Birth story - Corin and baby boy

*Trigger Warning* - previous birth trauma, 3rd degree tear.

Background

I’m so pleased to finally be able to share my extremely positive birth experience! I bought the digital pack 4 years ago when I was pregnant with my first son and we had a positive labour at the MLU for the most part but the end of the pushing phase things went a bit south and I ended up with an episiotomy, third degree year and PPH. What followed was a separation from my son and less than ideal support from staff at the hospital after being transferred. I won’t go into the details here because that’s not the focus of this post. I know lots of people end up with interventions and still manage to view the experience as positive but sadly I never felt that way. So I’m so pleased to have had a different outcome this time around.

Pregnancy

This time around I knew I wanted to ask for a c-section, my experience and recovery was so tough last time I knew I didn’t want any chance of that happening to me again. I’d done my homework, written pros and cons of all the options and used my BRAIN to decide what was best for me. I had to have appointment after appointment with various midwives and consultants where they all said “we’re not trying to change your mind but…” - but eventually at 32 weeks I met with the loveliest doctor who booked it for me there and then. And I’m so glad that I stuck to my guns and decided what was right for me. I suffered with really bad PGP throughout the entire pregnancy and by the end I was walking with crutches and unable to do a lot so knowing I wouldn’t have to labour for hours was a big relief.

Baby Day

On Baby Day, as we called it, I was up super early getting last minute bits packed and everything squared away for my eldest. My in laws arrived at 6am to look after the 3 year old and we headed off to the hospital to “check in” at 7am. They had 3 planned sections on the day and we were second on the list, which meant a bit of a wait. (Top tip for people having sections, I took my laptop in my hospital bag so we could watch Netflix on the WiFi whilst waiting so it didn’t seem like that long). We were visited by various people who all introduced themselves and got me prepped to go down to theatre.

Just after 11am they took me down, where I was met again by the lovely anaesthetists who’d seen me in the morning to put my cannula in. My husband was allowed to stay with me at all times and the vibe throughout the whole morning was so positive and special. The entire theatre team were women, which made me feel even more comfortable. The two female surgeons doing the operation put me at ease immediately and were so friendly and kind throughout. We had our playlist on (full of bangers) which all the theatre staff were singing along to with me. They lowered the curtain so we could see the baby be born and we had delayed cord clamping. They then bought baby to me for skin to skin and he stayed there whilst they stitched me back up. The whole operation took about 50 minutes and then I was wheeled out to the recovery room for tea and toast.

I was a bit sick from the drugs straight away, which is not ideal with the spinal block wearing off. But they gave me some anti sickness and strong pain killers and I was up eating waffles and FaceTiming my son in no time.

We were home the next day and as long as I kept up with my pain killers, waddling around the house to do bum changes etc was no trouble.

I can honestly say it was the most special experience and if we’re lucky enough to have a third one day I won’t hesitate to plan the same again. So for anyone thinking of a c-section or worried they may end up needing one for some reason, please know they can be just as positive, empowering and special as a vaginal birth.