April was C-Section awareness month and I wasn’t going to write about it to be completely honest. But I keep seeing other people talk about their experiences so it has encouraged me to talk about mine even though it is hard to talk about.
Out of 3 births, 2 have been c-sections. Luckily Elsa was the only one that isn’t a c-section baby. Cleo’s birth was a cat 1 / crash c-section. This means that both myself and Cleo were at risk and there was a chance that either or both of us could have died. I was put under anesthetic and I was under for hours. I lost quite a lot of blood and Cleo was resuscitated after she was born. The birth was tough but the way I felt after was even harder. So when I became pregnant with Brody, I was so worried about his birth. I had been told that I didn’t have to have a c-section but my mind kept going back to it all going wrong with Cleo so I decided to have a planned section. I still ended up having a cat 2/3 c-section as my waters went 1 week early.
The run up to Brody’s Birth was really hard. I had to have therapy as Cleo’s birth caused me to have PND and PTSD. I had to be taken to the operating theatre where I had Cleo as it was the same place Brody would be delivered too. It was to get me used to the room as for a long time, I only had a negative outlook on the whole hospital. Walking in to that operating room was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do but I felt better than I thought I would afterwards. I do feel like Brody’s birth went well. Again I lost blood and was very very close to needing a blood transfusion.
Recovery for me is tough. I might be already having children and I don’t have the best pain threshold! Having 2 c-sections now means that anymore babies would mean more c-sections and I don’t know if my body can go through it again.
Seeing so many posts on social media about c-section awareness month fills me with mixed emotions. It is lovely to see other peoples experiences and read the positive stories but at the same time, it brings back so many memories which trigger anxiety and worry for me. Looking at Cleo and Brody helps with calm my anxieties surrounding it and with time, hopefully I will only be left with positive feelings about it too.
This is my experience and not everyone has a time like this. Most people have a great experience and I have even heard of some women enjoying it! Everyone is different and every pregnancy and birth is different!
The Coastal Mummy 