Success!

The ECV was successful! No more Breech Bobby!

Saturday was kind of a long and exhausting day, but it was totally worth it. We got to the hospital around 8am, and we both mentioned that it felt like we were going there to have a baby. That must be what it feels like when you have a scheduled C section - kind of nerve wracking!!

We got all settled into our room and the nurse came in and asked all the same questions they asked me when I went to the hospital to have Nolan. Then we waited for awhile, but not to fear, we were able to catch some college football in the meantime. :) One of the residents that would be helping Dr. McCrann with the procedure came in and did an ultrasound to make sure Bobby was still breech, and exactly what position he was in. That little sucker had moved his back from one side of my belly to the other in just a day!! Maybe he'll be a gymnast??? During this waiting period, they were monitoring Bobby's heartbeat and my contractions.

Then came the IV fiasco. I do admit to having very small veins, but come on! It took two nurses and finally an anesthesiologist FIVE tries to get my IV in. FIVE!! I am still bruised all over my hands from that. But at least it was a little distraction. Once we were set with the IV, they gave me a drug that would relax my uterus so I wouldn't have contractions while they were trying to turn the baby. Dr. McCrann said it would make me feel like I had six cups of coffee. It started working right away, and it was definitely weird! You know how sometimes you get so cold that you start shivering and your teeth chatter? That's exactly how it made me feel, except I wasn't cold at all. Very weird.

Around 9:30, Dr. McCrann came in with the resident and a medical student (St. Joe's is a teaching hospital, so a lot of times there are students there to observe - which I'm totally fine with) to get started. Then it hit me. I just felt really overwhelmed and scared and emotional, so of course I started crying. They couldn't start until I calmed down because when I was crying, I was all tensed up. Brad was helping me calm down and the doctors were talking about which way to 'spin' the baby. They were on either side of me, both turning him at the same time. Dr. McCrann had to get her hands up and under his bum to push him up out of the birth canal. I'm not going to lie - it was really painful. But the whole time they were turning, Dr. McCrann talked me through it, and would say how many more seconds until we'd take a break. Brad was really good at helping me take deep breaths, so I was trying to focus on that.

The first try lasted maybe a minute - of course it seemed longer than that to me - and Bobby didn't budge. We took a quick break, checked the baby's heartbeat, and then started again. Dr. McCrann had told me they would only try twice, so I was really hoping it worked this time. After another 45 seconds to a minute, both the resident and Dr. McCrann were excited and told me it worked!! They did a quick ultrasound to make sure, and sure enough - head down!!! We were so excited.....and relieved!

The medicine was still going full force, so I felt like I had no control over anything and I was shaking pretty bad. They kept me there for about an hour so the medicine would wear off, and so they could monitor the baby. Before I was allowed to leave, I had to feel him move at least 3 times within a 20 minute time period. It took a good 20-30 minutes after the procedure for him to start moving again, but after that he was fine and has been since then.

As painful as the procedure was, I would totally do it again and recommend it to anyone else with a breech baby. I think if this would have been my first pregnancy, I might have just gone with the C section, but I just didn't want to have to deal with that with a 2-year old that wouldn't understand if I could avoid it. Now hopefully Bobby will stay put with his head down!

Brad's mom offered to keep Nolan all weekend so I could rest. That was super helpful, and I'm so glad that both of us were able to relax afterwards! I was a little sore the rest of the day and the next day, but I actually didn't have any bruising.

I freaked out a little bit Monday afternoon thinking that he had turned back around, but it ended up that I had just been sitting for awhile and his bum was sticking out at the top of my belly. I go back tomorrow morning for my weekly check-up, so we'll definitely double check that he's still head down. I really feel like he is because I feel a lot heavier at the bottom of my belly than I did before. And lots of pressure on my bladder now too!!

Thanks to everyone for thinking about us and praying for everything to go well....we really appreciate it! Hopefully we'll have some baby news soon!! :)

Turning Point

Here's a quick update on Breech Bobby:

Last week at the doctor, our little guy was still breech. We talked over the options and decided that one more week needed to pass before we scheduled anything - ECV (turning) or a C section. We were able to get an ultrasound and make sure that Bobby is fact not a Roberta, and we were able to ask a gazillion questions about everything. We were both feeling much more at ease with the whole situation when we left.

This morning was my 37 week appointment. I knew that the little guy was still breech, and Dr. McCrann confirmed it. We have opted to try the ECV tomorrow morning because I'm a good candidate for it. She said that she rarely sees a baby turn back to breech after a successful ECV. When she has seen it, it's on a woman who has 4 or 5 kids and the uterus is a little "stretchier". She also said that he's in a good position for turning, so I feel really confident that things will go well tomorrow. The procedure will only last a few minutes, successful or not. They will try twice to turn him and if it doesn't work, that's when we'll talk about scheduling a C section. But that wouldn't be until 39 weeks....which would fall on or around MY BIRTHDAY! So we'll see.....

We'll keep you posted after the procedure is done. I just keep telling myself that even if it doesn't work, everything will be fine. At least Bobby is healthy, regardless of exactly how he gets here :) Keep us in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow!

More updates....

Here are some pictures from the past month or so.....with Nolan and Bobby updates at the end!!

We had Brad's family over for his mom's birthday the middle of August. I got this cake decorating recipe from a co-worker (Family Fun website) and just had to try it out. I knew I couldn't get away with this for either of the boys, so I took advantage of Cindy's birthday! The 'ribbon' is Fruit by the Foot (which, ironically, is not a foot long...haha) and I used Dots for the other decorations. It was pretty fun!

Brad's friend Ben (that he grew up with and went to high school with) and his wife Nancy are the proud parents of twin boys! Jackson and Jacob were born August 28 and weighed a healthy 6 lb. 1 oz. and 5 lb. 1 oz. - good size for twins, I think! I think Jackson is on the left and Jacob is on the right in the picture below, but I'm guessing :)

I thought this was so cute :) Being at the hospital and holding the new babies made me even more ready for Bobby to get here!

Here is Nolan eating a chocolate chip cookie. He likes to eat the top of the cookie (that's right, the TOP of the cookie) first - that's why it's everywhere!!!

Nolan trying out Mommy's shoes....

Nolan has really taken to his stuffed animals and blankies lately - I think it's completely adorable. The day this was taken, he constantly wanted his Cabbage Patch Kid wrapped up in this blanket. Every time it would come undone, he wanted him wrapped up again - right now!!!

I think Nolan will end up being well-rounded like his Daddy.....here he is with a golf club and a baby doll. Precious :)

Again with the well-roundedness: playing in the dirt.....with his blankie!

Our laid back little man has decided that he LOVES the word 'no'. What kid doesn't, right? It cracks us up most of the time, because he just keeps saying it. Unless it's something that he might want to do, and then he repeats (or tries to repeat) what you just said. Here's a cute little video, complete with airplane noise and all.....





Two hats are apparently better than one.....

This is one of our 'we're really good parents' moments! We had a few errands to run after work one day, so we stopped and grabbed Subway on the way home for dinner. Nolan just had to have Cheetos, and we decided to let him dig in on the way home. He was an orange, cheesy mess and loved every second of it!

And now for the Bobby update!

This is me last week at 33 weeks, 4 days (as of today, I'm 34 weeks, 5 days). The torpedo belly!

At my appointment last week, we figured out that Little Mr. Bobby is breech. Dr. McCrann said that we'll do an ultrasound at my 36 week appointment just to double check that he's still breech, and then go from there. She talked about wanting to turn him manually at 37 weeks if he is still breech at that point, but after doing a lot of reading and research, I'm not sure that's something we want to try. At least not that early. The procedure is called external cephalic version (google ECV), and from what I've read, sounds entirely painful and uncomfortable. There's no guarantee that if we are successful at getting him to turn that he would stay head down until I go into labor. And since most doctors don't really let you deliver a breech baby vaginally anymore (I was born breech, but that was how many years ago???), I would have to have a C section. Not exactly my optimal situation, but if that's what is best for the baby and for me, that's what we'll do.

The past week has been nothing short of me freaking out about all of this, but I've gotten some really good support from everyone which has helped tremendously. A few of my friends have had C sections, so I picked their brains about what to expect. Everything went so smoothly with Nolan, and pretty much exactly the way I expected it to go that I'm having a hard time accepting the fact that Bobby is probably going to be much different. I just wanted everything to be like I planned! I know that everything happens for a reason, so I'm trying hard to prepare myself for anything and everything. Maybe his umbilical cord is too short and he can't be head down, or maybe he's just really, really comfortable sitting up in there!! I'm trying to calm down about everything and just let things happen the way they're going to happen and realize that sometimes I actually don't have all the control over a situation. But if you know me, you know that is easier said than done....

Brad has been really helpful about calming me down and listening to me go on and on about this option or that option, so a big thank you to him. :) Even though sometimes it's easy for me to forget that I'm not the only one affected by the outcome of things, we are definitely going through this together. I can't wait until our appointment next week since he's going with me - he is the question asker of the universe, so Dr. McCrann better be prepared!

I've been trying to do different things to make Bobby turn on his own. I get on my knees and elbows and 'hang' my belly for 10 minutes at least once a day. This kind of allows him a little more freedom to move around - if he ever feels like it. I've also been massaging my belly in a circular motion, sometimes while I'm hanging at an incline. This sort of worked the other day - but then he moved right back to head up! The other night we put a flashlight on my belly to try and get Bobby curious about it so he'd move. Nothing. Oh well, we'll keep trying!

Other than the whole breech/C section/ECV drama (or what I'm making out to be more dramatic than it probably should be!), I've been feeling okay. My heartburn is flaring up more than normal now and I'm a little more tired than usual. But I'm trying to get enough exercise and trying to eat better. The key word there is 'trying' in both cases! The dogs make it easy though because they expect to be walked at least a few times a week, so that gives me a good excuse. I usually take the dogs around the park a couple of times while Brad plays with Nolan on the playground. I've had some trouble sleeping lately, but that's expected at this point I think.

But the countdown is definitely on - just ask my co-workers! The whiteboard on my desk says '37 days' today......although I'm hoping it's a little sooner than that :)

I'll keep everyone posted after my appointment next week!