KOHEN PRYOR SMITH

Thursday, February 24, 2011

C- Section

I've been thinking a lot about "having" my next baby.  It will be a c-section baby.  I am happy about this.  I can not tell you how THRILLED I was to hear my doctor tell me during my 20+ hour labor with Kohen that the time had come to do a c-section.  He actually told me BEFORE I was induced that he may prefer to do a c-section since Kohen was so big.  I insisted that I at least get to try to have him naturally.  Yeah, well, I'm completely over the "natural" labor thing now!  I can't wait to schedule my c-section and then 20 minutes later have my baby!  I'm sure my family who is waiting at the hospital will like this too!

Although I'm happy about the c-section, there are some things I'm NOT looking forward to and I'm even scared about some things.  I was sent an email from a parenting website that listed 10 things people don't realize about a c-section.  I want to share 6 of these things with you and my experience with those 6 things.... **pretty graphic...

1.  There will still be hands on your tootie.  I'm not really sure what to expect this time since I tried the natural birth thing last time and it was all hands on deck then...  so it will be interesting to see what happens with this! lol

2.  You'll probably get the shakes.  I definitely got the shakes last time.  In fact, I thought I couldn't breathe.  I was in pure panic mode.  The damn "sheet" was hanging 2 inches from my face, my arms were strapped down to the operating table, my husband was more interested in watching the c-section than sitting beside my face,  I could feel the pressure of the scalpel cutting a 10 inch vertical incision (that's a whole other story) into a previous scar,  and yes, I had the shakes.

3.  You will probably be freezing during delivery.  Yes.  Freezing.  I remember sitting there naked, as the male nurse anesthetist (sp?) gave me not one, but TWO spinal epidurals (1st one didn't work).  I also remember my teeth chattering when I spoke to my baby for the first time.

4.  Stool softeners = your new best friend.  It sucks to poop after a c-section.  It's hard to do....  Not only is it hard to do because your abdomen is extremely tender and sore, but the nurse(s) would stand there and wait for me to poop!  Those of you who know me, know that I can't even pee in public, much less poop!

5.  There will be blood.  NOBODY told me that there would be postpartum blood with a c-section.  I mean... the baby didn't even come outta there!  This was the single most surprising thing to me after my c-section.  And, the nurses lie.  It is not "light" blood...  and it lasts for weeks!!!

6.  That scar might freak you out.  So, for those of you who haven't quit reading yet...this may make you stop.  I had a previous scar from an emergency surgery I had back in 2002.  I can not even begin to tell you how painful this was during my pregnancy.  The scar goes from my "tootie" all the way up to my belly button.  As my belly got bigger with my pregnancy, so did the scar.  I don't know how many times I told my mom that it felt like someone built a "campfire" underneath that scar.  I don't know how many times I told Jason we needed to go to the ER because I felt like it was going to rip open.  I just about DIED when my doctor told me that he was going to cut into that same scar to get my baby out.  So, instead of the normal 4-6 inch horizontal incision,  I had a 10 inch vertical incision.  (I do have to say  that the scar DID heal better than it looked before my c-section.  My doctor was able to remove lots of scar tissue from the first surgery and I haven't had pain in my scar since).

So there you have it.  My c-section experience.  I am scared, BUT, I witnessed my sister having a baby naturally and I have to say that I would prefer a c-section!  HA!

2 comments:

Carson, Becky, and Maddie said...

The second time around is alot better. I had to have a C-Section after a long day of labor with Maddie. With Claire I had a scheduled C-Section and it was alot better. The pain was better all around. I could only feel pressure the second time around. It was so nice to have her and not be tired. I had C-section number 2 in the morning and got to spend the rest of my day along with the rest of my family just holding and cuddling with little miss Claire. So excited for you and Jason and Kohen!

The Cowart Family said...

Second c-sections are much betterI promise! I was way less sore, bleed less and for less time and I was up a lot sooner than after my first emergency c-section! It was soooo much better and less painful that I didn't even use any drugs post-surgery!!!!I was cold and did shake but I did that one with my first too. You will be fine Stephaine! Honestly the ONLY thing that wasn't fun was the epidural. Just b/c the first time I was in such pain I wanted it;lol! The second time I went in cold turkery; it was a little painful but it was over quickly!