April is C-section awareness month. I would love to share some stories from mommas this month. I have had two c sections and would love to share my stories with you.
I was pregnant with my first baby. My husband and I were so excited when we found out we were expecting. I had a wonderful pregnancy. I loved seeing her grow from the outside and feeling her movements get bigger as she grew. I was tracking my ovulation very carefully because we had been trying for a bit and a friend told me that tracking with ovulation strips help so I had a really good idea on the time that we conceived her. When we went in for our first ultrasound they gave us the date of October 26th which was pretty accurate from the time that we had written down when tracking. However as the pregnancy continued they changed the date on us due to growth. They said that her new due date was November 6th. As the days got closer I got more swollen and uncomfortable. I was still stuck on that 26th date and couldn’t seem to get past it because “I KNEW” the 6th had to of been wrong. (OH HOW I LAUGH NOW)
Anyway October 26th came and went and I started to feel VERY pregnant. I was doing it all from Spicy food, running all over the place, taking drives in the mountains, eating pineapple. YOU NAME IT I was doing it. I tried everything google provided me except for a few things like Castor oil and B&B cohosh. My cousins told me that they did Castor oil and it worked every time. Hmmmmm It got me thinking. I decided one night I was going to try it and see what happened. I took a small small amount and went to bed hoping I would wake up in labor. Sadly I woke up and nothing was happening. I looked at the dosage and realized I had taken a childrens dose. All day at work I went back and forth should I do it again??? should I just wait it out???
Well the evening came and my frustrations took over. I decided that I would give it one more go. I took a normal dose with a protein shake and about 3 hours later started feeling a little nauseous. I sipped on some sprite and ate some saltine crackers and started feeling better. Super bummed I headed to bed. I woke up at 11pm as usual to go to the potty. I went into the bathroom and something didn’t really seem right???? I was going potty but it seemed to be a lot and I couldn’t stop it. My mind went to thinking…. Could my water just have broken? I sat there for a few more moments and sure enough it kept happening. I got up and put a towel in my pants and waddled over to the bed where Ric was sleeping. I woke him up and said hey babe I think my water just broke. He said okay and rolled over, while I waddled back into the bathroom and sat down on the potty again. I decided that I wanted to shower. My doctor always told me if your water breaks come right in! So I figured I would shower and get ready and head in. While I was in the shower Ric came in and said Did you just tell me your water broke. I said I DID. I was giggling at him. I finished showering while Ric packed the rest of the bag and we headed to the hospital. I kept feeling like I was going to poop all over. (I was so worried because I had taken the oil and everyone said that it makes you poop) But after a few times Ric said babe Its just your contraction??? Ha ha I had done very little to prep for this baby. No childbirth classes just a little bit of reading and hanging on my baby bump app. We arrived to the hospital and contractions were very far apart and very faint. (now knowing we went way too soon) I was GBS- and the fluid was nice and clear.
We walked in at 1am and they got me in the bed and got us all checked in. She checked my cervix and said you are 1cm! I was so happy. A couple days before at my visit I wasn’t dilated at all. I said okay they got me an IV and left. Ric and I looked at one another thinking hmmm OKAY. Contractions started coming on stronger and sitting in the bed was very hard for me. I was told that I could not get out because I was hooked up to the IV and they wanted my baby on the monitor. I still to this day cant remember where I was feeling it, in my belly or back or what but I remember that it was strong and hard. at 3 am they checked me again and said I was 2 cm and they wanted to start pitocin. I really didn’t know what that was at that point so I said okay and went along with it.
OMG things intensified from there. It was instant I immediately was clenching my hands around the bed telling Ric it hurt. 5/6 am they checked me and I was 2 1/2 cm. I was stoked but OH MY GOSH IN PAIN and after asking Ric to help me a million times and asking him to do something we decided to ask for the epidural. My doctor came in at 7:30am and checked me. I was still 2 1/2cm and 90% thinned. He said that he would be back in a couple hours. They continued to turn pitocin up and I was calm trying to sleep. around 9am they came in and said I was still only about 3cm. The doc said that he would give me about 2 hours and if I hadn’t made SIGNIFICANT change they would be looking at doing a C-section. (a little back story my mom had 2 C-sections and it was really something I was scared of happening so this really scared me) I mentioned it to my doctor during the pregnancy and he said that he didn’t see any reason at that point for me to need a C-section.
come 11 am they came in and said I was 2 1/2 maybe 3 cm and my baby had a couple not alarming but a couple decels and that I was going to have a c-section in the next hour. My heart broke. I was confused looking at the monitor she looked great had a solid heart rate of 150’s. I didn’t want a c-section but we trusted our doctor and figured if thats what he thought was best we would do that.Our goal was safe mom and baby. One hour later I was 3cm and the doc said that I had been in labor too long with no progress (failure to progress) soon after my husband was dressed and they took us out and down the hall. I was bawling and super nauseous but excited to meet my baby girl.
Not long after our baby girl was lifted over a blue curtain. I wanted to cry but couldnt seem to let it out. She cried and cried and my husband left my side to go see her.
I laid there and wanted nothing more than to see what was happening on the other side. All I could hear was the doc and his assistant talking about their trips they just got off of and how bummed they were with the snow storm outside. Soon after my husband brought my baby girl over and took a picture with me and him. I was so happy to see her. She was perfect in every way. He and the baby left and they finished sewing me up and got me back on a comfortable bed.
I was very sleepy after but enjoyed holding my baby girl once I was in recovery. We went into the hospital room and there were a lot of family members in there waiting for us. I was so dozy I was sort of in and out as visitors came and went. The birth that I anticipated was not what happened. This was hard for me to get over and even now typing it there are a flood of emotions that are coming in. I am grateful for this birth though. It taught me a lot and was the starting puzzle piece that led me into the doula that I am today. I love my little girl so much and am so grateful that she joined our family that day.
Next story to come ….
If you have a c-section story you would like to share Please feel free to send it to me pictures are also welcomed. Contact me HERE
