Why I feel positive about my unplanned caesarean

I went into labour on the Wednesday morning.  My partner and I had stayed at my parents the night before to relieve my boredom whilst he went to work.  My niece was also there so served as a distraction whilst I waiting for baby to arrive.

The surges started mild to begin with and as the day progressed they increased in pressure and were closer together.  When it was 1 every 1 and half minutes lasting a minute we called labour ward and went in.  Our birth plan was to try for a natural birth using hybno birthing techniques but I wasn’t ruling anything out and would wait and see how I would respond to labour.

We arrived at the assessment ward and I was only 1cm and not effaced!  The mw offered to do a sweep whilst she was there and as we had one booked in for the next day I agreed. They sent use back home to get some sleep.

Unfortunately back home the pressure of the surges meant I could not sleep but I sent my partner to bed.  The surges were now coming at random times now but the pressure was increasing.

Thursday morning we called and went back in.  I was still only 1cm although fully effaced.  I was told I needed to try to eat something as this would help labour progress.  I had been feeling nausea and did not want to eat but I did try to eat something. We were sent home again and told to come to the prearranged growth scan later that day.

I continue to labour throughout the day and during my scan.  The scan showed baby had dropped from 50th to 10th centile since last scan at 38 weeks.  It was decided that we would go in to be monitored at 6pm that evening.

During monitoring I was unfortunately unable to get off the bed which made it more difficult to manage the surges which were still random but increased pressure.  After 2 hours of monitoring I was able to get up and manage surges better. I had been using my breathing throughout.  Whilst waiting for the dr to come and discuss options my waters broke on their own. I was checked and was 5 cm, we were taken to labour ward.

I had a male mw and a student and they were both fantastic.  We went to labour ward at about 11ish.  My mw spent time watching me labour and only intervened when necessary.  He also listened to me when I said I needed to move so put on a monitor that enabled me to move around.

The pressure became too much for me so I asked for gas and air, which really helped. When it came time to push we tried several different positions.  I was pushing for around 4 hours and the baby was not coming down far enough.

My mw called the Dr.  Baby was not moving down and his heart rate was dipping.  The Dr examined me.  We discovered that baby was back to back and his head was slightly at an angle making it difficult for baby to come down.  The dr suggested possible options to go into theatre and try forceps and if that failed a c section.  I would need a spinal for these options.  I could continue to push but that could stress baby out more and due to positioning could take a long time.  By this point I had been up since Wednesday morning and it was now early hours of Friday, I was shattered. Using BRAIN we decided it would be safer to go into theatre attempt forceps and if needed c section.

Once the decision was made we were moved quickly.  Everything was fully explained to us and everyone introduced themselves in theatre. Although the theatre was bright and the procedure unplanned it felt calm.  They struggled to get the spinal in initially due to me having strong surges back to back and needing to push. As soon as it was in I completely relaxed and although I could not feel anything I felt in control and excited to meet our baby.

We tried the forceps, I was guided to push. It was clear this was not going to work and the dr did not waste time trying too long before the decision for c section.  We were completely involved in all developments.

The team moved quickly and before long our baby was born and he cried straight away.  He had to be checked over first, however was brought to me quickly and placed on my chest after being told he was a boy!

Skin to skin begin as I was moved back into the ward and we spent all day skin to skin.  We only needed to stay in one night and the care was amazing.  We were supported to breast feed and pretty much left to own devices unless we needed something.

We had not planned for a c section, however, I feel happy with how things turned out. Ethan arrived safely and we were involved in every decision.  The team were so good and kept the mood as relaxed and happy in theatre, so much so it took me a while to realise I had major surgery!