My due date came and went without a single contraction. I had my doctor appointment the next day which was the usual "yep you're still pregnant" and I had only made about 1/2 cm progress. We discussed induction the following Monday. I asked if he still felt heads down and she thought so but maybe it would be a good idea to double check, his heart rate was a little higher on my tummy than usual. Unfortunately the sonogram confirmed he was breech. I was devastated to say the least. We discussed options and decided to schedule an inversion with a specialist but they couldn't do it until Monday. I still had a lot of fluid left and this was not my first pregnancy so the odds were highly in my favor that we could get him turned around. If not, I would have to have a c-section. There was a risk that he would not do well during the inversion and it may cause him stress which would mean an emergency c-section. The wait and the possible c-section looming was not sitting well with me at all. I went back to work and let them know what was going on, put on all my out of office notifications and took the next day off. I went home to face the evening and the long weekend.
I was big time pouting and just wanted to go to bed. Jason was nice enough to take all the boys out for pizza so I could rest and have some quiet time. He told me about a couple different positions to try laying in and try over the next couple days that were suggested by one of his clinicians at school. I went to bed about 7. I cried and prayed and finally dozed off for a few. I woke up and decided to try a few of the positions Jason suggested laying in. After doing pup pose and then laying with my hips up and pillows propped under them, he felt nice and high. My uterus felt very relaxed and Hudson was a little wiggly...the thought popped into my head that maybe I could do this on my own. I knew where he was laying because of my earlier sonogram so I started laying so that there was plenty of room on the bottom right side of my belly to allow him to naturally float his head down that side. It seemed like a long shot but I was willing to try! I laid on my side like that for a few minutes and felt like he was starting to move down one side. I slowly began to sit up so he would continue to float his head down. Once I got up, sitting with my back reclined so he had plenty of room, it was very obvious that he was laying sideways at this point. Yes! I knew then that I could actually do this on my own. So I started working the other side, slowly twisting the other direction so he only had room to move his head down and feet up. After a few minutes, I knew he'd turned. Holy cow, I'd just done my own inversion, I just knew it! I text Jason (who wasn't as convinced as I was I don't think) and my mom and told them what I was pretty certain had just happened. I looked for any little cues, feet kicks or confirmation of a butt vs a head and decided to just relax and try to keep him from turning himself back around before morning.
The next morning I convinced myself to call the dr to try and get in for a sonogram to confirm if turned him around and see if there were any options for induction if I had. The nurse called me back and said come in at 11:30 for a sonogram, if he had turned they would induce me that day! Yay!! I tried to keep myself prepared for him to still be breech but I couldn't help but be excited.
I told my mom and Jason what was going on and headed in to the Shawnee Mission office for my sonogram. The sonographer was the same one from the day before so I promised her I wouldn't cry this time, I was prepared for either situation this time. She barely got the wand on my tummy and I was her jerk and smile. Once she got a good look she confirmed he was HEADS DOWN!! I did it!! Even though I promised I wouldn't I cried a little from shear happiness. She went out to talk to Dr Rips and I could hear her reaction out in the hallway. Dr Rips came in and gave me a big hug and said this was the best news she'd heard all day! We discussed options and she was going to call in the Shawnee Mission to see if they had room for me since that's where she was for the day. Of course they were full...so it was Menorah today without my dr or Shawnee Mission tomorrow with my dr. As much as I hated not having her, I went for Menorah. So off to Menorah I went to get checked in and have a baby!
Jason was finishing a patient so I went and got myself checked in. I was the talk of L&D because I had performed my own version. Haha! All the nurses and docs were thoroughly impressed. I got to my room and got changed. It was around 12:30. The nurse checked me and I was about a 2 but Hudson was still way too high. With all the fluid the probability of him turning around breech again was very high. So, first order of business would be to break my water to see if we could get his head down and engaged in my cervix. That would make it much harder for him to turn. Nurse went ahead and started my IV and then the Dr Meturo came in to break my water around 2:00. She broke my water but his head was still really high and they were afraid the umbilical cord would fall down if his head lifted. She had to hold her hand up there and coax all the fluid out and there was a TON of fluid. It soaked they bed and I was basically sitting in a pool of my amniotic fluid and Dr Meturo was desperately trying to stay dry. All this while the nurse was pushing Hudson down from the top of my tummy. On top of trying to keep his head down and cord out of the way, Hudsob decided to reach up and give the dr a handshake. Cute but very bad if his arm were to try and come out before his head. Again this would mean c-section. They pulled a sonogram machine in to verify his cord wasn't in the way and that it was his hand she was feeling. The sonogram showed no cord and his little hand touching the dr's hand. She took a picture of this because it looked so neat (wish I would've gotten a copy!) This took 20 minutes to get all the fluid out and to get him down enough to where the felt comfortable enough to at least let go. But I had to sit up and not lift my rear end AT ALL until his head engaged in my cervix. That meant no clean up. So I had to sit in the "pool". But if the cord came down, I would have to have an emergency c-section.
They started the Pitocin around 2:30. The dr and I both thought she had already started the pitocin because I was having contractions on my own. She checked me and I was at about a 5. It was a little hard for them to tell since they had stretched me out so much breaking my water.
The contractions were starting to feel painful and I was at about a 5-6 so the nurse suggested we do the epidural. This was around 3:30. The anastesiologist walked in and it was my old HS classmate, Sara Yost (now Clutter)! We reminisced for a moment then got down to it. I still wasn't out of the woods by a long shot to have a c-section so she wanted to make sure she had everything perfect. The tricky thing was I still had to sit and not lift my bottom. And I was still sitting on my wet pile of fluid soaked bed pads. We got me turned sideways and level enough for her to put the epidural in. Next obstacle was that I was sitting so circulation wasn't going where it needed and all the drugs were going to settle in my butt. We finally got it in and somewhat to the right level where at least the pain was bearable. But it took an hour or so to get it right. She was right, it settled in my butt and because my circulation was cut off from sitting, the drugs went everywhere but my cervix...I could feel everything there! I finally couldn't bare the pain any longer so I pushed the nurse's call button. As she was walking in, Hudson's heart rate started to drop drastically and I felt very faint and light headed (my blood pressure was dropping as well). My nurse went in to emergency mode and began checking to make sure the cord hadn't gotten wedged between his head and my cervix. She didn't feel anything but called the dr. She kept feeling around and several other nurses came in as well. At this point things were a little dizzy for me because my BP was so low, I was just clinging to my oxygen mask and praying he and I would be ok. The whole time I wanted to tell them I just needed to lay on ine side (because that's what happened with Beckett) but I couldn't find the words or a moment to speak in all the chaos. My nurse finally wedged a pillow under my right hip and Hudson's heart rate started to rise back up and so did my BP. Whew! At this point Jason had left to take the boys over to Josh and Brandy's so if I would've had to have an emergency c-section, he would've missed the whole thing!
At this point it was about 5:00pm and I was at about a 6 or 7. We all settled in for a long evening I waiting. My dad was still on his way up and was taking his time. But a little after 6:00 the nurse came in to check me and I was at a 9 already! I'd made it and was going to have Hudson without needing a c-section! AND Dr Rips was off duty at Shawnee Mission and was on her way to Menorah to deliver!! It all happened so fast I barely had time to process everything. My dad walked in about this time and I was using my oxygen mask again and I'm sure I looked pretty pitiful.
Dr Rips arrived about 6:30-6:45 and it was time to push. Everyone in the room was excited and in the best mood because everything had worked out perfectly. My mom and Jason were on my left side helping and in the middle of one of my contractions and pushing, Dr Rips looked over at my mom and asked "So, how do you feel about them moving to Texas?" It was the most hilarious thing and such an odd time/thing to ask that we were all laughing and looking at each other. My mom just replied "We don't talk about that". Haha!
After pushing through 2 contractions he was here! Born at 7:06 on May 29, 2015. 8 lbs, 9 oz and 20" long.
My little May birthday buddy. It was a crazy ride to get you here but you are perfect and a perfect example that God answers our prayers and everything works in His time. Welcome to the world Hudson Thomas Allen
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