Elective C/section

[novembermum]

Hi

Suppose that it sounds pretty straight forward. Book the procedure, have the epi and hey presto your baby is born.

Mine was pretty much straight forward. Booked the c/section at 39wks as bub was breech.

Wearing a lovely hospital gown and my partner all dressed in plastic, I was walked into the operation theatre and layed down on the bed. I had the spinal block & epi put in (got a bit teary as was rather scary). Not to bad. The IV was worse which was put in after the paperwork.

Just before they were about to start, I got the worst headache in my life and had DP rubbing my head as the operated. My blood pressure dropped very rapidly and they still dont know what caused the headache.

I saw DS bring brought up as he was born and DP was the first to announce "Its a boy". My DS was born 9.29am weighting 4221g/9lb 5oz. My big boy wasn't getting enough oxygen so was in SCU for 2 days.

The hardest part was that I held him at 8.30pm for the second time, first time being when he was a few minutes old.

DS and I went home on the Sunday (born on the Wednesday) after he lost 1lb and I was on strick instructions to top up feeds w/ formula. My milk did not come down until Sunday night as the first time I feed him was on the Thursday afternoon.

In whole it was not too bad an experience, what with rude and intrusive relatives. I think the hardest part was that the moment he was born I felt numb, no feelings of joy or relief that he was healthy.

Anyway, I got to donate Cord Blood, which was great and the amount they got was nearly twice what they required.

So, with my rather disappointing birth/operation, my 11wk old son is beautiful, chubby and asleep :)

Just to recap, I had planned to have a as natural as possible birth up until 37wks where we found out he still had not moved and no chance of a external version as the placenta was under my belly button. Later found out that the placenta was a massive 1kg and bub was squished between it and my rib cage.

Sorry if this does not make much sense, its an outlet to avoid PND.

[Bonusbaby]

Congratulations on the birth of your beautiful son.

I have had two elective c-sections and am due to have another on the 22nd March.

My first son was breech and I was absolutely devastated that things did not go to plan as I too wanted to have a 'natural' birth. With my second, he was in a transverse lie so I needed another c-section even though I totally had my heart set on not having another ceasar.

This time around I have accepted the fact that it doesn't matter how they come out as long as they are healthy and happy at the end of the day.

I did not have any rush of feelings of love/warmth etc when either of my kids were first born, but it did come with time. Try not to feel bad about this - it's kind of hard to be all excited when your flat on your back and freaked out:rolleyes:

If you feel that you are starting to suffer from PND then maybe talking to your doctor or baby clinic nurse would help.

Hugs to you.

[Tea Lady]

Congratulations on the arrival of your little boy!! I think birth doesn't go according to plan for lots of ppl, even if they have a vaginal birth (I know I wouldn't have chosen my labour :rolleyes: ) so you're not alone if you feel it would have been nice for things to be different. It's wonderful that you have a healthy baby - congratulations again :)

[HoopDeeDoo]

Congratulations on the birth of your baby boy!!
You have an image what its going to be like when you are pregnant with your first. And when things don't go the way you expected, you are shocked and don't know how to react.
It doesn't matter how they get here, it's the rest of thier life you've got to look forward too. Enjoy these precious moments with your baby boy! :D

[Tracie]

Hey November Mum,

It can be so disappointing when you have certain expectations for birth and then things don't go to plan, but that's mother nature for you - you have to make the best decision for yourself and your baby at the time.

So, go easy on yourself - you did a wonderful job carrying your precious bundle for 9 months and then had to endure major surgery and a very long recovery time, whilst looking after a newborn - that is no small feat! You've probably been through some of the toughest times of your life these last couple of months.

I think it is quite normal to feel robbed of that "birth experience" (especially when you so badly wanted to go natural) and certainly that must have an effect in the days and months after the birth. And then it can be tough trying to process it all when you have a tiny baby to look after, you're getting no sleep and life has changed so dramatically!

So be gentle with yourself, over time things will certainly get better.
If they don't and you really are having a tough time dealing with your feelings, I would strongly suggest you talk to someone who can help you work through things. This is a precious time with your bub and taking time out to get back on track, if that's what you need, is really important.

(And know that you are not the only one who has these feelings - even women whose birth DOES go to plan can have those same feelings of detachment and confusion)

Wishing you all the best!

[Brooksy]

Congratratulations on the birth of your son.

I gave birth to a little girl 7 weeks ago I went through a long labour before having to have a emergency c/section. I had only dilated 3cm because her umbilical cord was very short.

I wasn't very happy or prepared that i had to have a c/section everything happened so fast, but afterwards i felt much better about it as bub and i could have been in danger if we hadn't had the c/section.

The way dh and I think about it now is that we are lucky that I am fine and we have a beutiful little baby girl who is healthy.


Brooksy 30
Dh 37
Rhiannon 26/12/05