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!! :)