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How Old is Baby Now...

Monday 29 September 2008

D- Day for the C-Section

I'm woken before 7.30am by a mid-wife bringing in a drip bag stand and the baby monitor - I have to get up straight away and have a shower with the awful yellow stuff again. I change into my dark blue paper nightie with nothing on underneath it and a paper bag for my head. I forgot to mention that last night I was also partially shaved 'down there'.

I have a needle put into my wrist for the drip to be inserted into later and taped into place - this is one of the worst things about the c-section - the drip catches on everything, pulls and is just a pain, well a pain in the wrist for the next few days. Then my husband arrives....

I'm put on the baby monitor for a short while to check baby is well and before I know it, the mid-wife comes to get me - wraps me in a sheet and I walk the few metres to the operating block - where they take off my slippers and put paper slippers on each foot... and we leave my husband there.

I enter the surgery room and am sat on the stainless steel operating table with just a nurse there opening up big paper parcels of surgical instruments. The anaesthetist arrives is very jokey - exactly the same as I remember him 4 years ago. Then there are 2 mid-wives there (I think one was a student) and a young male doctor - By this time I am totally frozen - I've been taken from a sub-tropical bedroom (at least 25C) to what feels like 17C or below... wearing virtually nothing...

They sit me on the edge of the table and I lean against the doctor whilst the epidural is injected into my back (this time it's one injection) - last time as I was in labour and didn't know that a c-section was going to happen the epidural was drip-format that they could top it up. This is uncomfortable but bearable. Before I have chance to put my legs on the table I can't feel below my left knee and I'm helped to lie down. I'm then given a relaxant and a painkiller into my wrist drip. Within minutes I'm numb from the chest down.

The gyne / obstetrician that has followed me throughout this (and the last) pregnancy and birth (also c-section) arrives. My stomach is covered in red stuff and a curtain is pulled up so I can't see what's going on. Then they get to work - within a few minutes my blood pressure drops somewhat and I feel like I'm going to be sick (difficult as I haven't eaten anything..)... I managed to mutter 'vomit' and the anaesthetist makes a witty comment about me hanging onto my haricots and gives me a cardboard bowl - he sees my blood pressure has dropped and gives me some more drugs of somekind.

By this time I feel like I've had 10 gin & tonics and feel very happy indeed. The doctor and my gyne then both push down on my stomach with their full weight, the reason for the c-section is that my baby hasn't descended (no one knows why...) and some strength is needed to push her out... then Eloise arrives - and cries... I get to see her for a quick kiss and she's taken away.

45 minutes of being sewn up (7 layers of disolvable stitches) and idle chatter with the doctors (yes it's a totally bizarre feeling) and listening to Eloise screaming her head off in the room next door (I later find out that she had a lot of mucus in her that they had to suck out). I also ask to see the placenta, which looks just like a large piece of liver....

I'm wheeled out of the surgery and find my husband holding Eloise - they wheel me into a side room (which looks like it's normallyused for storeage) for me to be with Eloise for 10 mins and breast feed her.

As the delivery rooms are all busy, I can't stay with her now - I have to go to the recovery room for 3 hours for monitoring which is really sad but unavoidable.
Eloise goes to the nursery and husband goes back to my bedroom to wait for me. It's not even 0930hrs...

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi

There was no mention of your husband with you during the c-section, are partners not allowed in during the section in France?

Wendy Johnson said...

Hello
No hubby wasn't there - this was my 2nd c-section at the same clinic. Apparantly this is normal at this clinic - I have heard that in other places in France hubby can be there...
Also during the amnio hubby wasn't allowed in (due to fainting they said..) sad huh? mind you, not as sad as having to go to the recovery room alone for 3 hours after the birth...

Unknown said...

Hhhmm, yeah not sure i like the sound of that bit, being left alone straight away, altough the medical staff are there, not quite the same as your other half!

How early on should i try to book a gynae?

Wendy Johnson said...

To get an appointment with my gyne you need to book a month in advance... and I booked as soon as I knew I was pregnant.
Tip: use a gyne who does obstetrics too so you get the same chap all the way thru'.

Unknown said...

will try and do that,

thanks