38 & SUCCESS!

Wow. What a morning. My appointment for an external cephalic version was at 10:30, and we picked up Paul from friend Molly's house at 1:30! Before I run down how everything worked, I must say how grateful Dylan and I are. We really are thankful for all of the prayers from so many friends and family as well as for God's blessing in this case. God, what a relief! Thank You!

So, when we arrived, they handed me a gown, sat me on the bed to get a heartbeat & contraction monitor on me, and then fed me a IV. Dr. Nace soon came in to do a quick ultrasound to make sure Bee was still breech (yes...), and then they gave me a shot of terbutaline, which functions similarly to adrenaline in making me flush and my heart race with the purpose of relaxing uterine muscles. But, wait, what's the IV for, then?? Oh, that's just in case something happens and they need to get me ready for a c-section quickly. What? I hate the IV thing in my hand - hadn't had one since I was 4 with pneumonia. Ok, ok, if this works, it's a small price to pay... get over it, please (end inner monologue). After a short while of waiting for the jitters to set in from the meds, Dr. Nace came back, tilted the bed downwards to help baby out of the pelvis, rubbed a bunch of that ultrasound goop all over my belly, prodded around to get a good grip on Bee's bum, and then it got interesting. I closed my eyes for the discomfort for most of the time, but I could feel how quickly and easily Bee really was turning! Dr. Nace was pushing Bee clockwise, and just when I thought it started to hurt (maybe big baby head passing over a ligament - ouch), Bee's head was down! There it was, big and obvious, on the ultrasound. Dylan and I both teared up. We talked a little with the doc about any potential warning signs to come, the nurse re-hooked me up to the heartrate monitor to be monitored for the next hour, and when left alone, we prayed a rosary. After some juice and crackers, I was sent on my way. 

Yes, I can feel a difference! Breathing is easier, and now I feel little fingers poking around, which I hadn't felt before. Here's a photo -- perhaps you can see the difference from previous photos, now that Bee's low:

And just to clue you in on the home remedies we tried, here's a sample: lying on the ironing board with a heat pack down low and a cold pack up high There were a few more things we tried, like hoola-hooping, crawling around on hands and knees, Dylan's singing through a paper towel tube, shining a flashlight down low, but today brought the big relief! It had been a heart-heavy few days, and, again, we're so grateful it's behind us!

TWO WEEKS TIL DUE DATE!