Even before Anthony and I started discussing having children, I knew I was most likely going to need to have a c-section. Due to a rare heart condition, the possibility of me having a baby naturally wasn’t very realistic. With that being said, when we eventually quickly became pregnant, I didn’t put up much of a fight (I may have tried to persuade my doctor into letting me labor) and scheduled a c-section. That scheduled c-section turned into an emergency c-section when my sweet baby decided she wanted to see the world two months early. Knowing beforehand that I was going to have a section allowed me to do research and learn from other peoples experiences; but nothing can prepare you for the actual thing. This post is a reflection of my personal experience with a c-section and is no way a representation of what others may have/will experience.
So I had this lovely image in my head when I scheduled my c-section of my husband and I driving to the hospital, with pure joy, knowing that our little baby would be arriving in a few hours. We would arrive to the hospital and they would “drug me up and do their thing.” The reality was, what seemed like, a million people wheeling me down a hallway, away from my husband and parents, to prep me for surgery. One of the nurses asked if I was nervous (duh!) and told me I would have been nervous even if it wasn’t an emergency. Well call me crazy but I feel like my mindset may have been a little different if I wasn’t delivering a 3 lb baby at only 31 weeks pregnant…but I digress.
Let me begin by saying they messed up my first epidural, therefore they had to give me a second one, this had me all nerves from the get-go, plus the fact that I had to sign something saying they may have to remove my uterus in the event of complications (uh, what?) didn’t help any. The scariest part of the entire procedure was when the anesthesiologist kept poking my arm and then my lower extremities asking if the touches felt different. I don’t know if it was because I was so nerved up but I swear I couldn’t tell the difference between the two. My vision: they were going to cut into me and I was going to feel everything. The reality: I didn’t even know they had cut me open until I heard the baby crying. I actually asked if the cries were coming from our baby or a different room because I was so confused.
The most annoying part of the procedure was the dang oxygen mask. Ok, I understand that it’s supposed to help you breath and all but holy mother of moses! I wanted the damn thing off…I felt like I COULDN’T breath! This is probably why I didn’t even know I had been cut open; I was too busy bitching to Anthony about the fact that I couldn’t breath. I blame a little bit of that hysteria on the fact that they gave me morphine…MORPHINE?! I didn’t even know they did that and couldn’t understand why I felt like my eyes were so heavy. Oof!
No, I’m not sleeping. I was trying to calm myself down from the anxiety I was experiencing from that freakin mask, plus I was resting my overly heavy eyes.
Now let’s talk about the numbness. Maybe, just MAYBE they gave me extra because I kept claiming the pokes on my arm and leg didn’t feel any different but geeesh, I felt like I was a prisoner in my body when they wheeled me back to recovery. And to add insult to injury they kept coming in and asking if I could move my toes, feet, legs, etc…of course I couldn’t! Way to kick a woman when she’s already down. The numbness is a two headed dragon though because when it wears off…beware! This is probably standard practice whether you have a c-section or natural labor but what the nurses refer to as a “uterus massage” was enough to make me jump out of my own skin. This delightful practice consists of them gently rubbing smashing your poor organs to make sure you don’t get blood clots, every few hours. Not in a million years, should that torture be coined as a “massage.” HOLYFUCKINGSHIT does that hurt or what?! The best part, they come in all hours of the night to give you these luxurious massages…um nope, I did NOT dig those one bit.
One thing people talk about the most after a c-section is the pain they experience for weeks. I will admit that I thought I was going to die the first time I was allowed to get up, 24 hours after my surgery. I wanted nothing more than to have a shower and I wasn’t going to let anything stop me. In hindsight, it probably would have been less embarrassing to let my body odor take over than what took place that night. I can only imagine the sight it was as my husband and a nurse tried to tag team clean me; I could hardly stand and I was shaking like a leaf. Things started looking up after that nightmare, however, and I was up and walking around on my own in no time. I attribute alot of this to the fact that I was stuck in the hospital and hotel for 5 weeks. I couldn’t exactly take it easy, as every day consisted of getting ready at a hotel and making our way to the hospital to spend the day with our little girl. I think I was forced to be “active” much quicker than I would have had I been able to come home sooner. I think I found sleeping to be more uncomfortable than anything because, really, there is no comfortable position. The thing that allowed me to sleep the easiest: those lovely belly wraps. I swear those were my best friends! I didn’t care how silly I looked, I thought they were the bees knees…literally. I probably would still be wearing those to bed right now if Anthony would have allowed it. I’m pretty sure he threw mine away when I wasn’t looking.
A couple of things I didn’t expect: in terms of sensitivity, my incision site was sensitive far beyond my 6 week post-op appointment and itching. Yikes, does my scar itch! And could it be in a more inappropriate spot? There is absolutely no ignoring it either, when it itches you HAVE to itch it. The worst part though, you almost never can “relieve” the itch. This is something I struggle to understand and it annoys the heck out of me but no matter how much/hard I itch it’s like I’m not reaching it. I really hope that stops soon.
Any other “section mommys” experience any of this? Or anything that I didn’t mention?
xo, Jess
YES. You lose all sensation from the cut nerves, so it itches but you can’t actually scratch it! And one thing I wish they had warned me of was the uterine “massages”… Made me feel like I had shit myself each time.
And the epidural was horrible. I went in believing I was going to have a natural vaginal birth. They gave an epidural and it was so so terrible even just trying to roll over. Truly made me appreciate having full use of my legs!!
My experience was so similar, yet different at the same time. I am a type 1 diabetic. So I didn’t have plans to have kids right away, but the day before mothers day, surprise!!! 2 weeks layer it was confirmed by my dr. After a long talk it was determined that because of me being diabetic I was not to carry the full 40 weeks. 39 welds and I would be induced if he hasn’t introduced himself by then. So as the every other week ultrasounds continued I was getting more and more excited. Then I had my first nst… it all went down from there. At my first nst he decided to drop his heart rate to below 100. The second dropped it below 60 twice. Both required me to go sit at the hospital for a couple hours and be monitored. He was ok. Then my third one came. It type them 10 minutes to find his heart rate and when they found it it wouldn’t go above 100.I was scheduled to go spend the next night in the hospital after a night of bed rest. I didn’t even male it to my appt. My water broke that morning. 33 weeks along. I freaked out!!! I was at home, by myself, and wasn’t even 100% sure if it was my water. So I called my mom and offor to the hospital we went. (Mind ui was on my third pair of pants because of me soaking through them all) forest thing they do, make me walk up there by myself. Yup no luxurious wheel chair ride for me. Which I was ok with because I wasn’t having any contractions. Then it was time to strip down. Talk about weird and gross, every move I made it just gushed out more… but they had to do a test to male sure it was my water breaking. Really? I mean I get us pregnant woman can pee, a lot at that but really??? So they took their Lil swab. Then they had to check to see how dilated I was. After she did that, my contractions started. And oh my god did they start. They came hard and fast. I had all the nurses baffled. I was only to a 1 but my contractions where big! So it took an hr to get the test back, they had the pleasure to come tell water broke, well no shit sherlock Holmes. .. stop they could now call my dr to see what he wanted me to do. I was either a. Having my baby here and having baby transferred to a bigger hospital 45 mins away and me stay here until I was discharged. Or b. I be transferred now, in labor, and we stay down there together. You really had to ask that? So as another hour went by I awaited in agony for the ambulance. Oh did I mentionit’s about 3 in the afternoon, I have yet to eat anything, and I’m vomiting the whole time from the pain… so while I was waiting they were nice enough to give me a DIET watermelon jello… I barely forced it down my throat. Where it didn’t stay very long at all. So ambulance finally got there, and off course the whole ride smelled of a watermelon jolly rancher haha but the best part… add I’m sitting there, in an old ambulance, which u can only imagine the shock absorbance, puking my guts out, contractions much stronger for someone STILL only dilated to a 1, and the last paramedic had the balls to look at me and say “we’ll the bumps shouldn’t be making the pain any worse”. Let me tell you something, a basin had never been so close to saving her life. She is so very lucky I was trying to concentrate on trying to hold my basin or oh lord help me she was gonna get it. Finally got to the hospital after a VERY VERY VERY LONG 45 min drive, I was wheeled up to my room. Where I was them put on all of the monitors again, and all that jazz. Still only dilated to 1. So with that concern in their mind they decided to do an ultrasound (which took half an hr waiting). Found out my Lil monster was still lodged in my ribs. Which was causing my more then normal contractions. Well you can only imagine what their next words were “I’m sorry to inform you of this mrs. Kathrine, but you are going to have to get an emergency c section.”
The very words I dreaded to hear my whole pregnancy. Not the c section part. Nor the eternal scar. Nor drugs. Nothing like that. But the thing I feared even more. Not being the first to hold my son. So many things were taken from me just by those very words. The first person to hold him. The first bare skin he feels. The first diaper change. The first feeding. The first to sooth his frail little cry. I was devistated. But worst of it, I saw my son for 20 seconds before they took him away. I didn’t see him again for 3 1/2 hours. I had to move my feet before I could see him. Longest time of my life! !!
Now the actual procedure was something that you can never forget. They wheel you back there by your self into a freezing cold room. You sit up on the table as they find where they are going to put your epidural. Then you have to be very very still, they give u the numbing one first so u don’t actually feel the other needle. (I always thought that was funny. Here I’m gonna poke you so you don’t feel me poke you with this other needle lol) then they have u Lay down. You have to lay your arms out like a T, they put the curtain up, cover u up, then your spouse can come in. They start poking u along if u can feel anything as the nurse by your head is asking a bunch of questions. I didn’t even feel them cutting. I felt some pressure but I thought they were just marking stuff. Next thing I knew I heard a doctor by my feet say “oh look we’re almost to the baby” WHAT? ?? and then my son cried. The greatest sound in the world.
Everything after consisted of me having to be wheeled across the hospital to go see my son multiple times a day. Id go see him, then have to be back to myroom for meds and food. It was a constant journey. I was admitted for 5 days, after that I slept in my son’s room with him. Those couchs are like sleeping on rocks, let alone right after being sliced open. No fun! !!
To be honest it was not an experience I wish upon anybody. One day everything is wonderful and then the next you having your baby cut out of you. But ya know what, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It made me stronger mom, and it made my son a fighter. We are so close, and I love it.
Oliver just turned 10 months old. The whole 17 lbs of him. He is amazing and healthy and trying so hard to learn how to walk haha.
I know it was a long story but I hope someone takes something from it. 🙂
Congrats to all the mommies out there! We make up the world!