An external version is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Using their hands, the doctor tries to turn the baby into a head down position by pushing the baby through your belly. To make this easier, they give you a shot of muscle relaxer about 5 minutes before so your uterus should be relaxed and not contract. They also monitor the baby before, during and after the version to make sure the baby tolerated it well.
Since I still have a good amount of fluid, I think they measured it at 20cm, our version was as easy as it could be. Baby looked great on the monitor, I got my injection, and it took 2 minutes with one hand on her tush and one on her head to nudge her from transverse to vertex. It felt like a slightly too firm deep tissue massage and I was a little tender in one or two spots for a couple days after, but I wouldn't call it painful or even particularly uncomfortable. The doctor was so pleased with how easily she turned that he said he'd have no problem trying it again if needed.
Unfortunately, baby girl is a stubborn little thing with her own ideas on position and timing. It only took her an evening to decide she liked things better from a different perspective and by the time we went into our NST the next afternoon she had settled into a full on, head up breech position. Whoops. My fluid was 18cm at this appointment, still normal.
There are things I can do to try and turn her, like hanging off the couch on my hands and knees, but the reality is that she's going to do what she wants regardless. Sometimes I turn her and she stays for a bit, other times she flips back around and even though I'm 37+ weeks, I can still feel her turning summersaults. Our next NST and check up is in the morning and she's already been in 3 different positions today. It would be nice if she decided to be head down but I'm not going to over-analyze it if she isn't. I'll just keep my fingers crossed.
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