Hi Everyone!
I know I DID not update throughout my pregnancy as much as I wanted to and I’m really upset about that, but thats ok. Sometimes life gets hectic and I had so much going on leading up until my delivery.
Between my 29-39 weeks my pregnancy still was really great I never got any really bad symptoms, no swelling, wasn’t overly tired. I think I even mopped my floors all the way up until the last day of my pregnancy. Now your probably wondering about the title of this and wondering as to why I had a c section and I will explain all that.
At around 35 weeks my doctor sent me in for an ultrasound because I was measuring a little small, and she also felt my stomach and was almost certain that the baby was breech. So at 36 weeks me and my husband went in to get an ultra sound and sure enough he was breech but was measuring normal and healthy just had not flipped around yet :). So back to the doctors office I went at 37 weeks, and she explained to me my options. I could try to go in and have the baby flipped which is called External Cephalic and you go into the hospital and they pretty much lube up your stomach and give you a muscle relaxant or even at time a general anesthetic and they try to manually turn the baby. My second option was to deliver the baby feet first, or in my sons case bum first cause he was complete breech so sitting cross legged. The third option was a routine scheduled c section. I told her I didn’t want to do the external cephalic because I have heard it hardly ever works and can be painful and also very dangerous (baby umbilical cord being wrapped around) and I did NOT I repeat did NOT want to delivery him vaginally because he’s bum first my pelvis wasn’t guaranteed to fit his head through. I then told her that I wanted to schedule for a c section. She agreed completely and said she would send off a referral and hopefully someone would get back to me within the week.
I waited patiently for the referral to come in and everyday thinking well gosh this sure is cutting it close. I mean some women are early at 37, 38 weeks and 37 weeks is considered full term so its fair game. Finally around 38 weeks I was referred to a obstetrician on the west side of Edmonton that delivered out of the Misecordia. A couple of days later I went in to see her and she explained again my options and how everything would go down and the recovery period and basically what to expect.
At this point, selfishly enough I was kind of looking forward to being able to “plan” when my son was going to enter into the world. Every time I told someone I was having a scheduled c section they would say, “Oh I’m so sorry to hear that,” or “Oh thats too bad, have you tried going to a chiropractor, or a homeopathic doctor?” I don’t understand the sympathy given to some women who are getting a c section. Why are c sections so bad, so frowned upon, like something we should be scared of, or feel ashamed of. I mean I never once tried to explain my reasoning to some of these women, but I also never agreed with them. Why would it be so bad that I got the pick a date to have my son given to me, and the easiest way possible. Without sitting in labour for hours on end, and potentially ripping so bad down there getting 3rd degree tears, or pooping myself (lol). I mean vaginal births are an amazing thing as well for a women to be able to pass a baby through the birth canal and sit in labour its truly amazing what the human body is capable of. I was okay with my choice, it was my decision I didn’t feel pressured into it, I didn’t feel guilty about it I was able to go to bed at night and sleep well knowing I was getting it. Now some women also try to give you the third degree about “too posh to push” or the fact that its not even really like giving birth to your child. Let me tell you after having a c section it is JUST as hard as having a vaginal birth.
My scheduled date for my c section was May 25th, two days before my due date. The two weeks leading up until that day were the absolute longest of my life. I quit working at 37 and a half weeks and I was basically just at home cleaning, cooking, hoarding frozen meals. Knowing the date you will be having your baby is almost even more torturous because you are SO anxious. Its a really hard time to explain the feelings you get, and not to mention how sick and tired I was of being pregnant. I was over the pregnancy thing at around 25 weeks lol. Even though I had an amazing pregnancy and no aches or pains, you just get tired of it. Towards the end not being able to bend over properly to put on socks, not being able to have more the one coffee, no alcohol and just the over all uncomfortableness. Not to mention the constant peeing OMG I was someone who at night had to literally pee every 30 minutes it was the most annoying feeling ever.
The two weeks passed, and the last two nights of my pregnancy I started to get quite emotional and a little bit nutty lol. I would start to cry to my husband saying I was still going to be a good wife and he was my number 1 and that I didn’t want things to change. Then one morning I woke up in a panic that there wasn’t enough juice in the house. I really think its so hard for men to put themselves in our shoes to understand what it is we go through. We carry this thing, this alien in our stomachs for 9 months and then in kind of the blink of an eye we are gonna meet them and everything going to change! I did not sleep more then probably 5 hours in total the last two days, and the night before my surgery I literally stared at the ceiling for 6 hours. I was oddly pretty calm the night before the surgery but the morning of I was a jittery mess. Night went and morning came me and my husband woke up at 6:30 am and had to be at the hospital for 7:30 am. We got to the hospital checked in at reception and gave them all of our info and all that.
We then went up to the 3rd floor the delivery floor, and got settled into a bedroom and my husband was instructed to put a pair of scrubs on and I also got a fancy robe the ones that reveal your bum because no one ever knows how to put them on. I then sat down on a bed and they put my IV in which the nurse missed my vein and it was excruciating and they also heat the room up really hot before you go into a cold operating room, so I of course already have a low blood pressure and started to get dizzy and fainty and my husband was so hot he had to step out. The nurse manager then came in to put my IV in and lay me down and turn down the room temperature which felt really great. Once my IV was in they just get you to sit back and relax, and basically wait for another 30 minutes which is nerve racking lol. The anesthesiologist came in and introduced himself and he was awesome, super chatty and comforting and really made you feel at ease about the spinal block I would be getting. Then my doctor finally came in and she actually did another quick ultra sound because I guess if the baby would have flipped then the c section would have been off. He was still breech, so then she got me up and showed me to the operating room, my husband had to wait outside of course while they prepped me. I got into the operating room which is of course as cold and sterile as they look in the movies. Your almost kind of like a specimen and everyones the students my doctor introduced me and let everyone know the procedure they would be doing today. The anesthesiologist then got me to sit up and lean over a pillow while they did the spinal block. They first give you a needle to numb the area before they give you the big needle. I couldn’t tell which needle it was that hurt but Im sure the big one was the one that gave me a shooting pain into my lower back. It wasn’t that bad it actually hurt less then the IV the nurse trainee tried to put in me. Then they slowly laid me down and my bottom half started to get warm and fuzzy and they put your catheter in and of course everything is on display lol I have never been so exposed to random people in my life!! They then put up the curtain so you can’t see anything and then I believe they brought my husband in at that point to sit down beside me behind the curtain. It was something I can’t even really put into words, more of an out of body experience as soon as they started the procedure. They explained to me the pushing and pulling I would feel but no pain. My husband, John was so sweet he sat beside me trying to take my mind off of what was going on and talking about camping and things we were gonna do this summer with the baby, and he of course just as nervous as I was. Literally within probably about a 5-7 minute period of them starting they then asked John if he wanted to see the baby being pulled out of me. I of course yelled no because thats gross lol but oddly enough John said sure and took a look. The amount of pressure relived when they pull the baby out is such a crazy feeling. It felt like my stomach was about to burst open and someone popped it!! The baby didn’t cry right away which they say they don’t when you have a c section, but after a little while he started wailing. I wasn’t overly emotional at all during the whole process until I asked John if he had ten fingers and ten toes and he said yes and he was healthy and then I started to tear up. They then bundled him up and brought him over, which is about the same time I started to feel this excruciating throbbing pain in my right shoulder but the anethisiologist explained it was normal and he was going to give me something for the pain. It was hard to focus on the baby because of the pain but none the less a really cool moment. They then escorted my husband out and weighed the baby who was 6 lb 11 oz which I thought he was going to be so much tinier because I only gained 20 lb and was all baby. They then sewed me up, and wheeled me out on the bed with the baby on my side, and john followed.
The nurse brought me into a recovery room for only about 20 minutes where they want you to do skin to skin and breast feed. I completely understand the skin to skin but I was a little loopy and numb the breast feeding really didn’t seem necessary at that moment. It was just kind of an awkward feeling of trying to raise my arms and him latch on and me still in shock. After that they wheel you to your room, and if you have any visitors or what not they can come in and see the baby. I remember everything but I just remember feeling tired and in shock like exhausted. Then basically they give you your bundle of joy to admire and snuggle with for the duration of your stay (3 days). I definitely felt a little sore at first and obviously couldn’t sit up and use my ab muscles but nothing I couldn’t handle.
The next 2 days went by kind of slow because I hated being in the hospital and the nurses tell you to literally breast feed every 30 minutes and you don’t even have time to sleep and let your own body recover which is too bad. But women are so amazing that we go through all these things for children and run on zero sleep, and get cut open and suddenly have this baby now that relies on you for food and everything!
Honestly I recovered so incredibly quick from the c section after the 2 day I felt quite good I was getting up on my own and walking around. My doctor let me go one day early because I was healing so quickly and doing well. My c section was awesome, I am not 1 week and 1 day post partum and my body feels great, I am starting to feel like myself again and I’m almost completely healed and my incision scar looks like a 5 inch paper cut its so tiny!
This is getting incredibly long so my next blog I promise promise to talk about bringing the baby home and the first couple of nights and how crazy life is!
Thanks for tuning in !
maddy
maddysmommylifestyle 