The Story of the Version

I want to make sure to get this documented before I block some part of it out.


DH and I were out late the night before at a concert (and then sitting in the parking garage for another 40 minutes)--we didn't get home until almost 1 a.m. We set the alarm for 6:30 and went to sleep (after I got a bit of a snack...not supposed to eat after midnight, but I figured 12:45 would be okay).


Woke up at 6:30, showered (DH ate breakfast while I was showering so I didn't have to watch him eat), packed up the last of our things (we packed up just in case we might need to stay since there was a small possibility of placental abruption or a rupturing of membranes that would necessitate an emergency C-section), and headed out the door at 7:30. We arrived in Labor & Delivery at 8:10, got called back to start filling out paperwork at 8:15, then were finally done with that at 8:30. They took us back to the L&D recovery area and had me change into a hospital gown (that only tied at one place in the back...talk about breezy!).


DH met the nurse and when I was done changing, I came out and laid in the bed. They put a monitor on the baby and took my blood pressure. It was 135/69, which was fairly high for me. They said, though, that the upper number is the one that increases temporarily and isn't of concern to be a bit elevated, especially considering the situation! The bottom number was fine and baby's heartbeat seemed fine (stayed right around 140 most of the day).


At this point, another nurse came in and said that my doctor wanted me in a room with an ultrasound machine. They gave me the option of walking to another room or they said they could wheel me. I chose to be wheeled--why not? They pushed me down the hall and into another area of L&D (I think it might have been triage?). While in the hall, there was a bit of confusion about which room to put me in. My nurse also asked why we were doing the version that day and seemed to think we were having a baby that day...it got me so upset that I eventually started crying, thinking that maybe we had made a wrong decision or something. DH came over and made me feel better--I felt like such a fool laying on a bed in the hallway of L&D, sobbing.


Eventually the room situation got figured out and I was put in room 629. They attached the monitor to the baby again--she was remarkably active for not having had any food yet that day! The nurse, Charissa, then needed to get my IV hooked up. I guess they get an IV with fluids started just case something should go wrong--this way the IV is already inserted and they can just put a drug through it. She decided that the best vein to try would be one on the inside of my forearm. The needle went in easily, then there was obviously a problem--a blown vein. This made me a bit nervous, but she was reassuring that it was fairly normal and nothing to worry about. I do have a heck of a bruise there today, though.

For the second try, Charissa tried a vein on the side of my wrist. It was successful, but a bit more uncomfortable.

We had some questions to answer about my medical history--hoping that means we don't have to go through them again when we go back. At some point, the resident that was going to be assisting came in to chat for a couple of seconds. It felt like I was lying in that bed for a very long time before we could start the procedure.

My doctor came back soon after that and talked through the procedure again. She asked the nurse to give me the shot of terbutaline to relax my uterus. After a couple of minutes, the resident came back in the room, they dimmed the lights, and put the ultrasound goo on my belly.

The doctor verified which direction baby was facing (toward my right side) and told the resident they were going to try to roll her forward. She stood on my right side and the resident stood on my left. They both started pushing, trying to rotate the baby. I really thought they were making progress, as they both were shifting where they were pushing. After a couple of pushes, my doctor checked the baby's position via ultrasound, then went back to pushing. The pain was excruciating. During one push, it felt like I was getting some sort of a burn on the underside of my belly from the latex gloves and I requested more ultrasound gel there. It helped some. During the last few pushes, I was gripping the rails on the bed and I vaguely remember letting out some moans. I knew, though, in my heart, that this was the best choice for both me and the baby.

After 25 minutes of pushing (and the resident putting her entire body weight onto my belly--DH kept watching the fact that her feet were leaving the floor because he couldn't bear to watch me), my doctor called it quits. I didn't realize how long it had been and wondered why they were stopping so quickly (they had said they would try for 10-15 minutes). My doctor and the resident both apologized. I cried a little bit...but mostly from the pain.

The nurse returned and put baby back on the NST and put me on a contraction monitor. DH came over and held my hand and talked to me for a bit. After the nurse left, I told DH to go out in the hall and call our moms since they were both waiting anxiously for updates. After he talked to them, he came back in and we sat and chatted. The nurse returned and told me that I'd had three contractions, but they weren't anything too big. The baby, however, didn't seem to be as responsive as they were wanting. I told the nurse that it's got to be hard to get the energy to move around when she hadn't eaten in almost 12 hours, so she suggested I go empty my bladder, then went and got me some apple juice, graham crackers, and peanut butter. DH helped me to the bathroom, which was a very painful walk, but I was able to easily pee and by the time we were done, she returned with the snacks. The nurse left again and DH put the peanut butter on the graham crackers for me, then watched the NST and contraction monitors, waiting to see what happened. I could feel that baby started moving right away after I ate something, so I knew that was good news.

Eventually the nurse came back in and told us that everything looked good. I asked her if she knew when she'd be working the week of July 27th since I really liked her. Unfortunately, she only works Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday that week, which means I most likely won't see her at all. She said she needed to go discharge a patient, but wished us well. Another set of nurses (one student and one licensed) came in to pull the IV and get us ready to go. Once the IV was out, DH helped me get changed and we were out of there.

We left the hospital and went to get a fantastic croissant for what was supposed to be breakfast...but it was 11:30!!! We then came home, ordered some Donato's, and I napped on the couch for most of the afternoon. The sorest part of my body was, by far, the underside of my belly where I do have some burn from the gloves. I had a hard time sitting upright and was SO glad for our new reclining couches!

Today I'm feeling better, but am more sore in the upper part of my belly from all the pushing (feels like I did way too many sit-ups). I can sit up for short amounts of time, but am mostly reclined on the sofa. I plan to return to work tomorrow.

Our C-section is now scheduled for July 29th (which, when the doctor told me that, I thought it was fitting we were in room 29...and sort of knew it was meant to be).