Sorry it has taken so long to finally post about the version, but a whole lot has happened since that day, including the birth of our son (next post!!)! So the story of the version goes like this:
Katie our fabulous, wonderful midwife suggested that we consider version and with flurry of research to back up our decision, we decided to schedule one for the following week (November 12th, one day prior to turning 38 weeks pregnant!). I was a bit nervous going into the consultation meeting since it was at a hospital and with a doctor I had never met. After a bit of conversation with what turned out to be a fabulous doc (recent transfer from Seattle), she decided we were good candidates for trying a version. She wanted to schedule it soon since I was almost 38 weeks and started to look into her calender when I bluntly asked her if we could do it "tonight". Fortunately she graciously agreed and sent us up to the birthing unit of St. Luke's Hospital. The reason they do the version in the birthing center is in case something "goes wrong" and medical attention (i.e. emergency cesarean) is needed. So up to the birthing center we went...a nicely lite, but oddly quiet part of the hospital (one would think it would be noisy with birthing mama's and singing babies right??!!). They hooked me up to IV as a preemptive and cautionary measure, should I need to enter the OR and monitored the baby's heart rate for one full hour before the "procedure" began. Luckily our Midwife came along so we pass the time with good conversation, mostly regarding pregnancy, birth and especially the beauty of homebirth (trying to stay optimistic amidst the fetal monitoring, the hospital gown, the comings and goings of the nurses, the failed attempts to find the right vein for the IV and the sterility of the hospital in general). Anyway, when the time finally came to try to turn our baby I was a bit nervous and very hopeful. They gave me a tocolytic drug, which relaxes the uterus so that contractions do not happen during the version. The drug only has a 15 minute half-life, which is good because it instantly made me feel like I was on a serious amount of caffeine or speed.
The doc felt for the baby's position using the Leopold's maneuver and quickly used ultrasound to see the exact position of the baby and to view his heart to monitor heart rate visually. Then she started to push on my uterus. First she started with his butt, which was lying just about my pubic bone, and pushed it up, then went to his head and pushed it clockwise. He moved a bit, but sensing the need for another set of hands, our Midwife asked if the doc wanted her help and sure enough she did. So with Katie at his butt and the doc at his shoulders and head, they turned him clockwise maybe 4 inched or so. The doc then started up the US and quickly checked his heart rate which deceled for a short moment and then quickly went back up to normal. They did this about 3 or four times and then wallah...he was vertex. US showed him in perfect head-down position and Doppler confirmed that his heart rate was beautiful and showing no signs of stress at all. So that is the technicality of the version, here is the emotional aspect...
It was intense. Not only did I feel this small little love of mine moving to a position I had never experienced in this pregnancy, but I also felt very aware of his sense of vertigo. All of a sudden he was being forced into a place not of his choosing...and I had been so accommodating up until then! I watched as my Midwifes hands and arms shook with fatigue from pushing so hard on my womb for a good 10 minutes. I felt every ounce of that pressure and I am sure the little guy did as well. I felt the entirety of my "natural" pregnancy take a philosophical turn (no pun intended) as we attempted to and successfully did defy nature. I felt happy and exhilarated and sorry and guilty and grateful and hopeful all at the same time...talk about cognitive dissonance!! I was so thankful that it was successful and hopeful that he would stay vertex, but also unsure if it was the right thing to do. If he had not gone down on his own...was there a reason that I was not tuned into?
They made us stay in the hospital with fetal monitoring for the next hour. His heart rate was excellent so we made our way home with the instructions to squat as much as possible to assure that he would nestle his head down into my pelvis.
This new position felt so oddly good. My stomach looked different (lower) and my walk definitely changed to a waddle. Not only that but all of a sudden we were thinking about birth differently than we had the past 6 weeks. If he stayed vertex for the duration, then we would not need the entourage of Midwives as planned and I could all but leave behind the meditations of having a vaginal breech birth or worst case scenario a hospital transfer (which only means c-section). I had to once again redefine my notion of what this birth would/could be and admittedly, I felt much more confident and comfortable with this new version (no pun intended again!!). I knew that I would have a butter-birth if he stayed head down.
So in the end was it worth it? Worth the intensity? Worth the cognitive dissonance? Worth putting my baby at risk? Worth manipulating natures path? Worth missing out on the opportunity to show the skeptics that a vaginal breech birth can be done at home (selfish reason I know)? I don't know. I think so. He stayed head-down with no sign of trying to return to breech. We did have a beautiful, butter-birth at home. He is a happy, healthy baby...but he cannot tell me his side of the story and never will. If he could he maybe I would feel regret. However, we did what we felt was best for us and our baby at the time and that is the decision we are okay living with...hopefully our little guy is okay with it as well (my heart tells me this is so).
