External Cephalic Versions and Toast.

Boy, am I glad I'm a man! Marie had to go into the Royal Infimary to have her blood pressure taken as a precaution. As we were about to leave the midwife checked the position of the baby to find that the wee bisum was lying breach and presenting an arm, probably a finger too!

We were passed on to the high head yin who told us of a procedure to change the babies' position so that the head was in the proper position.(down for non parents!) Medical practitioners couch their language in a very interesting way. The procedure, called an External Cephalic Version, was described as a massage which would encourage the baby to turn into the natural position. We discussed it between us and weighed up the risk (very low) and decided to go with the advice. As the time for the procedure neared the description of the pain increased steadily from massage to slight discomfort to painful! The tension experienced was exponential to the decreasing time!

Anyway, the procedure involved two doctors turning the baby in utero, with one turning the head and the other pushing it's bottom at the same time, very carefully but VERY firmly done. My poor wife was in agony, thankfully it worked first time and all appears to be well, both baby and mum are doing well. This whole thing took from about four o'clock on the Wenesday to eleven pm and then a return visit the next day from ten until about four thirty in the afternoon. As Marie was prepped for surgery in case it didn't work we were both nil by mouth (my contribution to the situation) until about ten thirty pm. At about ten an angel appeared and fed us toast and tea, it was the best toast I have ever tasted in my life!

The baby was supposed to appear on the 13th of April and to date has not appeared much interested in the outside world. Both of the last two were overdue so that fits the pattern I suppose. They were also boys so this could be boy number 5! The last one for sure, it's my turn for surgery, no smug jokes from the ladies please. I have one keen volunteer to weild the knife already, but only if it's blunt.

Do I need approval from Don for time off for an Internal Tubular Section I wonder?