Birth story

Pre c-section

Everything was a breeze throughout my pregnancy. I didn't have any morning sickness or crazy spurts of pain. It was pretty mellow up until the end. Around 30-ish weeks was when I started getting pretty uncomfortable. My feel would swell up just by standing for a few minutes and I was running out of breath just walking a short distance. I started getting weird sharp pain and discomfort periodically. 

I left work on Friday, August 30th to my regular 38 week check-in where my OB did an ultrasound and found out he was breeched. She sent me over a few doors down to get a full ultrasound and measurements done. They found out that I had low amounts of amniotic fluid and scheduled to head to triage the next day to do a Cephalic Version to try and flip him. The doctor did another AFI (amniotic fluid index) and said it was too dangerous to try and flip him because my fluid level was too low and the chances of him flipping was too slim since he was pretty big. If they attempted to flip him then I could've went into labor that day and if he didn't flip then I would've had an emergency c-section. So we basically had to keep coming back to do another ultrasound, fetal monitoring and measurements of baby boy. 

Now the thought of having a c-section was pretty daunting but it was a sure relief that it would be a scheduled surgery and the risks for complications were low. Baby boy continued to grow and I was getting really uncomfortable. We were ready to meet him! I went to see my OB on Wednesday, September 4th and we found out that I basically had no amniotic fluid left so she sent me to the hospital to do a c-section since he was still breeched and practically lodged into my ribcage. We got to the hospital and they hooked me up so we could monitor his heart rate for a few hours. It was nice to just listen to his heartbeat the whole time! When my OB was done at the clinic, she met us at the hospital and we were ready for surgery. They rolled me into the surgery room around 5pm and got everything prepped. 

I'm a HUGE baby when it comes to surgeries, blood or needles. They made my husband wait outside of the room until they had everything prepped and I was on the table. I started panicking and hyperventilating when I sat on the surgery table getting ready for my epidural but my nurse was the best. She sat down in front of me, propped my legs in her lap, held my hand and calmed me down. When the anesthesiologist got ready to poke my spine, she pinched my hand super hard so I would focus on that pain instead. The epidural was the weirdest feeling because it kicked in so fast! I was numb before I he finished talking and they quickly laid me down. Once I was on the table, they let my husband into the room. I was amazed that I couldn't feel anything except some pressure. At one point they were tugging and pulling things around where my body was moving around but I didn't feel a thing. It only took about 10 minutes for baby boy to come out. They lowered the curtain and he was a chunky baby! They cleaned him and swaddled him up. I cried when my husband laid him next to me.  They took another hour to stitch and clean everything back up and I was ready to go to my room. 

Once we were in our room, the nurses helped unwrap him and get some skin-to-skin time and feed him. He didn't have any issues latching- thank goodness! I will say it did hurt and take some time to get used to. Nurse after nurse came to check in on us and monitored us. It only took 6 hours before I was up and walking around! 

The whole scheduled c-section was very organized and stress free! It was the best decision for the situation and I was so relieved to have had such a great experience at the hospital. My nurses were all amazing and helpful and baby boy arrived healthy!