Nola Jiselle was born on May 15, 2009 via a caesarian delivery. She was a breech baby, which means that she was positioned wrong in my tummy. Babies are supposed to go head down toward the birth canal at the latter end of pregnancy, but my baby girl was positioned "butt first." Yes - she was stubborn, even prior to birth. The great doctors at UCI Med tried to position her into place a week prior to the scheduled C section by massaging the heck out of my very pregnant tummy, but baby girl was determined to stay where she was comfortable.
When I found out that I was having a C section, it threw me off guard for a minute, because I was not prepared for it. I was very knowledgeable about the vaginal birth process. I have read up about it, and knew what to expect. Therefore, to find out two weeks prior to my due date that I was going to have a C section, I was nervous for a minute because I was not familiar with the procedure.
I am not going to lie. I was scared about the whole giving birth process - be it vaginal or C section. Some women look forward to the experience. I am not one of them. I don't like hospitals. I don't like surgeries. I don't like pain.
Thank God however for the internet, and bless the heart of so many women who had posted their C section birth experiences on line. I read many, if not all of them. Reading someone else's experience, allowed me to somewhat relax and face the process with a bit more enthusiasm.
I was very nervous on our way to the hospital for my scheduled C section. Once we arrived at the hospital, the whole process was very quick and very efficient. I changed into my hospital outfit and was immediately prepped for surgery (insert IVs, monitor the baby, etc). We came in at 11 AM. A lot of the time was spent waiting around for everything to be ready. I was wheeled into the surgery room just a little after 1 PM. Once inside, they asked me to sit on the OR table. It was very intimidating - there were a lot of people in the room (at least 8, maybe 12). There were nurses, a pediatrician, OR technicians, anesthesiologist, and doctors. I couldn't believe all those people were there for me, performing a specific function. There were wires and machines everywhere. I had to hunch down like a shrimp with my back facing the anesthesiologist, as he injected my spine with a numbing agent. There was a very kind nurse who held my hand and pretty much hugged me through the process. She kept saying, "don't be scared. This is the worst part of it. You are going to have a baby in a few minutes." I kept saying, "I am nervous."
Once the numbing agent was in - the anesthesiologist then proceeded to inject me with the epidural on my freaking spine. The worst part of it was that I felt the needle go in, and I almost jumped out of the OR table. This scared the hell of the anesthesiologist, and he gave me more medicine to numb my spine before giving me the rest of the spinal epidural. He kept telling me that he couldn't find the right space on my spinal disk where he could inject the medicine. This whole process was supposed to only take 15 minutes - but I think mine took at least half an hour or more.
Once the medicine kicked in, everything below my chest was numbed. I couldn't feel a darn thing and it was scary. I vomited all over the place as a side effect of all the drugs they injected in my system. The nurse was right though - that was the worst part of it. Once the drugs kicked in, and they laid me on the table - my husband was allowed in. The staff each introduced themselves - they called time - and they began.
I didn't even know, when they started cutting me open. I just laid there and couldn't feel a thing. Before I knew it, the baby was out! It was so quick. She was born at 2 PM. She was immediately cleaned up, weighed and checked out at a table nearby. I didn't get to hold her because I was tied down at the table, and the doctors had to sew me back up.
They took her to the nursery, but she was given back to me once the surgery was over (took about 30 minutes to stitch me up), and I was in the recovery room.
We stayed in the hospital from Friday to Tuesday noon. The nurses, doctors and staff at the hospital were amazing. Their quality of care was excellent. We felt pampered, well taken care of, and it seemed like they went out of their way to make this experience pleasant for us.
There was pain - yes there was, especially when I tried to stand up that Saturday and tried to urinate. However, it is bearable.
I now have a beautiful baby girl - and she is well worth it.
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