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I reach out and put my hand on Bug’s arm, encouraging her to look at me. When she does, I say, “You better believe it is,” hoping she gets my meaning.
The new tear welling in her eye says she does. We share one more brief moment of…something, then she turns back to Christina, emotions swelling my heart as Bug continues to love on her.
Hudson clears his throat. “I hate to break up the party, but we need to do an ultrasound to see what’s going on with Twin B.”
Someone rolls over the ultrasound machine as Asher gently takes Christina from me.
Hudson glides the transducer over my belly, though I can’t feel it. “Mmm,” he mumbles.
My body stiffens. “What does that mean?”
“He’s turned. He’s in the transverse position.” He moves the wand around some more. “That means he’s sideways. Could be he’s taking advantage of all that extra space.”
He’s trying to make a joke, but I know what this could mean. I close my eyes. “Do you have to do a C-section?”
“Not necessarily. I’m going to try and turn him.” He hands the transducer off to the nurse and puts both hands on my stomach. “This won’t hurt, but you will feel a lot of pressure.”
I lock eyes with Asher and his bright smile is encouraging. He holds Christina close to me and I caress her soft face with the back of a knuckle.
“Allie,” Hudson says, “I’m not having any luck. I’m going to try for an internal rotation. This will be slightly less comfortable, but it still shouldn’t hurt with your epidural.”
“Wait,” Bug says, seemingly horrified. “You’re going to stick your entire hand… upthere?”
Hudson holds up his hand. “It’s a lot smaller than what just came out of her.”
“Still… gross.”
“Darla,” Asher warns. “How about you keep those comments to yourself?”
“Take a deep breath,” Hudson says.
I feel pressure and tugging and, oh god, I don’t even want to think about what he’s doing right now. It seems to take forever, but then it’s over.
“It worked,” he says. “He’s head down for now.”
I look up. “Fornow?Meaning you might have to do that all over again?” I slump back onto the bed.
“There’s a chance.”
“If you can stick your whole hand up there, why not just pull him out?” Bug asks.
It seems like a legitimate question, so I await his answer.
“That’s not how it works. In breech births, you can help them along by tugging the feet and legs. But you don’t want to pull a baby out by his head. That could lead to complications.”
“But it’s safe to use forceps and the vacuum extractor?” I ask.
“Those are for when the baby is low enough in the birth canal. He’s not there yet.”
“How long will it be?” I ask, ready to have this over with.
“Minutes. Ten to thirty usually.”
“Can I hold her while we wait?”
“Better yet, try and nurse her,” he says. “Nursing will help the uterus contract and may even move Twin B along.”
“What are we waiting for? Let’s do it.”