I posted last week about my breech baby who refused to cooperate with my conservative methods to flip him. I tried Webster technique, acupuncture, pelvic tilts, and knee chest positions. I even tried a little bit of Pulsatilla 20c. This afternoon was my version. I had my husband and doula there with me. It was a long afternoon.
I started off the day a little stressed out with some time-sensitive errands. My OB canceled our appointment at the last minute (38w appointment), because she had a conference (that’s another frustrating story). Then my husband picked me up from our house to carpool to the hospital. I didn’t feel like eating much, because I read from one of the ECV stories on Hypnobabies that I shouldn’t eat so much to give the baby more room to move. and my appetite wasn’t quite there. I just listened to the Turn Your Breech Baby track and then Deepening.
We were on-time to the Perinatologist. The ultrasound tech mapped out the baby and measured his weight. He was 1/2 frank and 1/2 complete. What a funny baby! that would explain why his kicks were in such weird places, always making me guess where he is. The measurement was surprising since I measured small. He’s estimated to be 39th percentile and 7 lbs. that really dumbfounded all of us in the room since I didn’t gain too much weight, and I really thought he’d be 4-5 lbs. I was ecstatic that he wasn’t so small since that’s why I’ve been worried for the last few weeks.
Then I had the non-stress test done. the baby tried his best to get the electrodes off of his head. He was so cute! Then he gave up after 15 mins of struggle. His activities looked great, so we met up with the Perinatologist who looked at the baby on ultrasound again. She explained to me gently that I had about 2/3 chance to having this little guy flip. She encouraged visualization, and I told her that I had that covered with my iPod. She seemed pleased, and I was happy that she was already telling me to relax with visualization.
Now this was the tough part. I was listening to the breech track when they set up the iv line for the Terbutaline in my left hand. I realized that I had to quickly change over to Deepening, because I needed anesthesia now! I started to relax, but my hands were so cold and the veins weren’t cooperating. They spasmed as soon as the needle whet into the tiny vein. The nurse who was quite experienced stuck me 3 times including my radial vein (if you know where this is, you know it’s not the most comfortable place). The sticks felt like they were jabbing into my bones. I had a difficult time focusing and started to jump whenever she took the needle out to change course. she got the Perinatologist to try in different spots. (the Perinatologist typically does the tough iv cases.) Even she missed 3 times further up the radial vein towards my elbow. I thought it’d be less painful, but the pain was quite intense. it kind of felt like somebody was breaking my arm. But I have to admit … I would’ve cried at about the 2nd stick. I’ve had Phlebotomists miss my vein before in my median cubital veins, which are much easier to puncture than these tiny ones. And the staff were trying really hard. So this was the hang-up.
The Perinatologist told me that I can try the intramuscular injection, which is less effective at smooth muscle relaxation. Or I can return to labor & delivery to have the Anesthesiologist try and then proceed with ECV. She told me that I can return if today’s efforts didn’t work with the first option. Since she was gracious enough to let a first-time mom try 2 times, I wanted to go for it. And we did spend a lot of time here already… with my listening to Deepening and Breech tracks multiple times.
So I got the intramuscular injection, which did make my heart race. But as I listened to the deepening track, my heart rate came down again. However, the staff didn’t want to start until they saw that my heart rate was over 100, which indicated that my body was seeing its effect. So I had to switch my iPod to a fast song so that my heart rate can catch up. Hypnobabies was so effective in lowering my heart rate! I was fighting 2 forces here – relaxation vs. fast heart rate.
I was finally ready at 100-102 bpm. after my very last restroom break and a quick prayer on the toilet, I was finally ready. I laid down, and I think they allowed me to relax listening to the deepening and breech tracks. I was going back and forth between the two. The ultrasound tech and Perinatologist got into their positions and lowered the head piece of the bed. my knees were propped up to relax the belly. I got another glob of warm ultrasound gel. Then I was ready to go. I took some deep breaths in and out while listening to the tracks. I felt the doctor cup the baby’s butt with her left hand as she pushed down his head in counterclockwise fashion. I felt him starting to move a little. I was getting a little excited, but I made sure that I remained calm and relaxed. The doctor was very gentle in her touch and used broad contact rather than digging with her fingers.
It was just as other moms have described here. The move was very intense. I felt the baby get stuck at one point when my uterus tightened. Then I took a big breath and felt the uterus muscle relax and melt as I exhaled. It was amazing, because he completely flipped afterward. I heard the excitement in the staff’s voice even through the scripts. when I heard the Perinatologist say, “good boy!” I knew we were done. After some cheers, congrats, and many thanks from us, we were off to another session of monitoring. he was fine and still kicking. He was getting used to his new position.
I pray that he will stay head down since he’s one active baby. The Perinatologist believes that he probably won’t since it was definitely a tight turn. And I even had hard time turning him with other methods. But definitely no more inversions and poor posture. I think the baby’s finally at peace with his new position. In fact, I feel more his back now. So he’s occiput anterior so far. I will try my best to keep him this way until he’s ready to come out. I’m currently at 38w2d.
Thank you all for your support and advice. The stories were absolutely encouraging as people around me kept telling me how c-section wasn’t that bad. My aunt said that I was lucky that had a breech baby so that I have to get c-section. I had a difficult time keeping me Bubble of Peace during the last few weeks. I was glad that I was able to get encouraging advice from the moms here. I honestly believe that the breech baby script helped my baby prepare for today’s procedure. Thank you.
~ Kaela
