Hearing about having a C-section for many women can be scary. Others actually want a C-section. Then, there's the OBGYN's call on planning for a C-section because of complications. You just never know.
When I found out that there was such thing as a birth plan, I started looking into it. This was mainly because my goal was to have a natural birth (no epidural!). Yes, even this idea was even a little wild for some to think about. So I went though the planning phase, but I also kept in mind that things may not go as planned and a C-section may be a possibility. My sister also advised me to not be disappointed if things didn't go the way I would want it.
My story of how my C-section became my birth story was a week before my expected delivery. I had made plans to work up to a week before my expected delivery. However, the last few days leading up to my maternity leave, I was having contractions. The first time I noticed them was very early in the morning. Honestly, I didn't even know they were contractions they just felt like something was squeezing my insides extremely hard. They came and went, so I wasn't bothered by it. I texted a couple of mama friends during lunch, including my sister. Of course, my big sister being a sister, was extremely concerned because I was at work at the time. She basically told me to go home. My typical self was like, "eh, I can make it." She ended up calling my OBGYN and not too long after her medical questions, my OBGYN's office tells me to download a contraction app. I spent the next 48 hours checking on my contractions. I took the next day off as my contractions felt more severe in the early morning, enough that I didn't feel comfortable to go into work.
Speeding up, the day I took off of work was the day I went to the hospital. My mom had come after hearing that I was having contractions. My husband was working from home. Throughout the day I could feel the contractions and I was basically just fighting it. You're probably really curious how contractions feel, especially if you've never been pregnant, well......just like most mamas say...... it's not comparable to anything. I know I've read on "what contractions feel like" and even those stories do not seem accurate. For example, the one I read said to squeeze your first as hard as you can and feel the muscles in your upper arm contract. Honestly, that is a "weak" version of a contraction if you ask me. I know I keep mentioning "cramps," and as I have mentioned in my blogs about natural family planning, I really have not had a "painful cramp" and even the cramps I've had cannot equate to a contraction. I'll just leave it at that.
I decided to go lay down to rest on my bed. All of the sudden I felt a GUSH come down like a waterfall and I knew my water broke. I jumped straight out of bed worried I'd soak the entire bed and stood up. I was wear pajama pants at the time and the water that initially (yes, there's more) soaked it up. I quickly yelled for my husband and my mom got up and pointed to the bedroom door. He comes in and closes the door and I tell him calmly, "My water broke." We get ready (pretty calmly) and leave. My water continues to flow out as I sit in the car on the way to the hospital.
When I get to the hospital, the on-call doctor determines that she could see the baby's head, full of hair, and that he had a bowel movement. Since he was floating in it, this was a concern. Based on my dilation at the time (4cm I believe, which was 1cm more than my previous days' appointment with my OBGYN) I may have to have a c-section if I did not progress enough. I was provided Pitocin at some point to speed up the dilation. Well, this Pitocin kicked up my contractions beyond 200%. I spent several hours enduring the contractions and I finally made the decision to move forward with my epidural (at 5cm?). After several more hours into the wee hours of the morning of Halloween I had been at 6-7cm for some time and the doctor made the decision that it was time for the surgery. Another reason for the surgery was that I developed chills. The doctor was concerned this infection would also be brought to the baby.
Due to these unplanned circumstances, the NICU team was brought into the surgery along with the "normal" surgery team. If you asked how I felt about all that, I really felt that they took care of me and my family. I was really only concerned about the baby. I knew if I had to have the surgery, then it was meant to be. This is my birth story.