Delivering a baby by Cesarean section
Published: 7/23/2012 7:05 AM
Last Modified: 7/23/2012 6:52 AM
Here is a larger version of the photo from the top of the page where all of our framed family photos are. Cesareans can be stressful, but if the end result is a beautiful, healthy baby, it's well worth whatever you have to go through. Fun aside note: That bandage on my hand was from my IV, which the nurse finally got to go through on the third attempt. You'd think it would be painful, that many needle poke failures, but compared to contractions, everything else is minor, including when they wheeled my foot right into a wall.
The epidural happened at about 5 a.m. My water wasn't breaking and the baby wasn't arriving, so... torture. I was so sick of that Lowe's commercial after three days of endless playing during NCAA basketball tournament viewing at the hospital. The other annoying one was the ESPN crew's "Diet Dew is awesome, baby! Are you serious?!" commercial. (Drawn by no-longer-sleep-deprived Althea Peterson)
It unfortuantely takes awhile before you'll want to look in a mirror. The original sketch was closer to the reflection I actually saw the first time I looked at myself following the c-section. I immediately deemed it "too depressing." (Drawn by no-longer-sleep-deprived Althea Peterson)
What should family and friends do to help mothers prepare for the hospital visit?
What are some of the more unexpected things mothers experience with delivery?
What ways can mothers help the recovery-from-delivery process along?
"I don't want to deliver by c-section," I said during yet another awkward morning OBGYN session.
"Why not," the doctor asked.
Now things were really awkward. I had no idea why I didn't want to deliver via Cesarean. I probably read somewhere that there's a longer recovery time, that it complicates the pregnancy, that I'll have a big ugly scar... something.
So of course, as fate would have it, I would become the first mommy in the family (that I'm aware of) to require one.
Why c-section?
After I didn't have an answer for my doctor, she went on to explain that before the days of Cesarean deliveries, babies would die and then a few days later, the mother would die too.
So, it wasn't a question of convenience, it was a question of did I want my baby to survive if a Cesarean was deemed necessary?
When my baby's heartrate skyrocketed to the 190s every time I pushed, it didn't take me long to answer that question: Let's get to the operating table. Now.
Prepping for a c-section
Only one loved one was allowed with me in the operating room, so my parents, who I was planning to let watch the birth, had to wait in another room. My husband had to change into scrubbies to be at my side.
Being careful with the monitoring tubes and IV, they moved me to a different stretcher. Due to the epidural, I had to have a bit of assistance.
They immediately put a curtain up so that I couldn't see anything below my abs. Thanks to an epidural earlier, I was going to attempt to stay awake during this operation.
Getting a c-section
When you are confined to one area, your eyes tend to wander. I immediately noticed that I could see everything behind the curtain in the relection off the plastic light above me.
The machine they used to cut me open smelled and sounded like a dentist's drill. The area they were operating on felt, to me, like I was running around on a full stomach.
As the doctor's moved things around more, they turned my epidural medication up.
The baby escapes
Five pounds, 13.5 ounces, our daughter arrives, alive and well. It is revealed that a small placenta and a short umbilical cord made things a bit complicated while attempting a natural birth.
As they begin using a type of plastic surgery to seal the c-section, I begin gagging. However, I hadn't eaten anything in at least 12 hours, so while I felt like vomiting at points, nothing came out.
They roll me (or place me somehow) on my original stetcher and wheel me out of the operating room. It's time to go to my new hospital room and hopefully, see my daughter for the first time.
Hospital time with a c-section scar
After the epidural medication wore off, there was a lot of pain in the c-section region. The hospital continued to give pain medicine (and even a stool softener) throughout my three-day stay.
After the first night, they required that I move around the hallway a little to begin the recovery process. I used my arms mostly to lift myself out of the bed (even with the electronic feature to sit up in bed, this was difficult). Any and all "sit-up" movements was extremely painful, almost impossible.
Post-hospital c-section issues
I was asked to not touch the c-section scar, even while showering for one year. The scar was constantly opening up, from being scraped/covered by underwear and other clothes, to the time I tried to just cover it with a bandage (the scabbing became moist and fell off).
Airing it out at night seemed to help. For the first week post-delivery, urination was so difficult that I was holding my stomach. After two weeks, I was getting out of bed normally again.
Four months later
My scar is starting to fade and the scabbing over the wound is falling off on its own.
It is still difficult to wear tight clothing around the area (like jeans), because my lower stomach's nerves still have that foot-fell-asleep tingling sensation. Fortunately, it's summer, so it's skirt and dress weather.
My daugher is beautiful, healthy, and happy. I would have loved to have delivered her naturally, but some temporary pain and little scar is not much to ask to become a mother.
Post-Cesarean-section tips:
Have a personal pillow. You'll be clutching it a lot in the hospital room and after.
Hold the laughs, the coughing and the ab workouts. Anything that moves the area will hurt for about a week after.
Plan to spend at least three days at the hospital. That electronic sit-you-up bed is a wonderful assistant when it's difficult for your abs to support anything initially.
Have a friend or family member offer assistance for at least three days after returning home. It will be very difficult to move (and lift your baby) during this first week.
Watch where you hold your baby. My baby was kicking me in the stomach before she was born and has continued to kick me there to this day.
Move around. Nothing seemed to help the recovery process like getting out and around in the neighborhood once a day with the baby stroller.
--Althea Peterson
PS: Please join me again next Monday as I recap the most traumatic experience a parent can endure: Baby's first sickness.
Trimesterly tribute: Sitting at a desk all day at work tends to make pregnant feet swell, but it doesn't just stop there. You also get swollen ankles. About the only things that don't puff up are your toes. I named the condition "frog feet" since the shape looked like flippers.
Mommy moment: While my husband was trying to deal with an upset, crying baby, I matter of factly said "Yesterday she stopped crying when I sang her the 'Hokey Pokey.'" My husband was skeptical, so I think he just did it to amuse me. Lo and behold, as soon as he started "You put your..." she stopped crying. And in a few seconds, was actually smiling. Singing + Baby hand/foot movement = Happiness.
Baby bit: For the first four months of her life, she hated the necessary evil "belly time." However, after months of howling any time we attempted to roll her from her back to her belly, she did it on her own. And then, when mommy rolled her back to her back, she did it all again.
Althea Peterson is the proud mother of a 4-month-old girl. Althea returned to work at the Tulsa World in May after two months of maternity leave. Baby advice, baby questions or baby words of encouragement can be sent to althea.peterson@tulsaworld.com. Also, follow Althea and other parents on Twitter at twitter.com/twbecauseisaid.
Written by
Althea Peterson
Staff Writer
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