I figured I would throw this out there.
My birth story actually starts a little more than a week before Elise arrived. I had a regularly scheduled appointment for Monday and the doctor was going to do a cervix check to see how far along I was and to make sure Elise was in the right position of head down. Lo and behold, she was not. She was head up and after what happened over the next couple of days, I think she was head up the entire time!
I had no real set birth plan, but I was a little devastated that I was hearing the words C-section for my delivery. I had no visions of a medication free labor, more of a go as long as I can stand the pain and then get an epidural approach, but I did want to experience labor. All the studies that state vaginal is better for the baby didn't help either.
The doctor let me know my options. I could proceed and schedule the C-section or I could try a procedure called an external cephalic version where you manually try to turn the baby right side up. The risks of the procedure would all end in an emergency C-section if they were realized and the success rate was 50%. I was barely holding it together and near tears, so I said I needed to talk to my husband. I also realized that if the procedure was scheduled for that week than my mom and dad were both out of town and I wanted at least my mom here if something went wrong.
The hubster and I discussed it at home and decided we wanted to give it a shot. In hindsight, after receiving the bill for the version, we might not have done it, but then again, with my insurance, I was going to meet my high deductible anyway. I guess I didn't know how much I wanted a vaginal birth until then. Funny how things change... and change.
The version was scheduled for Wednesday, I had to fast for 8 hours beforehand and it was a 1 pm appointment. I was hungry! Overall, the version is pretty straightforward. They monitored the baby for about 30 minutes to make sure everything was ok in babyland. I got some meds to make my uterus relax. They lubed me up and the doctor just used her hands to manipulate the baby.
Let me add that prior to making the decision to proceed with the version, I had watched youtube videos of other versions. It didn't seem so bad, but I later found out that in the States, they don't give pain medication for the version, so I felt every push and turn. And it hurt. They got Elise about 80% of the way turned, but just couldn't get her to settle into my pelvis. The doctor wanted to try to go the other direction, but I was done. The version wasn't even the worst part. They had to monitor me and the baby for another hour before releasing me to ensure that the baby would not have an adverse reaction to the procedure. That wasn't going to happen. I was having contractions (the ones I couldn't feel) too often and they kept me for another 2 hours. That is 3 extra hours of not eating. I had not had anything to eat since 4:20 am and was not released from the hospital until 5:00 pm which had us fighting traffic to get home and to get food!
The good news was that the doctor was able to unset Elise's butt from my pelvis and that offered a little hope that she may turn on her own prior to the C-section which was scheduled for the following Thursday and I had a regular appointment on Wednesday. The days leading up to the Wednesday appointment, I swear Elise was moving in new places and I had hopes that she had moved, but at the same time, I didn't want her to move. It had taken some time and lots of tears to accept the C-section. It was major surgery and not what I had first envisioned, but it came down to getting Elise into this world as safely as possible. It was also nice knowing exactly when she was due and prior to that week, I had not felt any contractions.
On Wednesday, we confirmed that she had not moved one bit and was quite happy and content in her current position. Thursday was on! We had planned a semi-nice dinner out as a last hurrah as non-parents. It was kind of surreal and with the C-section the next day, it was kind of hard to enjoy it.
That was a long post for not including any part of the actual birth. Stay tuned for part 2 which I promise will end in a baby!
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