Eala
Mum of two gorgeous girls
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My well-timed elective caesarean section story 
Friday 2nd March 2012, we reported to one of the maternity wards at 07.30am. There was just me and one other woman on the list for that morning, so we were told that barring any emergencies delaying things, wed have our baby by lunchtime! I met the consultant who was doing the surgery, he was a lovely Welsh gentleman who completely put me at ease. Then we had a chat with the anaesthetist, got more blood drawn, and went through some last checklists. We also went through the consent form for cord blood donation. I was so pleased that the cord blood nurse was there shed actually come in specially on her day off to make sure that they got my blood. I think the rules for who can/cant donate are really strict, so they dont necessarily get a lot of people. Anyways, after doing all the paperwork, I got changed into the oh-so-fetching hospital gowns, and then it was just a waiting game.
The first lady went downstairs about 9am, and the HCA who was with us said shed guess wed be down between 10.30 and 11am. We chatted to her for a while shes a friend of our midwife Elaine, and wed met her when we were pregnant with Roo so it was nice to catch up. At about 10.10 she left the room saying she hoped it wouldnt be too much longer. I heard the phone ring about 2 minutes later, and she came back in to say that this was it, time to head downstairs!
We got to the recovery area where we dumped our bags. The midwife said they were just finishing up in theatre with the first lady, and shortly after that she was brought into recovery with her gorgeous baby boy. We didnt have long to wait after that the theatre midwife came to get us and off we went. As I walked along the corridor to theatre, I felt a pop and then as we stopped to collect theatre hair covers, and gowns etc for Tubbs, I felt fluid running down my leg! I said to the midwife Either my waters have just gone, or Ive peed myself. And I went to the loo before coming down, and I didnt think I was *that* nervous
One of the theatre staff took Tubbs off to get into his theatre gear, and I was taken into the OT for my anaesthetic, dripping all the way 
Once in theatre, I had to sit up on the table whilst they went through a final check of the consent form, and the anaesthetist went over his checklist again. Lovely Irish man, he was a gem. First I had to get a cannula put in (IV access) and this (weirdly) is the bit I was really dreading, as it can be so sore! Luckily, I got a shot of local anaesthetic first, which was lovely
I was chatting away with the theatre staff about being a student nurse, when the anaesthetist started cleaning my back for the spinal. He asked me to push my spine out a bit more, and take a few deep breaths. I had a lovely nurse in front of me who kept talking, and was telling me I was doing really well. The local stung a bit, but nowhere near as bad as I was expecting. The spinal itself was a bit of an ache, like a very brief toothache in my back, but it was gone before I could even take a breath to say Ow. Id built it up in my head as something horrible which would just have to be endured, but really, it was nothing at all in reality!
My bum started getting warm/tingly immediately, and my legs were going heavy so I was quickly laid down on the table. As I moved, the midwife laughed and said Its definitely your waters that have gone! Not to worry, it actually makes things easier! So, Midgelet would have come that weekend regardless makes me glad that I didnt decide to hold off until the Monday for the operation! By this point I couldnt move my legs, it was the oddest sensation. The drapes were put up, and Tubbs was brought in. The anaesthetist was testing the spinal with an ice-cold spray, and when he was happy, they started cleaning the area. This was odd, as I could still feel them moving/the pressure of them doing stuff, and I was a bit worried that I wasnt numb. But then I could tell from what they were saying that theyd actually started the op, and I hadnt felt a thing, so I was more numb than I thought!
Throughout the procedure I could feel some pushing and pulling but that was about it. The anaesthetist was checking in with me what felt like constantly, but I do know that my sense of time was getting a bit skee-wiff. I suddenly felt like my lungs had loads of room to breathe, and then I heard a tiny cry
It seemed like forever, but was probably only about 30 seconds before the midwife brought Midgelet around the curtain to show her to us. She was then taken off to get weighed and wrapped up warm, but was very quickly back with Daddy and he was able to rest her on my chest so I could say hello too. At this point I remember feeling slightly out of it, and was asking Tubbs if theyd tilted the table back because it felt like I was lying with my head lower than my feet. Very odd. After a bit, Tubbs was sent off to get changed whilst they finished stitching me up. Not long after that, I was transferred to a bed, sat up, and given my baby for our first proper cuddle
We spent about an hour in recovery. I felt a bit sicky on and off, but was mostly ok. I was actually really tired, and remember feeling shattered in theatre too. On reflection, it's probably because with the spinal in place, for the first time in AGES I had no pelvic pain at all, so would've actually been able to sleep comfortable Midgelet had a bit of a feed, but she was quite sleepy and not really interested. We were then taken up to the ward, where I found to my delight that I had a single room! An absolute godsend, as the sound proofing was great so it was totally quiet. I was up and having a shower 5 hours after the surgery 
I hadnt expected to be up so soon, but it was bliss being able to move about.
I only spent 2 nights in hospital, and those nights were the harder times, as Midgelet wasnt really up for sleeping. Obviously with her tummy being so tiny, she wanted feeding little and often, but it really felt like I got no sleep at all the first night. On the second night, I cracked at 1.30am and begged the lovely midwife on duty to take her for a little bit just so I could get a break. I got 2 hours of sleep (in one hour stretches, broken up by feeds) which gave me enough energy to survive until 10am when Tubbs could come in. We got home on the Sunday, with a typical wait for the discharge prescription to be sent up. We went home via my parents house to pick up Roo, who has been absolutely enchanted with her new sister.
Ive been remarkably OK following the operation. In fact, I feel better than I did after Roos natural (well, ventouse) delivery. I do get tired fast, and Im very aware when Ive overdone it, but in general I feel fine. Im only taking paracetomol and diclofenac for pain relief; Ive not needed anything stronger. I do still have some foot/ankle edema which is just an annoyance, it should go away soon. Im on the iron/vitamin C/folic acid combination again, as my haemoglobin was borderline on discharge. Im guessing that my ferritin is probably down as well, as I did end up back in maternity assessment on Wednesday with palpitations and breathlessness. The palpitations can be horrible, really take my breath away, and somehow make me cough, which isnt fun with a c-section scar
Blood tests and an ECG showed up nothing sinister, so chances are its all down to anaemia. But I have an appointment with cardiology next week for an echo and 24 hour tape, just to rule out any potential longer term problems. Even with all that, Im still feeling so positive about the birth. Im confident that Tubbs and I made the right decision to go for an ELCS, and I am so happy with how things have turned out. Breastfeeding is going really well (touch wood!) and all-in-all, my post-partum recovery so far has been worlds apart from my experience with Roo.
So to sum up, Baby Midgelet was born at 10.58am on Friday 2nd March via a well-timed elective caesarean section. She weighed 6lbs 10ozs at birth, with an Apgar of 9 after one minute and after 5 minutes. Shes the spitting image of her sister as a newborn, and is absolutely amazing
https://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i192/lynne_turner/6dd9bded.jpg
Friday 2nd March 2012, we reported to one of the maternity wards at 07.30am. There was just me and one other woman on the list for that morning, so we were told that barring any emergencies delaying things, wed have our baby by lunchtime! I met the consultant who was doing the surgery, he was a lovely Welsh gentleman who completely put me at ease. Then we had a chat with the anaesthetist, got more blood drawn, and went through some last checklists. We also went through the consent form for cord blood donation. I was so pleased that the cord blood nurse was there shed actually come in specially on her day off to make sure that they got my blood. I think the rules for who can/cant donate are really strict, so they dont necessarily get a lot of people. Anyways, after doing all the paperwork, I got changed into the oh-so-fetching hospital gowns, and then it was just a waiting game.
The first lady went downstairs about 9am, and the HCA who was with us said shed guess wed be down between 10.30 and 11am. We chatted to her for a while shes a friend of our midwife Elaine, and wed met her when we were pregnant with Roo so it was nice to catch up. At about 10.10 she left the room saying she hoped it wouldnt be too much longer. I heard the phone ring about 2 minutes later, and she came back in to say that this was it, time to head downstairs!
We got to the recovery area where we dumped our bags. The midwife said they were just finishing up in theatre with the first lady, and shortly after that she was brought into recovery with her gorgeous baby boy. We didnt have long to wait after that the theatre midwife came to get us and off we went. As I walked along the corridor to theatre, I felt a pop and then as we stopped to collect theatre hair covers, and gowns etc for Tubbs, I felt fluid running down my leg! I said to the midwife Either my waters have just gone, or Ive peed myself. And I went to the loo before coming down, and I didnt think I was *that* nervous
One of the theatre staff took Tubbs off to get into his theatre gear, and I was taken into the OT for my anaesthetic, dripping all the way Once in theatre, I had to sit up on the table whilst they went through a final check of the consent form, and the anaesthetist went over his checklist again. Lovely Irish man, he was a gem. First I had to get a cannula put in (IV access) and this (weirdly) is the bit I was really dreading, as it can be so sore! Luckily, I got a shot of local anaesthetic first, which was lovely
I was chatting away with the theatre staff about being a student nurse, when the anaesthetist started cleaning my back for the spinal. He asked me to push my spine out a bit more, and take a few deep breaths. I had a lovely nurse in front of me who kept talking, and was telling me I was doing really well. The local stung a bit, but nowhere near as bad as I was expecting. The spinal itself was a bit of an ache, like a very brief toothache in my back, but it was gone before I could even take a breath to say Ow. Id built it up in my head as something horrible which would just have to be endured, but really, it was nothing at all in reality! My bum started getting warm/tingly immediately, and my legs were going heavy so I was quickly laid down on the table. As I moved, the midwife laughed and said Its definitely your waters that have gone! Not to worry, it actually makes things easier! So, Midgelet would have come that weekend regardless makes me glad that I didnt decide to hold off until the Monday for the operation! By this point I couldnt move my legs, it was the oddest sensation. The drapes were put up, and Tubbs was brought in. The anaesthetist was testing the spinal with an ice-cold spray, and when he was happy, they started cleaning the area. This was odd, as I could still feel them moving/the pressure of them doing stuff, and I was a bit worried that I wasnt numb. But then I could tell from what they were saying that theyd actually started the op, and I hadnt felt a thing, so I was more numb than I thought!
Throughout the procedure I could feel some pushing and pulling but that was about it. The anaesthetist was checking in with me what felt like constantly, but I do know that my sense of time was getting a bit skee-wiff. I suddenly felt like my lungs had loads of room to breathe, and then I heard a tiny cry
It seemed like forever, but was probably only about 30 seconds before the midwife brought Midgelet around the curtain to show her to us. She was then taken off to get weighed and wrapped up warm, but was very quickly back with Daddy and he was able to rest her on my chest so I could say hello too. At this point I remember feeling slightly out of it, and was asking Tubbs if theyd tilted the table back because it felt like I was lying with my head lower than my feet. Very odd. After a bit, Tubbs was sent off to get changed whilst they finished stitching me up. Not long after that, I was transferred to a bed, sat up, and given my baby for our first proper cuddle We spent about an hour in recovery. I felt a bit sicky on and off, but was mostly ok. I was actually really tired, and remember feeling shattered in theatre too. On reflection, it's probably because with the spinal in place, for the first time in AGES I had no pelvic pain at all, so would've actually been able to sleep comfortable
Midgelet had a bit of a feed, but she was quite sleepy and not really interested. We were then taken up to the ward, where I found to my delight that I had a single room! An absolute godsend, as the sound proofing was great so it was totally quiet. I was up and having a shower 5 hours after the surgery I hadnt expected to be up so soon, but it was bliss being able to move about. I only spent 2 nights in hospital, and those nights were the harder times, as Midgelet wasnt really up for sleeping. Obviously with her tummy being so tiny, she wanted feeding little and often, but it really felt like I got no sleep at all the first night. On the second night, I cracked at 1.30am and begged the lovely midwife on duty to take her for a little bit just so I could get a break. I got 2 hours of sleep (in one hour stretches, broken up by feeds) which gave me enough energy to survive until 10am when Tubbs could come in. We got home on the Sunday, with a typical wait for the discharge prescription to be sent up. We went home via my parents house to pick up Roo, who has been absolutely enchanted with her new sister.
Ive been remarkably OK following the operation. In fact, I feel better than I did after Roos natural (well, ventouse) delivery. I do get tired fast, and Im very aware when Ive overdone it, but in general I feel fine. Im only taking paracetomol and diclofenac for pain relief; Ive not needed anything stronger. I do still have some foot/ankle edema which is just an annoyance, it should go away soon. Im on the iron/vitamin C/folic acid combination again, as my haemoglobin was borderline on discharge. Im guessing that my ferritin is probably down as well, as I did end up back in maternity assessment on Wednesday with palpitations and breathlessness. The palpitations can be horrible, really take my breath away, and somehow make me cough, which isnt fun with a c-section scar
Blood tests and an ECG showed up nothing sinister, so chances are its all down to anaemia. But I have an appointment with cardiology next week for an echo and 24 hour tape, just to rule out any potential longer term problems. Even with all that, Im still feeling so positive about the birth. Im confident that Tubbs and I made the right decision to go for an ELCS, and I am so happy with how things have turned out. Breastfeeding is going really well (touch wood!) and all-in-all, my post-partum recovery so far has been worlds apart from my experience with Roo. So to sum up, Baby Midgelet was born at 10.58am on Friday 2nd March via a well-timed elective caesarean section. She weighed 6lbs 10ozs at birth, with an Apgar of 9 after one minute and after 5 minutes. Shes the spitting image of her sister as a newborn, and is absolutely amazing
https://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i192/lynne_turner/6dd9bded.jpg
She's gorgeous!
x
Well done you, this is lovely 
I can't believe your waters went just before your section - almost like she was saying 'let's do this, I'm ready to come out!'
