Transverse/ECV Procedure

For all of you pregnant soon-to-be or already experienced mommies, you do not ever want to hear that your baby is laying sideways in you (transverse). I read about it in the "What to Expect When Expecting" book (a total must have book for any pregnant women). I never really knew it would mean anything to me though. On my week 37 normal appointment, I learned just that.My baby was transverse. They confirm it with just a portable ultrasound. There was literally a booklet of information I had to read through to make an informative decision on what to do. I could do nothing and hope the baby will turn on it's own, I could have a procedure called ECV (External Cephalic Version), I could just schedule a planned C-section at 39 weeks. What to do. This was my 4th baby and my last. All of my other babies were born naturally and without any complications. Please don't ever take that for granted. I didn't really want to have to experience a C-section if I didn't have to so do I go for the ECV or do I wait it out and hope the baby moves. My very experienced mid-wife told me that I was almost 38 weeks now and the likelihood of the baby moving on it's own is pretty unlikely considering the baby has been in that position most of it's time. Also, the longer I wait to make a decision, the worse my chances become of it being successful. The baby gets bigger and less amniotic fluid so pushing the baby into the correct position is more difficult. Right now, they gave me at 75% success rate. You'd think that's good and go for it, but read the fine print on the possible side effects. Small percents for all between 1-5% but the risks can be so severe-to the point of causing death to the baby. Is it worth it? If you're faced with this kind of decision, read all of the information out there, meet with the OB doctor that will perform it, ask them their success rate, how many or what type of complications have they experienced. If you do make the decision to do this, look at what they'll do if it's succesful. There is the possibility that if the procedure works, baby could turn back into the transverse position again. Can they induce right after the procedure? This procedure is done in labor and delivery units by experienced OB doctors. They do monitor both mom and baby before and after the procedure. I had a tough decision to make. My husband was leaning towards having it as the side effects of a major surgery he thought were worse then the small percent of the procedure. What a tough decision.

Baby is here!

Wow! How time flies. Here it is almost winter & Christmas. Through all of the tribulations, I delivered a beautiful baby boy 2 weeks before his due date. I was so concerned with the diagnosis of gestational diabetes and the possible complications of it, that now looking back, I overcame that only to have a more difficult complication. I tested my sugars as directed by my midwife and was controlling them with no difficulty. The midwife stated I could have fallen into the 1% that are misdiagnosed. I received some difficult news during my routine dr appt at 37bwks 2 days. Baby was laying transverse and couldn't be delivered that way for a successful vaginal delivery. I was devestated. I had three previous uneventful pregnancies and now this. My options were to undergo an ECV procedure or have a planned csection at 39 weeks. Since this was my last baby and all of my previous babies were delivered vaginally, I wanted that option. I did my research on the ECV procedure (external cephalic version), this is where a trained OB physician turns the baby on the outside of your abdomen. It has potential risky complications, although a very low percent. During this appointment, my blood pressure started elevating. I reassured my midwife that is was the stress of this news. It didn't seem to comfort her too much, but I told her I was fine & I'd see her in a week. She didn't like that response and decided I needed to follow up with her on Monday, Labor Day. She was oncall at the hospital. Since the clinic was closed for the holiday, I had arranged to go to the hospital at 10am to have a blood pressure check, check baby's position, and have a consult with an OB dr in regards to the
ECV procedure. My husband and I got there a little after 10am on Labor Day. I expected to be there for less than an hour. To my surprise, we left there around 12:30pm only to have to return at 3pm. The nonstress test on baby showed a healthy very active baby, but my blood pressure still elevated. My blood work showed only minor elevations but the baby was still transverse. I was now 37 weeks and 6 days. After speaking to the OB dr, we decided to go ahead with the procedure. He personally had not had any complications. I'd need to go 6 hours without food. Since I ate at 9am, I'd return at 3pm to have it done. To be continued....