The thought of delivering a baby can be incredibly scary, regardless of how you plan to deliver. Bringing Blake into the world via scheduled C-section wasn't a totally new experience for me; I had an unplanned C-section with Boston and had a good idea of what to expect. Regardless, the anxiety and fear were still very much real as my scheduled date got closer! Thankfully, the anticipation was honestly the hardest part of the entire process. Read on for a play-by-play of my positive C-section experience, and don't forget to check out my postpartum recommendations for C-section recovery at the end of this blog! Tuesday: The Big Day After 20 minutes of exhausted bickering because my husband missed the freeway entrance (men! lol), we arrived at the hospital at 5:00 AM and were admitted to labor & delivery. I went to my room, changed into a gown, and peed into a cup. They hooked me up to an IV and baby heart monitor, and the nurse spent a decent amount of time shaving the incision area after my TERRIBLE hack job that I had blindly attempted at home. At 6:30 AM I was given meds for heartburn and nausea. Let me tell you, the second worst thing outside of my nerves was the indigestion I had an hour or so before my procedure. I hadn't eaten since 8:00 PM the night before, and I had been popping Pepcid for months throughout my entire pregnancy to ease the unbearable burn (you'll understand why when you see my kid's head of hair, the old wives' tale is TRUE). I spent the rest of the time hoping that the meds would kick in before I went in and threw up all over the floor of the operating room. Luckily the feeling eventually passed as we got closer to go-time. Before we left, they gave my husband a gown, and we were both ready to go! The Procedure At 7:30 AM they wheeled me into the OR. They gave me my spinal block, and let me tell you, this was WAY easier than my past epidural experience with Boston. When I had my first epidural, I was already experiencing some pretty intense contractions. On top of that, the anesthesiologist stuck me FOUR TIMES before he was able to get the needle into the right spot. Each time he missed I felt a shooting pain down one side of my body. That plus my contractions was pretty traumatizing – so my advice is that if you plan to have an epidural, ask for it sooner rather than later! Anyways, my spinal block this time around was practically painless, and I immediately felt the tingling effects as they swung my legs over onto the table and began preparing for the C-section. They cleaned me up, put in a catheter, hung up the sheet, and before I knew it they were taking that sweet baby out! You feel absolutely NO pain. It was the same for my last C-section – just a lot of tugging and pulling. 15 minutes later I heard that beautiful sound of my baby crying as they brought her into the world. Blake was delivered at 7:45 AM. They measured her and checked her weight – a perfect 7 pounds, 20 inches. They then spent the rest of the time... putting me back together? There's no cute way of saying that. But I felt no pain, just chills (I had major shakes, but they give you blankets to help keep you warm!), and some light pressure. The anesthesiologist did offer me stronger meds to help with my anxiety, but he warned me that I may not remember everything that was going on once he gave it to me. I decided against it, and I'm glad I did because I was able to calm myself down and the anxiety eventually faded. In the meantime, my husband got to cut the umbilical cord and count all of her fingers and toes. The entire process took exactly an hour! Recovery in the Postpartum Unit Once they were done, the nurses moved me to my bed and wheeled me back to my room in L&D. We stayed for about two hours so they could monitor things, and the lactation consultant came in to make sure Blake was latching properly during feedings. We were then moved to my room in the postpartum unit. My husband went to the car to get the rest of our bags, and we got settled in for the rest of our hospital stay. The one thing you will get used to pretty quickly once you move to the postpartum unit is the constant interruptions from nurses – day and night. At first, it was every two hours, then eventually every four hours until we left. Our assigned nurse checked vitals for me and baby and distributed pain meds until Tuesday evening's first big event when my night nurse finally let me get up and walk to the bathroom for the first time. During that first walk, we just cleaned things up a bit because I still had the catheter in. Later that night, she took out the catheter, and I had to start walking to the bathroom on my own. The first pee is terribly challenging because of the spinal block – your muscles don't want to do any pushing. After the first time, it gets progressively easier. My nurse recommended doing kegel exercises during each attempt, and those helped more than I expected them to. It definitely took some patience! The rest of the night involved feedings every two to three hours, more vital checks, etc. One notable negative for me that I should mention: During the first 24 hours post C-section, I was INCREDIBLY itchy as the spinal block wore off. My face, my stomach, my back - everywhere. Also, the hospital I delivered at this time around doesn't have a nursery. Last time we were able to send Boston to the nursery for a few hours or so every night to get some sleep (highly recommend taking advantage of this if it's offered!). This time we had Blake the entire time, but the nurses did leave us alone for longer stretches in the evenings if they came in and everyone was asleep. Wednesday: Shower Time! I could finally walk around a bit throughout the day on Wednesday, but I tried to keep it pretty minimal. I was also able to shower in the morning for the first time, 24 hours after my C-section. And I finally changed out of the hospital gown and into my own pajamas. Tip: I highly recommend packing pajamas with buttons at the top and a higher-waisted pant. They'll make breastfeeding much easier and put less pressure on your incision! The nurse took Blake for a bath, gave her her first vaccination, and did some blood work. She also had a hearing test, and at some point during all of this testing, they discovered a tiny heart murmur (this ended up being no big deal, I'll touch on it later. I learned something pretty shocking!). We also filled out some paperwork for Blake's birth certificate. The entire day beyond this was business as usual – pain meds, vitals, feedings, etc. I ended up adding oxy to my medication lineup because I was pretty sore by the afternoon. My parents came by later too with Boston to meet Blake. Such a sweet moment that I had been dreaming about for months. It was also a really tough goodbye when they decided it was time to leave! Thursday: We Get to Go Home!
They took out my IV in the morning. it wasn't connected to anything, but they had kept it in there taped down just in case I spiked a fever or needed quick access. I was officially disconnected from all wires and needles at this point! I showered again. Showers quickly became one of the biggest highlights of my day. At this point, we had no idea if we'd get discharged after that second night. My OB had mentioned to me during a previous appointment that she usually discharges mom after night two or three. The duration of most stays typically depends on if baby is also discharged. Around 10:00 AM on Thursday, my OB sent someone to check my incision, and I actually got cleared to go home. I was a little shocked because I always thought C-section stays were at least three nights, four max. I had stayed three nights after delivering Boston with no complications. The only thing holding us back from going home at this point was Blake's murmur that they had discovered the day before. They wanted to do an echo to confirm that it wasn't anything to be concerned about before she was cleared to leave. So we waited around anxiously until about 2:00 PM for the echo. My husband had started packing up our things, and I was slightly annoyed because I didn't want to get my hopes up too high. But he was right to, because she passed with flying colors, and we were cleared to take her home. I had no idea before this, but approximately 75% of all newborns have normal heart murmurs! I couldn't begin to tell you the name the doctor gave it, but she said Blake's would resolve on its own over time. We were finally discharged on Thursday, day three, around 4:30 PM. They did one last round of vitals, went over paperwork and care instructions for me and baby, then the nurse OKed our car seat and walked us to the car. She also checked to make sure the car seat was installed properly, and we were on our way home! We picked up my meds at CVS and were home in time for dinner. I ended up ditching the oxy the night I got home because I could tell I was already doing too much as we got settled in at home - my incision was bleeding a little, and I was getting paranoid that I had ripped something. I stuck to the prescribed ibuprofen from then on because the soreness helped remind me that I'm not invincible. I slowed down all day Friday and started feeling better about accepting help when it was offered! My Most Important Tip!: Please accept all the help you can get if you have it!!! A C-section is major surgery, and your body needs rest and time to heal - no matter how good you feel. Beyond the details I've covered, the entire hospital experience already feels like a blur. But the one thing I will absolutely remember is that everything went 10 times better than I had pictured in my head. My doctors and nurses were great, my baby is healthy, and my recovery has been slow but smooth! If you're nervous about your upcoming C-section, that's totally normal! One thing that helped me is expressing my feelings and worries to my OB. She made me feel much more at ease and confident in how the procedure would go. You've got this, mama! Check out my postpartum recommendations for C-section recovery, and stay tuned for my upcoming blog covering week one of postpartum! xo, Jess Comments are closed.
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