Although I did share my birth story not long after it happened, I wanted to talk in more detail about my experience of c section birth as I so often see nothing but negative experiences and as mine was far from that, I thought it worth talking about.
When I shared my birth story, I was only 2 weeks post partum and as I'm sure most people know...c-section recovery takes a lot longer than that.
In fact, it can take up to 2 YEARS to fully recover from a c-section - it is, after all, major surgery.
As most people know, I chose to have an elective c-section.
Within the UK, women do have the right to a c-section if they choose to but this is a little known-fact and certainly not something that is made an easy option - the NHS usually like to state that a medical reason is required and will try to make it quite difficult for a woman to elect a cesarean birth.
However, having suffered with extreme anxiety for most of my life and knowing that natural birth was likely to be a huge trigger for me - I knew from the outset that a c-section would be my preferred choice.
Many people feel that a woman shouldn't have the right to choose and that birth should always be natural where possible - well I beg to differ.
I think that birth should be about the well being of the mother and child first and foremost, and I can't think of a worse birth experience for a child than to come into this world with a screaming and hyperventilating mother suffering an enormous panic attack, too far gone in anxiety to cuddle them and enjoy the moment - because I am quite sure that is how I would have ended up.
I know my anxiety and I know my limits, and natural birth is certainly beyond them.
So how was the C-Section itself?
A lot of the day itself was spent waiting.
We arrived at 7.30 am, were taken to a ward, and we waited until our slot came up. It was just over a 3 hour wait in total....I remember unpacking my things and looking at the empty little cot, thinking how strange it was that there'd soon be a baby in it.
I was taken down to theater with Jon....he put his scrubs on while I put my sexy socks on, and I was then told that I had to go into theater on my own initially as Jon wasn't allowed in until the spinal block had been done.
I was very nervous about this, but there was nothing I could do....the midwife, Jan, was very nice and she knew how nervous I was...I told her I was worried that I was going to die, and she was so sympathetic.
The spinal block being fitted was the worst part of the procedure for me - I'm not scared of needles so I hadn't given it much thought, but it hurt much more than I expected.
This may have been because I had a student anesthetist fitting it under the supervision of a senior - she initially had it in the wrong place and the whole thing was making me very nervous...I had to sit hunched over waiting for her to find the right place.
It seemed to take about 10 minutes but was probably much quicker.
Once it was in and my canula was fitted (this doesn't bother me, I'm used to those) I was told to lay down and wait for the numbness to take effect.
It threw me a little that the bed was slanted, I hadn't expected that and it felt unsecure - then the tingling started and I became worried. Jon wasn't here yet, nobody was really paying any attention to me - there were people everywhere but they were all milling around doing their own thing, getting instruments ready etc.
I started to cry, and the senior anesthetist comforted me and asked what was wrong...I explained I didnt like the numb feeling and he reassured me that it does feel very weird but its normal. Thank god for him, he was so nice.
Then they sprayed me with the cold spray, which I couldn't feel at all - and the curtain went up.
Next thing I knew, Jon was next to me...I was so glad to see him! We chatted about silly things to pass the time and distract me...I remember the surgeon telling me they'd started and being shocked because I couldn't feel a thing.
People had told me it would feel like people doing the dishes in my tummy, but I couldn't feel anything at all.
Then I felt a bit of a tug...and I heard the midwife say "Hello gorgeous!"...Jon and I looked at each other in surprise, and then we heard the baby cry!
He was brought around to us....I remember thinking he looked huge!!
He was cleaned up and weighed (6lbs 14 oz, not huge at all! Teeny in fact!) and we held him while they stitched me up.
After about 10 minutes, Jon was told to take the baby into the recovery room while they transferred me to a bed. The curtain came down and I was so surprised that there was no sign of the operation they'd just performed...no blood stains anywhere, no goo in sight....it looked like nothing had happened!!!
They moved me onto a bed, and I was wheeled into recovery.
Over the next few hours, nurses came and helped themselves to my lady bits as they liked! Quite an odd experience, but as I couldnt move they would just come along and open my legs for me...check my "loss" and make notes!
The feeling started to come back to me quite quickly...I could wiggle my toes within the hour, and by the evening I could walk.
I had a large blood loss in the night, which was quite scary but no clotting.
The next morning, I was up and walking around - I felt a bit stiff if I tried to straighten up so I was walking hunched over a bit, but otherwise I felt absolutely fine.
I remember getting a slight pain in the wound if I coughed (and I did get a cough, typically!) but I had expected to experience awful pain....I honestly didn't.
I waited and waited for this awful pain I had been hearing about to kick in....it never did.
Yes I felt stiff, and yes the wound was sore to touch - but I never experienced anything over a 4 on the pain scale (10 being the highest).
It was more slight discomfort than pain.
The recovery process was quick for me...I was never unable to walk around, or lift the baby...the hardest part for me was dealing with the heavy blood loss which lasted about 3 weeks, and the extreme trapped wind that happened about 10 days after surgery.
I thought I had gotten away with it, but it hit on day 10 and was unlike any other pain I've experienced...THAT was a 9 on the pain scale for sure, but it only lasted a day thankfully and peppermint tea helped massively.
I think a lot of the negative experiences people have with c sections causing a lot of pain and long recovery times tend to be after EMERGENCY c sections - I think an emergency section is a completely different experience, as obviously the mother isn't prepared for it and there's a situation that means the surgeons need to get in quickly...I imagine there to be more pulling and tugging, and just more urgency involved.
I can honestly say that my elective c-section birth experience was amazing - it was almost painless, with a very fast and easy recovery and I was able to remain calm the whole time.
I also think it helped that my stitches were dissolvable ones, as I've heard that having stitches or staples removed can be an unpleasant experience.
Have you experienced a c-section? What was your experience?
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