It could happen to you. It doesn’t matter what type of birth you are planning girlfriend—sometimes things just don’t go as planned.
Being mentally prepared is a life saver. A lot of moms go through a mourning process of sorts when their birth plan doesn’t go as they had hoped. I personally didn’t have to go through that mourning process and I attribute much of that to the fact that my doctor warned me that a C was a possibility. Doing some research on the surgery and the recovery can give you a great deal of peace-of-mind in case a C-section becomes the best option for your baby.
Life comes at you fast. Even though I knew that a C-section was a possibility for me, we were far from thinking that’s how it was actually going to go down. I had about 20 minutes from the time my doctor said the word C-section to the time my baby was out of me….and boy was my head spinning!
You are in good hands. We are seriously fortunate to live in a day and age that such medical advances are available to us. Even though the idea of having major surgery (while awake I might add) can be a little terrifying, it wasn’t nearly as scary as I made it out to be in my head. These doctors are very well trained and will take excellent care of you. I owe my life and the life of my daughter to them.
It will be absolutely BEAUTIFUL! So what if the birth plan you spent hours writing got tossed out the window. You are meeting your precious baby and there is no better feeling in the entire world, I assure you!
You can still have those precious moments on camera. I had a birth photographer all lined up but no one other than my husband was allowed in the operating room with me. So grab your iPhone and have a nurse capture those photos for you. You’ll treasure them forever! My family was even nice enough to capture shots of my husband making googly eyes at his new baby through the nursery window. When I saw those photos my heart melted into a giant puddle! As for my birth photographer? She did what she called a “Fresh 48” session. She came to our hospital room and shot some raw moments of us just enjoying our little one.
You’ll need help with the simplest of tasks. I’m talking just taking a shower or trying to get up off the couch. I won’t sugar coat it– the recovery is rough. But hey, you’ve got a beautiful baby in your arms to make it all worth it!
You’ll be out of commission for a long time. One of the downsides to having to go the surgery route is that your recovery will take longer. One thing that you can do to help your recovery along is to walk. Walk as soon as you can after the surgery (with assistance at first) and keep it up. You’re steps will be tiny and you’ll feel a little pathetic but I promise it’s worth it. In all other ways you’ll need to take it easy too. Even simple tasks like bending down or vacuuming are a no-no for 6 weeks.
That gruesome incision won’t always look so awful. I’ll admit it…I am a little squeamish when it comes to this sort of thing. When I first saw my incision I gagged. With time it got much better!
You can feel proud! You did what was best for your baby and for that you are a rock star. Way to go momma!!
