Thomas' Caesarean Section Birth Story

I had a caesarean with both of my children, but let me tell you, their births were completely different experiences, I was going to talk about both my children's deliveries in one post, but it turns out I have a lot to say! - So here is Thomas' birth story.

Let me just give you a quick back track of my history when it comes to pregnancy and child birth. I have numerous medical conditions which are far too complex to go into on a blog post, but one of those things was having a Unicornuate uterus (now I didn't, nor did the doctors know about this) but it meant that from about 25 weeks onwards of pregnancy, Tom remained breach. Being under a consultants care through out the pregnancy, they looked after me really well, I couldn't have asked for more. The deal was that we would wait and see how the pregnancy was progressing as to whether it would be a natural birth or a caesarean.

One week before Thomas arrived, I had a scan to tell me that he was still very much head up and was told that 'it was natures way of telling us something' and that he didn't want to try and turn him (he would be right, having not known about my uterus at this point) So we scheduled for a C- section two weeks from then.
Thomas actually had other ideas and came a week before I was scheduled to go in, the night before he was born I suffered with some server back ache and the next morning something just wasn't 'right'. Matt had noticed that I was being a little odd, so had told my Mum to go over and check up on how I was doing.
That morning I actually went to the doctors office to get blood drawn for the week ahead.
I sat in the waiting room with pains coming every few minutes that would literally have me with my head between my knees holding onto my stomach (can I just say, no one batted an eyelid at this) lol!
I managed to drive home where I was met by my mother who could clearly tell I was uncomfortable.
I thought this would all blow assuming that it was 'probably just braxton hicks' and even asked her if she wanted to take a trip out to the shops! She quickly told me I was nuts and took matters into her own hands and called my in - laws to be driven to the hospital where I was checked, I was two cm dilated and having contractions, poor Matt who was supposed to be having a job interview rushed to the hospital and I was rushed in for an emergency in caesarean.

My previous history with anaesthetics is not a great one (long story short, it would lead to eight hours of trying to be woken up and a collapsed lung) so only under extreme circumstances was I to be put to sleep, I had the hospitals senior anaesthetic consultant and the maternity wards anaesthetic consultant, lets just say it was a big deal shall we?

The doctors  were amazing through the whole process, they had a problem getting a spinal block into my spine, In the end I was given an epidural (which took the best part of two hours) but I felt well looked after, very calm and actually having fun listening to the radio and laughing with them.
The actual delivery of Thomas went very well, very smoothly, Matt got to be by my side through the whole thing and Tom was born at 4.36 in the afternoon, weighing 7lb 3oz, we got to be with him almost straight after he was born and were both doing really well.

The after care left a little to be desired, I had little to no help and having the disabilities I do, I needed a little.
I remember one instance as I was bottle feeding, I politely asked the midwife if I could have a bottle for Thomas, and was told 'go and get it yourself' I can understand they are under staffed there, but I could barely move from my bed to the chair (and I was one of the active ones!) Luckily Matt and my Mum took it in turns to be with me for help and support, and we got to go home 48 hours after the birth.

I have a post where I talk a little more about my recovery from the caesarean in Caesarean Section - The easy way out?
and you can hear about Ewans birth story here.
Let me know if you had to have a caesarean, what was your experience? I would love to hear from you.

Thanks for reading,

Anna xx