Carly’s Birth Story | C-Section

I had to have a c-section. It’s something I spent 41 weeks and 4 days worrying about. I really didn’t want one and was terrified of the thought of it. I’ve always heard it as “being gutted” which is kind of true. It’s a major abdominal surgery. Looking back, the c-section wasn’t as bad as I thought. I was extremely nervous going into it, but ultimately I’m glad I did. Carly would never have fit through my my pelvis.

Two days before my scheduled induction, I went in to have Prostin Gel put on my cervix. Prostin Gel is supposed to help ripen the cervix. At 37 weeks, the doctor had told me I was 1cm dilated and 50% effaced, but at 41 weeks, I was still only 1cm/50%. The next day, I went in for another round of Prostin Gel. Before they applied the second round of gel, they did an exam and still no change. Then, induction day came. They came in and examined me before starting me on Pitocin and still only 1cm/50%. I should have known at that point that she wasn’t going to fit, but I was determined to give a vaginal birth a shot. After 9 hours on Pitocin and some pretty painful contractions, I agreed to a c-section because I was still only 1cm/50% effaced. If those powerful drugs couldn’t ripen my cervix, then nothing was going to. She clearly wasn’t going to come vaginally, so why draw it out for days? At that point, I hadn’t had an epidural because even though the contractions were strong and painful, they weren’t so painful that I was willing to give up my freedom of getting up and out of bed if I needed to.

After I agreed to the c-section, my doctor left and called anesthesia to start getting me prepped. Before I knew it, there were a thousand people in my hospital suite; from the nurse anesthetist to the anesthesiologist, the doctor, the nurses, the baby’s nurse, etc. They changed out my Pitocin and whatever they were hydrating me with for some sort of other bag of fluid. They had me remove all of my jewelry, which was funny. I removed my nose ring and my rings, but forgot my earrings because I never take them out. I have about a million in each ear. So when I thought I was ready, they said, “You need to take out your earrings too.” I was like, “Oh yeah! I totally forgot. I have so many of them and I never take them out that I forgot about them!” Anyway, they had Colby change into his “Father Kit” which consisted of his scrubs for the OR. Then they wheeled me in my hospital bed back to the OR. The nurse, that I couldn’t stand, got irritated with me because I didn’t have my red socks on. I’m sorry, but no one told me I needed to wear those stupid red socks for my surgery. I thought they gave them to me when I got to the hospital to keep my feet warm but because I was so freakin’ pregnant, I was too hot all of the time and didn’t want anything on my feet. So she sent someone else to go get them. Meanwhile, I had to get out of my hospital bed and walk into the OR. It was kinda scary. The lights were really bright, there were machines everywhere, everyone was busy doing something, etc. I got onto that skinny little table where they made me straddle it like a horse and lean forward while they gave me my spinal (my butt is still numb from it). They had Colby wait out in this ugly red chair while they prepped me for surgery. Once the spinal was in, they had me lay back. My legs started to tingle and go numb. I hate that feeling. I thought I just wouldn’t feel anything after awhile, but the whole time, it felt like my legs fell asleep; you know, all tingly. So then they started a catheter and stretched my arms out to my sides, which was creepy, but I understand why they do it. Then when the time was right, they brought Colby in and put up the sheet at my shoulders so we couldn’t see what was going on. I couldn’t stop shaking from the anesthesia. I was so tense and nervous at the same time, the shaking from the anesthesia didn’t help. Colby looked really scared/worried. I could see it in his eyes. He kissed my forehead a bunch and tried doing his, “Beh!” thing to keep me distracted but all I could do was think about how I was being gutted and that my body would never be the same.

The OR got really quiet when they started. The whole procedure to get her out only took about 15 minutes. It felt like a lifetime. Then the nurse anesthetist said, “Get your camera ready” and within a couple of minutes, she was born. Colby put his camera up over the sheet and snapped a picture, which turned out to be the most amazing picture. It was a picture of them pulling her out of me and her gripping the nurse’s finger. He didn’t even notice she was in it at first until I pointed it out. Before I knew it, I heard her make her first cry. Gosh I wish I could remember that sound for forever. It was amazing. I wanted to cry right there, but I was afraid if I cried, I would sob so much that they’d mess something up while cutting me, so I held everything back as best I could.

They took her over to the place where they clean her up, but a nurse stood right in front of it so I couldn’t see her. I hated that I had to wait, like, 5 minutes to see my baby girl, the girl that I spent 10 months growing. Colby got up and went over there to take pictures. Tears were streaming down my face but it was from the lights in the OR being so bright. Well, a few of them were because I was so overjoyedBut I knew if I let myself go, I’d sob like crazy. When they first took her over to clean her up, all I saw was her skin and hair. She was a purple/gray color and her hair was like a yellowy/orange and it was curly. Turns out, she doesn’t have curly hair, it was just matted from being in my womb. She looked HUGE! Everyone kept commenting on how big she was. She was 8lbs 10oz. Colby snapped pictures while they cleaned her up. I could tell he was on the verge of tears too. Then they wrapped her up and brought her over to Colby and I got to see her for the first time. She was so beautiful. OMG, I’m crying right now! haha! This is why I blog people! I want to remember EVERYTHING while it is still fresh!

After a few minutes, they whisked her and Colby away to the nursery while they finished me up. I was still so nervous about it. All I did was sit there and pray, thanking God for such an amazing blessing. I thanked Him for a lot of things, but most of all, that Carly was super healthy. When they first started to clean her up, I watched as they put a tube down her nose. I didn’t understand why she was making these strange noises but I kept telling myself that if something was wrong with her, they would be talking and hurrying to do things. Apparently, the noises she was making were normal, so was the tube thing because she was still filled with amniotic fluid that they had to get out. In a vaginal birth, the fluid is squeezed out as she is birthed, but not with a c-section. Anyway, I also thanked God that I was healthy, that there were no complications and that everything went super smooth.

We had contacted Jenn Hopkins to come take pictures of her as she was birthed, but because I had to have a c-section, she couldn’t do that, however she arrived just as Colby and Carly were going to the nursery and started snapping photos of them walking down the hallway to the nursery. It was so awesome to have her there.

After they finished me up, they moved me from the OR bed back to my bed and wheeled me back to my hospital suite. That annoying nurse did my recovery stuff and walked me through breastfeeding the first time. Carly was born at 5:20pm, I was back in my room shortly before 6. Shortly after I got back to my room, the baby’s nurse, Colby, Carly, and Jenn walked in. The rest is kind of a blur. After the nurse left, Jenn stayed to take pictures while I held Carly for the first time. I had to stay bed ridden for, like, 12 hours because of my spinal. Jenn also got pictures of me breastfeeding her for the first time. Then we downloaded the photos off of her cards and she left. Then, for the first time, Colby, Carly and I were alone. It was amazing. We sat there talking about everything, looking at photos, etc. I was so overjoyed. It really was amazing.

I’ll write a separate article about the recovery but I wanted to get this one out there for now.