C-Sections And Where I Stand

You ever had "major surgery"?  Well, if you're one of the millions of women who have had a C-section, the answer is yes.  And chances are, if you did, some women out there (and men too) revile you if you did it and it wasn't an emergency of epic proportions.  My first baby came out via C-section.  I was unprepared for it, but, oddly, not ungrateful.  I know myself well and and I had been nervous and anxious about labor.  I wasn't sure I could do it.  Though I feared the C-section, it was great.  I recovered quickly.  The scar was tiny and well hidden.  I did not feel any pain from it.  I had no infections. 

So, why am I not dismissing a VBAC out of hand then?  I dislike scheduled anxiety.  With a VBAC, the baby could come at any time.  I don't need to spend time worrying about it, who knows when the baby would come and I'd need to deliver.  But, with a return C-section, I've got a certain date.  I will not sleep for approximately two nights prior.  I know myself.  I will think about the IV.  I will think about the spinal.  I will forget the good things about my first C-section (like that delicious delicious blanket of hot air they circulated over me and the fast recovery).  I will pray that this time the catheter gets to go in AFTER the spinal.  I will fret about infections and blood loss and my clotting issues.

And yet, I'll probably go for it and it will most likely be fine.  To psych myself up, here are two different links that are positive.  One is a birth plan for a C-section that seems mostly sane.  The other is a birth story from an individual at NPR who gets blasted in the comments for not hating her C-section.  (Seriously -- some of the comments imply that people who think they're having life saving surgery are just faking it.  "Women have been doing this for millennium without intervention" is a common theme of people who hate C-sections.  People who write that often forget the mortality rate for women in childbirth prior to the twentieth century.)

Also, I read a thread on BabyCenter from women who were just over pregnancy and miserable and at least ten people in the thread were all, "Wasn't getting the spinal and feeling relief from the misery of pregnancy the best thing that ever happened to you?  EVER?" 

It'll be okay, kitten.  We'll make it through a return C-section if that is what we want!


Helen said...

I like that birth plan. It's good to know what your options are ahead of time. C-sections are scary like all surgery is scary. But you made it through the first one ok! All will be well.

FirstTimeMomandDad.com said...

Ahhhh. Thank you for this! Besides the scheduled anxiety part, it's stories like yours that makd it all ok. I will also request the catheter after spinal and see about owning the delicious blanket. I hate being cold.

You are fabulous so I know what ever you choose will be fabulous too.

mermaids said...

I didn't have a c section, but wishi had. I weighed 82 lbs when I got pregnant with my first. He weighed 8 lbs, one tenth of my pre pregnancy body weight. That would be like an average sized woman having a 14 or 15 lb baby. After three days of labor, I got the whack a doodle OB who said "nature doesn't give you a baby you can't deliver naturally." What a load of crap. It was my first and I was exhausted after three days of labor, so when she said to push for four hours, I pushed. I damn near died. My baby almost died. When my regular OB saw the chart, he went pale and sweaty. He all but said I should sue his colleague for malpractice. I stayed in the hospital for almost a week because delivering an 8lb baby almost killed me. Yeah, a C section would have rocked. I would have no apologies for it and probably would punch out anyone who criticized.

You do whatever is right for you. Anyone who has a problem with that is an idiot