My Experience

My doctor determined that I should have a C-section. I didn’t have placenta previa but the placenta was low-lying and there was a risk of it being damaged by a vaginal delivery and putting the baby at risk. Another potential risk with low-lying placenta is that when it tears from the uterine wall, bleeding may be difficult to stop because the normal post-partum contraction of the uterus doesn’t affect that area as much. Also I had some very large fibroids that were possibly compromising the uterus’ ability to contract properly for delivery. Finally, there was some concern that the baby wasn’t thriving well since her weight percentile had fallen from the 31st to the 13th over a few weeks so they just wanted to get her out.

I was talked through the procedure in my birth prep classes and felt pretty up on what would happen. My doctor also gave me a lot of handouts on what to expect. I was able to speak with her on the phone in the week before we went in for surgery to answer last minute questions and concerns.

On the day of the C-section I checked in at the hospital and it was rather surreal. I had my husband and a good friend there with me and we tried to keep me relaxed while they inserted the IV line and filled out my paperwork. That took longer than I thought — about 2 hours. Irritatingly, we gave lots of information to the first nurse but her shift ended and the second nurse (who’s English was limited) made us answer all the same questions again. The anesthesiologist met with me in the pre-op room and talked me through what would happen, and I felt very comfortable in his hands.

Into the Delivery Room
My husband and doula were not able to come with me into the cold, white operating room for the insertion of the spinal block, but they were able to rejoin me once I was numb after about 20 minutes. The anesthesiologist waited until he was sure my doctor was on the way before administering the spinal block. As he said, the numbing agent they administered was much more painful than the actual block, and even that was just more of a shock and a sting than real pain. In fact, the whole thing was so un-painful that it was surreal when a baby burst onto the scene. The spinal block felt like hot water was filling my body from the toes up to my midsection and I became numb very quickly. Shortly thereafter the foley catheter was inserted into my urethra but I couldn’t feel a thing.

I felt cold and nervous as they strapped my hands down to the table, but soon I was soothed by the pediatrician who happened to be a family friend. She was very calming and helped me stay positive. Still, I was a little terrified and just so weirded-out by the experience and anticipation. But by then my husband and friend also joined me in the room all dressed in scrubs and armed with the camera.

My doctor arrived already wearing her splashguard face gear and peeked at me over the drape that was blocking the view of the surgery. She said hi quickly and went right to work while I tried to remember that I picked her for her expertise, not her bedside manner. It was very odd being able to hear everything the surgeon and nurses were saying — especially when they were expressing concern that something wasn’t going well. Everything I heard was surreal from the “whoa” that erupted when they broke through the bag of waters and a waterfall came out of me to when my doctor commented on what good muscle tone I had in my abdomen. It was all bizarre. And when I heard the baby cry and they exclaimed she was beautiful and carried her to the warming table to make sure she was ok, that was also so strange. I couldn’t believe she had come out of me since I certainly didn’t recognize her. My husband and I said a little prayer of thanks and then the doctors got to work stitching me back together and stopping the hemorrhaging.

I felt a lot of tugging and pressure in my stomach that made me feel sick. I asked the anesthesiologist why I felt like someone was punching my stomach and he told me it was because they effectively were; evidently they needed to be very aggressive to stop the bleeding. They inserted a balloon into the uterus once they’d found and stopped all the sources of the bleeding. The balloon kept the pressure up against the sight of the bleeding, which was in a very difficult-to-access place right next to and on the cervix.

Recovery
After the procedure they took me to the observation area where I started to feel itchy from the morphine that accompanied the spinal block. But I was so happy and excited to meet my baby and to put her to my breast. After my family was able to visit with us there they took me up to my room and I was finally able to fall asleep for a few brief hours.

The first days were very difficult but every day got better. I know this sounds crazy, but in some ways, I honestly felt a lot better after the operation than while pregnant. One reason was that I had horrible heartburn and back pain for much of the pregnancy and got very little relief from it. As soon as the baby was out, all that was solved. I could finally lie in bed comfortably and also could take lots of pain medication that I had stayed off of during gestation.

Sitting up in bed and trying to nurse were really tough and awkward, but once I got home I was much more comfortable using my own nursing pillow and my glider. In the hospital I made sure to take the pain meds whenever I felt they were necessary but also tried to not be awoken in order to take them. Getting sleep and uninterrupted time with my husband and the baby was a really healing thing but difficult in the hospital. I took the nurses advice and tried to walk a lot to get my bowels moving and to speed the rest of the healing. I also ate lots of dried fruit to soften my stool. Still, this wasn’t enough and my first bowel movement was agony.