She flipped!!!
Well, everything went well today, and the external version was successful!!! Hope she stays put...there is a risk of course that she will decided she likes being head up better, but I'm going to do everything I can to keep her right where she is!
As this was my very first experience in a hospital (except when I broke my arm when I was 8 years old) everything went very well and I am less nervous about going in to have the baby now. They put us in a private room and hooked me up to an IV and the fetal monitor, etc. about 15 minutes before my doctor arrived. That was the first IV I've ever had in my life, and when she put it in I felt a little faint...weird. Everything looked good and was a "go" for the procedure. They administered a dose of Terbutaline, to relax the smooth muscles of the uterus, which by the way, made me shake all over uncontrollably, kinda scary, I did not like that at all.
My doctor made an attempt at doing the version himself, using ultrasound to check position, but her butt was pretty well lodged in my pelvis. My DH and I suggested putting me in a Trendelenberg (head down) position (we used to work for a hospital bed company) and we gave that a try but THE BED WAS BROKEN and would not go into Trend!!! Yikes! So, they actually brought another bed in the room and switched me over, and this one would only go about 8 degrees Trend, which was better than nothing, so we put a pillow under my butt and went for it.
My OB called in for backup...another doctor from his practice happened to be on the floor and she came in and helped. They checked again with ultrasound, noted there was plenty of amniotic fluid and space to turn her. After only a few minutes of pushing and rotating by the two of them, Penelope was rotated!!! To say it was extremely uncomfortable would be an understatement, but it did not last that long and I had an opportunity to practice breathing and pain management... there's always a bright side, right?
They kept me on the monitors for a little over an hour after the procedure. I was having some mild contractions about 7-10 minutes apart, but to be honest I did not even really feel them. The baby was active and even got the hiccups for a while, and her heart rate and my blood pressure were totally stable, and I was outta there in about 3.5 hours total.
Thanks to all of you for your good thoughts and encouragement. Deanna, you are lucky yours turned on her own! However, I'm glad I had the procedure done, mostly because now I am more comfortable with the environment we will be in for the delivery.
I don't know. that's just what i've heard a few others say.
: that's great!! Way to go Penelope!
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