Another long day of doctors.

Sorry these are so long lately but I want to be able to remember these things the next time I am pregnant and possibly going through them.

So to start out with on Friday we woke up at about 6:30 and got ready to head to the hospital. My wonderful friend said she would take the kids for us (which turned out to be really good) so they didn't have to go to the hospital with us. So we dropped them of at 7:30 in the morning and headed to the hospital. We left late so I wasn't able to stop for any food for Mike. Since he got sick on Tuesday he hadn't eaten anything but smoothies and a few scrambled eggs since he can't chew. Well I felt horrible but we were late and I wasn't supposed to eat so we decided to just eat after and head to the hospital. We got there 5 minutes late but it was ok. We walked in and told them we were there for a "baby flip" or ECV (External cephalic version). They took us back to the room and had me get all suited up (or down, however you want to look at it.) The nurse came in and wanted to start with an IV (I hate IVs they are the worst for me. They always hurt) but I asked for an ultrasound first to make sure he hadn't flipped back on his own. I figured he didn't but I just wanted to be sure. The doctor tried to feel and tell but I guess Aiden has a really bony bum cause he couldn't tell. So they did the ultrasound and sure enough he was still head up. Silly boy. Well then we had to begin with the IV.
Every time I have had an IV with my pregnancies they are never able to get them in my hand. Always goes in my wrist cause my veins, as prominent as they are on my hands are not strong and they burst every time. But she tried anyway. She "numbed" it and then immediately did the IV so there was no numbing going on. Felt it all and it hurt (obviously not as bad as what was to come, but still) So she got it in and took some blood and then turned the IV on and my hand blew up. Still is. She filled it with fluid before I said "I don't think that is normal" She turned off the drip and then had to do it again and decided to do the other hand. And again vein blew and that hand got filled with fluid. Not as much as the left though. During all of this Mike was standing by me holding my hand so I could squeeze it but then he let go and sat down. I was in a bit of pain with my hand all throbbing and her starting my right hand. I asked for his hand and then looked at him and got really scared for a second. He was as pale as pale could be. And I know it was not from the needles or IVs, he likes that kind of stuff. So I got worried. I asked if he was ok and he said he didn't know, another not good sign. I hoped it was from being on so many pain killers and not having breakfast. So I asked the nurse for some apple juice and some food that was easy to chew since he still cant chew. She got him some food and once he started drinking the apple juice the color started returning to his face and I was able to relax a bit more. So by now both my hands are throbbing and feel majorly bruised and the nurse decides to call in the Anesthesiologist to do my IV. Didn't know they did that. So she comes in and sticks me with the numbing stuff and lets it sit for a minute. Which was nice cause then it had time to kick in and I didn't feel the IV go in at all! She held my vein as they started the fluids and it worked! First one ever to work in my hand. Very impressed by her. So after that they called Dr. Smith to come down and start the whole turning process.
He came in and I guess it was his day off, poor guy, cause he was dressed in street clothes. (Which I was totally fine with) He started off by telling me what he was going to do and what to expect and to tell him if I needed a break and he would stop immediately. So I said ok and they laid me back and started pushing on my stomach, more like tearing it. He had to push in really hard to get around the baby's head and then again at the bottom to push his bum around. We tried pushing him to the right first and I was trying to keep my stomach as relaxed as possible but it pretty much knocks the air out of you and it hurts like crazy! So I was trying to breathe and eventually had to tell him to stop since I couldn't take the pain any more. We tried 3 more times going to the right and Aiden moved like 3 inches. So my doctor stopped and asked me if I wanted to keep going we could try the other way. I told him I wanted to try everything to avoid a C-section and to continue. He was so sweet and looked at Mike and then at me and just had this look in his eyes of "I am so sorry". He told Mike sorry for doing this to me and he told me that this was the part of his job he hated cause he didn't like to see me in pain. Mike was great, he held my hand and I am pretty sure I came close to drawing blood with my nails a few times. So we started trying to push him the other way and wouldn't you know he moved about half way around the first time before I had to ask for a minute to re-cooperate and breathe. I told him to go for it and with a few more minutes of extreme pain Dr. Smith stopped and said "I think he is there." Best words ever! He pushed at the top of my stomach to try to force Aidens head down further so he didn't flip again. He got the ultrasound machine again and checked on the baby again (which he had been doing the whole time to make sure Aiden wasn't stressing to much) He found the heart beat which looked good and made sure he was head down for my sake. He held my hand for a second and said that I did amazing and that he was sorry he had to do that to me. He shook Mikes hand and he left after scheduling our induction for the 13th.
The nurse came back in and hooked me up to all the monitors again and we sat there for an hour and a half while they monitored Aiden and my contractions. Since they manipulated my uterus so bad it is common to contract afterward and they want to make sure I don't go into labor and they monitor the baby to make sure he doesn't have any distress or pinched cord or anything like that. (Oh, my doctor did say that he had never seen a babies heart rate go back to normal that quickly after this whole thing so he was very happy with that, and so was I) I then had to have some blood drawn so they could make another Rogam shot for me (I had no idea they were made form my own blood. Makes sense though) since with all the stress on my body the other one I got was obsolete. So we waited a bit longer for that and they gave me the shot and we were done. So at about 12:15 we were discharged and I was told to take it really easy the next few days.
I was and still am so incredibly tender. It hurts to even touch my stomach right now. (I just have to say, for my recollection later, that this was the second worst pain I have ever been through. The first was with Evylee when I was in labor on my own and had pitocin on top of that with no pain killers.) However, I am so happy that it worked. Not all cases work and I am just glad it did and I hope and pray that he stays head down or my scheduled induction will end up being a C-section.
I am just so grateful for a wonderful doctor and an amazing husband that sat with me the whole time and helped me through it all.

Later we took Mike back to the doctor that day and they gave him some more medications for his ear and they seem to be helping a ton and hopefully will make it so he can function normally soon. We both got home that day at about 3 and collapsed on the couch and didn't move until midnight when we hauled ourselves off the couch and went to bed. It was a long day but it was an overall good day. :)

I just hope next week is normal for us. I'm ready to be back into a routine.