Monday, January 6th, was a fantastic day. I started my day cold calling OB's hoping to find a doctor willing and able to flip my baby. I was fortunate. I received a call-back, around 1 pm, from Dr. Hartman. He practices in Grand Rapids at St. Mary's Hospital. He has been an OB for many decades and has a perfect success rate at flipping babies. He wanted to see me as soon as possible. I told I would be there in an hour. I just received a call 30 minutes prior from my OB office. The weather was so bad that they were trying to reschedule patients. I told them I could come in earlier than my original appt (3:45pm) and would be there at 12:45pm, 15 minutes after they called. We were running behind because our cars' battery had died and my husband was outside charging it. Amazingly, if our car was working properly, I would have missed Dr. Hartman's call! After receiving a call from Dr. Hartman, I called my OB office back and rescheduled for the next morning. It worked out for everyone!
The weather had be extremely treacherous for several days. Sub-zero temperatures, tons of snow, and white-out conditions would make our journey very dangerous. I was determined, so we jumped in the car, said a prayer, and headed out. It was a scary drive, but we made it in one piece. Dr. Hartman was a wonderful, sweet man. He did a quick exam, and said he wanted to perform the ECV that night! He said that there was no reason for us to drive home in this weather and he had nothing planned that evening! So, he called over to the hospital and set up our appointment for 7pm.
The hospital staff was very friendly. They hooked me up to the monitors, and we waited a couple hours until Dr. Hartman arrived. The anesthesiologist I met with explained I would have to refrain from eating and drinking just in case I needed an emergency c/s. I was sooo hungry and thirsty, but I figured I could suffer a little. The dehydration and low blood sugar was exasperating my already irritated uterus and I was contracting every five minutes.
When Dr. Hartman arrived, he brought another Ob, a resident Ob, the u/s Dr, and my nurse. A very crowded room! Chris stood to the right of me, next to my head. Dr. Hartman looked at the baby on the u/s, then felt around my belly. He pressed down on my lower ab and found the baby's bottom. Then he placed his other hand on her head and started to push really hard to the right. He was applying so much pressure that his arms were literally shaking. It was very intense pressure. He quickly and steadily moved the baby in 30 seconds! It was incredible! I just focused on relaxing and breathing calmly. He looked at the u/s, and baby was now head down. Success!! He told me it went so well because I stayed so relaxed. it was a team effort. They had me stay on the monitors for an hour afterward.
Abigail's heart rate was spiking at times during the contractions I was having, so they had me lay on my side a few times. They also had me eat a sandwich and receive an IV bag. As soon as the monitoring was complete, the resident Ob checked my cervix, since I had been been contracting the entire time. I was only a 3 cm, so they were comfortable letting us go home.
We spent the night at the Courtyard Marriott instead of driving home in the terrible weather, thanks to our friend who gave us a "friend discount." They had a restaurant in the hotel, so Chris finally got to eat something. It was fun to stay in such a nice place. After eating lots of food, we went to our room and watched TV, ate ice cream in our bed, and enjoyed our alone time.
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