My ECV (external Cephalic version) experience to try to flip my breech baby

Didn’t find a lot of detailed posts about this when I searched so I wanted to share and also just write it all down.

I go to a large OB practice and have really liked everyone there mostly but it means you often see different doctors or midwives. They tell you upfront that unless something is concerning they don’t do routine ultrasounds after your 20week anatomy scan so I never thought much of it. At my 36 week appointment my husband was out of town but heartbeat was good, GBS swab done, 1cm dilated. Cool, had meant to ask about position but I was in a rush and totally forgot (always write down your questions!). At the 32 week appointment before that I had asked about where his head was because I could feel something hard and round near my ribs and she said she thought it was his butt but even if it was his head he would most likely turn.

Go in for my 38 week appointment 2 days ago at 37&5 and different doctor feels around, estimates that he’s about 6.5 lbs right now, and says the same, that he thinks it’s his butt up there and asks if they’ve done an ultrasound which was a no. He says he’ll grab the machine just to check and sure enough it is not his butt in my ribs, he says 97% of babies are head down that this point in pregnancy. This obviously changes everything. I’m annoyed with the midwife that saw me before but I’m more annoyed with myself for not pushing for the ultrasound check. I felt if I had know sooner I would have had more options like chiropractor, spinning babies, etc. I’m a nurse (peds) so I know there’s some risks with the ECV and it’s very uncomfortable but after going home and talking it over with hubs (who’s also a nurse) I decided I owed it to myself to at least try to get him to flip vs going straight for the csection since it is a major surgery and recovery is generally a lot tougher than a vaginal delivery.

They schedule it for today at 38 weeks. Nothing to eat/drink for 8 hours before. Arrive at the hospital and they attach me to the monitor, baby’s heart rate is perfect and I’m having quite a few contractions actually but can’t really feel them. An IV is started and labs are drawn (CBC and type and screen). A bag of LR (IV fluids) is started.

On to the risks which she explained were small but of course there, baby may not tolerate it and his HR could drop, usually they’ll recover on their own but if not then I would need an emergency csection (placenta could also detach, uterine rupture, etc), small chance of broken bones with baby. Biggest issue is that it may just not work, she said baby and I were good candidates for the procedure but even the best odds is a 65% success rate. I’ve mostly heard 50/50.

I’m offered an epidural and those risks are reviewed. I said I wanted to try without at first partly because in my mind I wanted to feel if something was wrong. I think I would recommend the epidural to others after my experience if it’s offered.

They give you a subQ shot in your arm of a medicine called terbutaline to relax the smooth muscles of your uterus, it’s short acting, starts quicks and lasts 15-20 min. Side effects for mom though are shaking, heart racing, anxiety, which when 2 doctors are smashing on your abdomen as hard as they can (or at least it feels that way) is a terrible combo. I ask for the epidural but they say he’s halfway turned and ask if they can keep going and I ok it. They get him to a point where they’re hoping he’ll go head down and he turns right back upright, they tried 3 times, so much pressure and pretty painful for me but baby isn’t having any issues at all (my doc said she was surprised given how hard they had pushed and that the baby was doing amazing, momma not so much). I’m uncontrollably shaking and feel somewhat panicky from the med, I’m deep breathing as best I can, they didn’t go quite as hard the other 2 attempts but at the end he would not flip. They ask if I want to try with the epidural and I asked them if that would make it any easier for them and they said no, they wouldn’t have pushed any harder or differently so I opted to end it at that time.

My doctor admitted to me after that she thought this was going to be an easy turn given that I was thin and the position the baby was in. The shaking wore off about 10 after they finished. I cried my tears, scheduled my csection for 39 weeks (the earliest they’ll do a planned csection) and have some peace knowing I did what I could do and it was now out of my control. My abdomen is a little sore in certain spots where I touch it but no bruising that I’ve noticed (also a possibility). Overall it was just a really intense day. I can absolutely understand how/why someone would skip trying this and go straight for the csection but I’m glad I tried. Still going to do the spinning babies exercises and debating if I want to spend the money on a chiropractor but I think he’s pretty cozy in this position.

Sorry for the length but feel free to comment if you have any questions.