After having two children naturally, I was quite happy to accept the doctors advice to have my third baby via a cesarean, as she was breech. Not so deep down I was a little frightened of going through the pain of childbirth for the third time, so it was a relief to not have to go through it again. I wasn’t even concerned about the cesarean risks involved. Now my daughter is twelve and I have a beautiful scar to show for her entrance into the world.
If I was to have anther baby, which isn’t going to happen in this life time, I would be doing a lot more research into what the real risks of delivering via a cesarean section are.
Most women you talk to who have had a baby will be happy to share her birthing story with you, so I will share a little of mine without the gory bits of course.
My Cesarean Story
When I was approximately 37 weeks pregnant I went for my routine check up and after the doctor had done her examination, she explained to me that the baby was breech, which means that she hadn’t turned and she had her feet first. She gave me two options, one was to try and turn the baby around while she was in the womb and the second was to have a cesarean, which I jumped at without doing any research on cesarean risks.
At 39 weeks I went in to hospital to deliver my baby. After preparation the aneathatist came in to give me an epidural which is a needle injected into your spine to stop all feeling to the lower half of your body. It was a very strange sensation not being in control of your legs. I was then taken to the operating room with my husband in tow. All was good until they unleashed the scalpal where I was instantly aware the epidural had not taken full effect. (yes I felt it) My husband went white as they ushered him out of the room quickly while they put me under general anaesthetic. A short time later I awoke to find my husband and new baby beside me.
It felt strange to not have been there emotionally for the delivery of my daughter. Sure I was there physically but I had no connections with the passage of birth and the actual baby. It took me three days to feel an emotional connection with my new baby girl, which is not what I felt with my other two delivered naturally.
In my next post I will tell you about the recovery side of things and some specific cesarean risks to think about.
Have a great day,
Jackie Stenhouse
Tags: baby, birth, cesarean risks, cesarean section, pregnant
Hi Jackie
Thank you so much for sharing your experience of your cesarean. Your post brought back many memories of the birth of my children.
Both births were so different from each other. We talk about our pregnancy and the beautiful result of our babies though usually not the tricky stuff in between. I felt that I had to cope with it all and keep it all so perfect though sometimes mother nature can throw a challenge or two along the way. Fortunately to have a great hospital team and husband helps heaps.
Thanks for the memories and looking forward to reading your next post about our little bundles of joy. I wish we could bottle up time and keep them small for a bit longer.
Cherie R
I too had caserean births with both my children, the first unscheduled, the second scheduled. With my first I went into labour naturally, but after 12 1/2 hours I had not dilated, so my waters were broken and I was put on a cytocin drip as well as having the Fetal Monitor strapped to me, as my blood pressure had soared and there were signs of fetal distress. After another 3 hours I had still not began to dilate and I decided to have a caeseran. The doctor tried to get me to wait another 3 hours but I insisted. Something told me that I was not going to be able to deliver this baby. And I was right. She had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck 3 times, across her chest and under her left arm. The doctor later told my husband that the outcome may not have been so good if I had continued in labour. He called it ‘women’s intuition’. I chose to have a general anaesthetic, as I had heard that epidurals can cause migraines, which I already suffered from, so I too missed out on the actual birth. However, it gave my husband the opportunity to bond with his daughter straight away. I have beautiful photo’s of her in her dad’s arms aged about 30 minutes. This is a bond that they still share today. So I guess what I’m really trying to say, is don’t dwell on what you feel you may have missed by having a caeserean, but look at the positives. A healthy and safe delivery for both you and your bub!
Thanks for sharing your story Melissa. Sounds like you had a rough ride but so happy that everything turned out well.
Hi Cherie,
I too wish we could keep them tiny, I love newborns but they grow so quickly and I feel we try and make them progress too fast by trying to get them to the next milestone of there development. We need to relax and enjoy them more while they are young. My oldest is 16 now and was born 5lb premature (thats another post though) He is now over 6ft and about ready to learn to drive. Where did those years go?
Jackie
Powerful post.