You need a c-section.
No you don't.
Yes you do--at 36 weeks.
No, not until 38 weeks.
You don't need a c-section.
You need a c-section. On Monday. At 10.
Everybody says the great thing about a c-section is that you can plan for it. Except for when you can't. But I did anyway. And I'll admit, was pretty great to drop Big Sister off at Gramma's on Monday morning at 7:30 rather than leaving her in the middle of the night (because labor always starts in the middle of the night).
It is now Monday morning at 8 and we are at the hospital being rushed through pre-op because the plan has changed again and the operation is going to be an hour earlier. For the convenience of the anesthetists, they say.
Somebody is putting in an IV, somebody is asking me questions about my health record, somebody is prepping my big ol' belly, somebody is talking through the procedure, and then suddenly all the somebodies have gone and Husband and I are looking at each other realizing that one of those somebodies said "spinal block" when they should have said, "epidural." Another change of plans.
I decided to be the annoying patient and advocate for myself by making the doctors come back in and explain this change. We weighed the pros and cons and decided the doctors were the pros after all and we would let them do their thing. But no narcotics post-op.
"Don't be a hero. You'll be begging for the narcotics."
Thanks Doc, but Ibuprofen will be just fine. I am a hero.
Operating tables are really narrow. And nurses don't appreciate fat jokes.
Too many minutes and a few more jokes later, I heard a baby crying. They told me it was mine and since I didn't see any other pregnant ladies around, I guess I believed them. You can hardly call a c-section a birth. All you do is lay on the narrow table feeling like your paralyzed legs are falling off although the nurses assure you that they are not. The doctor does all the work.
But c-section babies are beautiful. Maybe it's to help with the bonding, which goes a lot better after laboring, in my limited experience. What doesn't help is the drowsiness from the narcotics in the spinal block. Both husband's pictures, and my medical chart say I nursed the baby in the recovery room. I have no recollection of that.
What I do recall is an itchy face, puking up the same piece of toast for 12 hours, a nightmare of a head ache, and pain in my shoulder that had me wondering if I had a blood clot. Apparently these side effects are normal but most people don't get them. Maybe most people just don't realize they have them because most people are hopped up on narcotics. Not me; I'm a hero.
Which is why I made them get me out of bed as soon as I could move my legs. I read that getting up sooner was correlated with a faster recovery and I was determined to recover fast. Which I did.
The itchy face and vomiting wore off with the drugs. The head ache was caused by a needle in my spine, but another needle in my spine had a 90% chance of curing it (I know, it makes total sense). And it did (after the drama they made over first testing my blood's ability to clot since being on Ibuprofen - because, you know, I'm a hero). The shoulder pain was a gas clot, not a blood clot. It only needed a heating pack and a few days to get gone.
Between all these side-effects, we enjoyed many visits with Big Sister which all ended with Mommy in tears. #hormones #attachedparent All I wanted was to get home and be together, together. Which we did. On Wednesday.
No you don't.
Yes you do--at 36 weeks.
No, not until 38 weeks.
You don't need a c-section.
You need a c-section. On Monday. At 10.
Everybody says the great thing about a c-section is that you can plan for it. Except for when you can't. But I did anyway. And I'll admit, was pretty great to drop Big Sister off at Gramma's on Monday morning at 7:30 rather than leaving her in the middle of the night (because labor always starts in the middle of the night).
It is now Monday morning at 8 and we are at the hospital being rushed through pre-op because the plan has changed again and the operation is going to be an hour earlier. For the convenience of the anesthetists, they say.
Somebody is putting in an IV, somebody is asking me questions about my health record, somebody is prepping my big ol' belly, somebody is talking through the procedure, and then suddenly all the somebodies have gone and Husband and I are looking at each other realizing that one of those somebodies said "spinal block" when they should have said, "epidural." Another change of plans.
I decided to be the annoying patient and advocate for myself by making the doctors come back in and explain this change. We weighed the pros and cons and decided the doctors were the pros after all and we would let them do their thing. But no narcotics post-op.
"Don't be a hero. You'll be begging for the narcotics."
Thanks Doc, but Ibuprofen will be just fine. I am a hero.
Operating tables are really narrow. And nurses don't appreciate fat jokes.
Too many minutes and a few more jokes later, I heard a baby crying. They told me it was mine and since I didn't see any other pregnant ladies around, I guess I believed them. You can hardly call a c-section a birth. All you do is lay on the narrow table feeling like your paralyzed legs are falling off although the nurses assure you that they are not. The doctor does all the work.
But c-section babies are beautiful. Maybe it's to help with the bonding, which goes a lot better after laboring, in my limited experience. What doesn't help is the drowsiness from the narcotics in the spinal block. Both husband's pictures, and my medical chart say I nursed the baby in the recovery room. I have no recollection of that.
What I do recall is an itchy face, puking up the same piece of toast for 12 hours, a nightmare of a head ache, and pain in my shoulder that had me wondering if I had a blood clot. Apparently these side effects are normal but most people don't get them. Maybe most people just don't realize they have them because most people are hopped up on narcotics. Not me; I'm a hero.
Which is why I made them get me out of bed as soon as I could move my legs. I read that getting up sooner was correlated with a faster recovery and I was determined to recover fast. Which I did.
The itchy face and vomiting wore off with the drugs. The head ache was caused by a needle in my spine, but another needle in my spine had a 90% chance of curing it (I know, it makes total sense). And it did (after the drama they made over first testing my blood's ability to clot since being on Ibuprofen - because, you know, I'm a hero). The shoulder pain was a gas clot, not a blood clot. It only needed a heating pack and a few days to get gone.
Between all these side-effects, we enjoyed many visits with Big Sister which all ended with Mommy in tears. #hormones #attachedparent All I wanted was to get home and be together, together. Which we did. On Wednesday.
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| Our newest girl |
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| I think I remember this picture being taken? |
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| Me being up and out of bed the first day. IV, bladder bag, and all. |
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