The 24 hours between 1:30pm Tuesday and Wednesday were insane. Everything started going south when I forgot my military ID at home and Jett had to escort me onto Camp LeJeune. It wasn’t a big deal, simply a little extra stress and paperwork when I got to the hospital.
Once I got to my appointment, things got worse. During the ultrasound, my doctor discovered Aubrey Kate was not head down. He’s a resident so he got a second opinion and then they sent me upstairs to Labor and Delivery Triage to see a specialist. The specialist confirmed Aubrey Kate was a complete breech and mentioned that although I was 38 weeks, I had a good amount of fluid surrounding her. So, here we were at 3:30pm discussing my options which basically boiled down to an external cephalic version (ECV) or a version. Two doctors would physically manipulate the baby from outside my stomach to flip her.
I had heard of the procedure before but simply by name. I had no idea what it entailed and apparently every hospital does it a little differently. I had the option to get a spinal or forego it. They recommended getting a spinal to ensure my uterus would be relaxed so they could truly do what needed to be done by physically manipulating her. The caveat about doing the procedure this way was that it would take place in the OR, which was both a good and bad thing. Since the procedure was so risky and would induce a lot of stress on both baby and me, they preferred to do it in the operating room to be ready to more quickly head into a csection if necessary. The bad thing is I am deathly scared of all things doctors, hospitals etc. I really didn’t want a csection. I hate all things doctors and hospitals and couldn’t imagine getting sliced up right below a curtain while still being conscious. So as I’m internally freaking out about the idea of a csection, the specialist begins explaining the potential outcomes of the procedure.
Best case scenario, Aubrey Kate flips and I can walk out of the hospital. But, this was a pretty risky procedure and has a low success rate. Next best case scenario- Aubrey Kate flips but gets stressed out and my water breaks so we head into vaginal labor. Now the doozy- She doesn’t flip or gets stuck and a csection is necessary. There was also a possibility of her not flipping and us having to try again.
I left the hospital with a 7:30am appointment the next day and a thousand thoughts running through my head. On top of being nervous about the csection, we had a ton of stuff to do at home to prepare to potentially bring home a baby. Jett was scheduled for duty but was able to get out of it and we went to work at home doing the last bit of baby laundry, packing bags and preparing for the next day.
Wednesday morning we took a family photo and then dropped the kids off at daycare and summer camp before heading to the hospital. I had come to terms with the idea of a csection and told myself I needed to buck up and be prepared mentally for it because stressing out about it would only make things worse. I completely forgot about all the other aspects of the procedure that totally stress me out like IVs, needles and the OR.
It took the nurses three times to get an IV in me. I was not a happy camper. I got the IV, they sent off blood work- oh and I finally got my first COVID test! This was a hard part- but not even the hardest. It finally came time for the procedure and we headed towards the operating room.
I had spent so much time the night before preparing for the idea of csection I completely forgot the procedure would take place in an operating room. I’ve never had surgery. I hate hospitals, needles, doctors- all of it. We go into the OR and it’s cold. There’s machines everywhere and they’re all beeping. The table they ask me to sit on it so small. Jett is waiting outside and there are like 14 doctors surrounding me. I sit down and they begin to prepare to place my spinal. Everything starts to hit me and I squeak out asking when my husband can come in. They send in Jett and I break down. I was so overwhelmed and I have a hard time releasing control. I needed to cry and get it all out before we got into the nitty gritty of the procedure. As soon as he sat down I was able to let out my fear and frustrations and calm down enough to continue.
I really don’t even know how to describe the actual version. Once I got on the table, they numbed me from the stomach down and quite literally began pushing on my stomach. They first tried to push her towards the way she was already leaning, which was maybe a 90 degree turn and she wasn’t budging. They took a break because her heart rate plummeted. The team decided to go again but this time the opposite way which was a much bigger turn. I swear I was going to die. I couldn’t breathe. I felt like I was drowning and was physically gulping for air. My tongue was shaking. Shaking. I didn’t even know tongues could do that. Ultimately, they ended up turning her and the procedure was success.
I’m happy they were able to flip her and that she calmed down and is still cooking in my stomach but this was the most traumatic and terrifying experiences I’ve ever had. I almost wish she would have decided to come because I can’t imagine going back to the hospital to get more IVs, another epidural etc. I have bruises all over my body. I’m sore and exhausted.
We are so lucky though. I knew the procedure had a low success rate but I had no idea how low. The entire team in the operating room was so surprised when they flipped her. Back in the recovery room I was chatting with the nurse about an article I had read saying the procedure had a 58% success rate and she told me it was much lower than that.
We are so thankful for everyone who prayed for us and are happy to say the prayers worked. Next appointment is Wednesday so let’s hope she stays head down!
