultrasound to look and see what our chances were that she would move. He said she still had plenty of room and fluid and nothing was in the way. Which means she's just stubborn. The Dr said she was moving about half way herself, so he was really confident that we would be able to just go turn her the rest of the way real fast. He also said only 3% of babies stay breech after 37 weeks, so he thought she might turn herself over the weekend. But on Monday she was still in her favorite spot. After going thru hell with our insurance, we got to the hospital in the afternoon. They started me on an IV and gave me a medicine that would relax my uterus. I was already having contractions but they just felt like baby moving around to me. They also had someone come in and do an ultrasound. Her fluid is all on one side, so they knew what way to get her to turn. She's measuring in at 6 lbs 11 oz right now. We were able to see her little face and she has some hair. When my Dr was ready, the anesthesiologist turned on my drip of "happy meds". Within seconds I was super dizzy. They laid down the bed and the Dr started pushing on baby. They had the ultrasound on her the whole time to make sure she was ok, and to see where she was going. I was trying to watch her, but the meds were making me so loopy I could barely keep my eyes open. It was still so painful. I was gripping the blankets on the bed while he pushed. And of course, she was stubborn. As he tried pushing her head around she would arch her back and tilt her head back. And then when she was head down and the Dr was trying to get her to scoot down into the birth canal, she was putting her arms above her head to try to stop. What a stinker. It took only about 5 minutes to turn her (I would still never want to do it again) but she was trying to turn back around. The Dr put a tight binding around my stomach to help keep her pushed down. Tyler had taken Hallie out in the hallway during the procedure just in case something had happened and it turned into an emergency situation. They came back in, and baby was monitored for another hour and a half. Hallie laid in the bed with me and we watched a movie. Since we were in the labor and delivery room, Tyler had shown her where they will put Raegan when she comes and everything. I think Hallie thought I was having her then, because she kept saying "I'm so excited" and telling all the Drs she wants to hold her sister. Oh how I wish I could have just had her then. We finally got discharged and I was able to eat! I am so paranoid that she is going to turn back around. I left my binding on as long as I could, but last night I had to take it off and sit in the bath because my stomach was so sore. This morning it is even worse. I definitely feel like my stomach got beat up. She's higher than she was last night, but I'm hoping she's just stretching out and not trying to move back. If she stays down, then this will all have been worth it. But...if she doesn't, I'll just end up needing a c-section anyways. I'm trying not to worry. I know it's not in my hands anymore. I need to just be stress free and however she chooses to get here, I'll do what I need to do. I'm just ready to get her here safely. Couple more weeks and we'll have her with us!!

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