#csecexperience

May 9 - Due Date

Baby Smurf was scheduled to be born on 10 May via a caesarian section since she decided not to drop on her own and here in India the doctors don’t wait for the labour to begin on its own in case you have crossed your due date. I was given an option of induction with approx 20% success since Smurfie hadn’t dropped a tad bit but then I did not want my body to face the worst of both the worlds - a failed painful induction followed by a csec so I decided to drop the former.

I am asked not to eat or drink anything post midnight.

May 10, 4 am

I wake up with cramp like pain which is not very sharp and it feels as I have diarrhoea. So under this poopy notion I go to the washroom every half an hour till  7 am until I am like really done with it. THIS IN REALITY WAS THE START OF MY CONTRACTIONS btw.. Rightly said labour is different for everyone as mine felt like diarrhoea in the beginning.

May 10, 9 am

I leave for the hospital with Daddy Smurf and MIL. We did the formalities and checked into the room by 10:30. I have mixed feelings - little excited that finally the 9 month agony is over and scared that I will be cut open shortly and life will never be the same.

So the nurses etc drop in - made me change into the hospital gown, gave me some injections, IV etc and tie a belt like thing around my stomach to monitor contractions with a button in my hand which I have to press every time I feel a contraction The doc on duty asks me certain questions and then am left for an hour or so with the IV etc on.

May 10, 12 noon

Okayyyy so the nurses come in to take me to the OT in a stretcher and now I finally start to freak. Having the first baby is a scary experience no matter how many youtube videos you have seen and articles you have read since you are venturing into an unknown territory with no idea what to expect.

The OT has the anesthesiologist and other staff who prep me for the operation. My heartbeat and etc etc is being monitored - since I was too damn scared I didn’t really notice the instruments or anything in the OT. The next thing they do is give me the spinal. Now - I have heard bad things about spinal but my experience was opposite as it did not hurt more than how a normal syringe anywhere else in the body would feel - ME BEING A SUCKER FOR PAIN!!

I am asked to lie down and the sensation in my lower body starts to drop immediately. THIS MARKS THE BEGINNING OF THE WORST 10 MINUTES(less or more neither do I know nor do I care) OF MY ENTIRE C-SEC EXPERIENCE. I don’t know if this is a spinal side effect everyone feels or it was just me - so after 1-2 minutes of the spinal, i feel as if am totally unable to breathe - a feeling of being choked. I tell this to my anesthesiologist and she tells me that am just fine as per the monitor and put an oxygen mask on my mouth. In some time I am almost unable to voice out  and express that I am feeling miserable - it being the worst feeling I have had so far in my life. By this time Daddy Smurf is besides me in the OT. I literally remember trying telling him “I will die I can’t breathe.” Funny part is when he told the anesthesiologist to help me, she literally scolded him by saying that she cannot handle two people and he can leave if he wishes to :( lol poor him! The feeling of nausea and dizziness goes after 5-10 deadly minutes of my poor life !

I believe in the background the operation procedure has started and i feel nothing at all. Baby Smurf is born at 12:53 pm, a chubby 8 pounds baby gal :)

After she is shown to us for a little peck, she is sent to the baby care and I am being stitched up. Once everything is done, my doctor leaves me under observation to be monitored. I feel my spinal wears off very quickly since just after 5-10 minutes of my ops, I start to feel a lot of pain in my body which lasted for few minutes till the time the OT staff increased my pain killer dosage. I feel that the spinal should last a little longer which was not true in my case :( I was so scared of the whole surgery thing that at any point I was not relaxed, sedated or sleepy during or post the ops.

Approx 2pm

I was moved to my room and a catheter was inserted for the urine to pass. My first walk the next day was painful but not as scary as described on internet. Pain medications made the recovery easy for the next 4-5 days. 

September 9

I am 4 months postpartum and fit enough to exercise or run (short distances as I am not a runner). The incision has healed up but the scar stays. It still hurts if I press my lower stomach or when Baby Smurf kicks me from the outside but rest is absolutely fine. Sex is just the same after caesarian.

Gained whooping 20 kgs/44 lbs during my entire pregnancy and left with 5.5kgs/12 pounds approx to loose and of course the jiggly wiggly flesh here and there. I guess I will reach there soon :)

Rating the whole experience as scary since it is the first time BUT SMOOTH. The reward is lovely at all the times and annoying at some times. Attaching the picture of my lovely in the next post :)