Cayden’s Birth Story-My Emergency C-Section

To be honest this was a very hard memory for me to look back on for awhile. It was very intense because it was so unplanned and happened so fast.

I think that my 2nd and 3rd births helped me to fully heal mentally from this experience.

I was the first of my friends to have a baby, and I was so young when my mom had my brother. Also, I probably didn’t do as much research as I would have if I had been older when I had my first baby. So I went into this with a birth plan but not full understanding of everything that would and could happen during and after birth.

Just a disclaimer: I am not a doctor so nothing in this is advice and will not be technical. This is just my story and my understanding of everything that happened.

One thing I remember so vividly is how excited and ready I was to have Cayden. My due date with him was the 27th of January.

When I went in for my 37 week appointment my doctor told me about their office moving (along with some other things going on in the hospital)- now looking back in my opinion I think it was really a money thing- but since it was so close to my due date he offered me a choice to come in on the 21st to be induced.

Being as excited as I was I jumped on the opportunity. I could not wait to meet my baby boy in person!

Again, hind sight is definitely 20/20 because there are so many things I would change and knowing what I know now about birth and how my body is I would do probably this whole experience a lot differently.

So the 21st came around and we went in around 5am to get the induction process started.

I got into my room and into a gown and went through the paperwork and got my IV started and all the things.

Then we began the induction process which the details are a little hazy (hello, it was 6 almost 7 years ago).

I remember the medicine was administer in like rounds that lasted 8 or 12 hours. During this time I could not eat solid food or drink water. I could have ice chips, popsicles, slushies and lollipops. Those are things most people probably enjoy but I love drinking ice water and don’t love drinking syrupy type drinks so it wasn’t a “perk” for me. So I really just had ice chips.

But I ended up doing multiple rounds of this. They let me eat in between so I was basically able to have dinner. This went on for a few days. To put it into perspective I didn’t have him until the night of the 24th.

So, the morning of the 24th, we started another round and I did start active labor.

Induced contractions are more painful than natural contractions, neither are a walk in the park but the medicine they have you on definitely makes them stronger. So, I ended up getting my epidural. Which, I kind of knew what to expect with that and had planned on getting one for pain in my birth plan.

With the epidural the needle is intimidating, the numbing shot feels like they’re injecting fire. And all around, once the numbing takes affect, it is just a very odd feeling experience.

However, around 7:00pm, I had only gotten to 6cm and then really no change after that. My doctor told me I “had a cervix made of steel”, which is not something you want to hear when you’re trying to give birth.

Around 7:30pm they started to move me into different positions to try and get labor going again but Cayden’s heart rate started to drop drastically when I would move from my left side.

So due to him being in distress my doctor told me we would have to move to have a c-section.

I remember immediately crying. Just from feeling so overwhelmed and nervous. I had never had a surgery before so I had no idea what to expect going to the OR. My mom, sister and mother-in-law were there and just gave Will and I encouragement that everything was going to be okay and it was all in God’s hands.

Will was definitely nervous and just had no idea what to think or do. They gave him some scrubs to get changed into and off to the OR we went.

In the moment it all felt like it was happening in slow motion but in reality we were back in the OR within a few minutes.

They numbed me and had to strap my arms down because I had extreme shakes. I remember just feeling claustrophobic and so scared.

Something we look back on now and laugh at was Will was rubbing my head and he was going back and forth and it was irritating me and I told him to “stop petting me like a dog”.

So during the surgery you only feel pressure not pain but I do remember the doctor telling me it was about to be a lot of pressure and then it would be hard to breath. Which she was not lying I really felt like there was a weight on my chest and I could not get a good breath in. And that just made me feel extremely anxious and panicked.

Then I suddenly felt relief and I could feel the pressure of them pulling him out and finally got to hear his precious cry. And they held him up so I could see him through the plastic window in the drape. And I just started crying feeling so relieved he was safe and healthy.

They took him over to the warmer while they started to put me back together.

Will was able to walk over to him and see him and take pictures of him. However, they told him to just walk forward to the warmer and not to turn and look at me because I was still cut open on the table. Naturally, he of course looked over and literally saw my insides. So we laugh about that too. I am just glad he didn’t faint.

We were so happy we had a healthy baby boy. He was 8lbs 11oz and 21 inches long and was born around 8:30pm.

In recovery I was not able to hold him yet because I was still shaking so bad from a mix of blood loss, the anesthesia, and loosing body heat. So it was about an hour in recovery. Luckily my mom was able to come back and see us and meet Cayden. Finally after about an hour and a half my shakes stopped and I was able to hold him.

Holding your baby for the first time is such a surreal moment and just so beautiful. Because you already love them more than anything in the world and it is a love like no other. You immediately look at them and forget about everything you just went through and are just captivated by their presence and the love you have for them. It is the most beautiful thing.

After all of that we finally made it to our room and our families were able to come in and meet him and it was so nice. It was definitely a long first night. But your adrenaline is going so you don’t feel the crash for a while after you give birth.

I will say recovery from a c-section is no joke and I was in no way prepared for it.

I remember standing for the first time and thinking about what if my incision breaks open and my insides just fall out on the floor. That probably stems from watching to many horror movies but needless to say that did not happen.

However, the way your body feels after having a baby is so strange. If I had to use a word to describe it I would probably say deflated. You go from having a stretched out belly that you can imagine getting any bigger and your organs feeling so squished to just feeling empty and deflated.

I definitely wish I had a compression band to use after because it helps with that feeling.

For me the most painful part about recovery was when they had to come in and do “tummy checks”, which is when they push down on your stomach and move it around in circles to make sure your uterus empties and shrinks. I cried every single time they had to do this. It hurt so bad and the feeling I had about standing was nothing compared to the feelings I had about “tummy checks”.

We ended up having to stay in the hospital for a few days before we were able to go home.

Once we were home motherhood fully began for me! And it has been something I would never trade.

It is so crazy to look back on Cayden’s birth story. My mother in-law told me that she can see how the birth of her kids all relates to their unique personalities. And I can definitely see how Cayden’s relates to his. He is my strong-willed, on his own terms, captivating and wild child and that definitely relates to his birth.

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Check out some of my other motherhood, pregnancy and birth story posts before you go!!