Birth Story | Planned C-Section

Hi Cherubs!

I'm 6 weeks postpartum and just getting around to writing this post, looking after two under two is no joke! Finally landing on my feet though, we've all adjusted to being a family of four. My toddler, Mina has surprised me the most, she's so loving and just totally gets that sometimes she just has to wait for my attention. I'm positive we will have some trying times ahead but I'm confident we will work it out. No more babies for me, I am content with my two ladies and so is my husband 😅

Great news... I made it to my c-section date!

On the morning of July 23rd my husbands alarm went off at 4:30am and he got up and made me a coffee and some breakfast. I had to eat by 5am as my surgery was booked in for 2:45pm and you're not allowed to eat or drink because of the spinal anesthesia. I didn't sleep after that as I felt too anxious and excited. We had a pretty chilled out morning, I had some time with Mina and at around 10am whilst I was folding laundry I received a phone call from my hospital asking if I would come in earlier. I said yes and then the nerves really set in, we got our things ready and was at the hospital by 11. Saying goodbye to Mina was pretty hard, I haven't been away from her for more than a few hours EVER! And because she was just getting over a cold it wouldn't be right for her to come to the hospital. As soon as I got into the car I burst into tears! (blaming pregnancy hormones)

I got set up in the planned c-section room which has two beds sectioned off by curtains (it was empty when I arrived) and a bathroom. My nurse was so lovely and she made sure everything went to plan and everyone was on time, she was a boss! Whilst I was waiting around for my allotted time I actually started having contractions, they were 5/6 mins apart not too painful, but I'm pretty sure I would have gone into labour naturally on that day anyway. 

I walked to the operating theatre at 12:20 and there was around 8 people in there getting set up. it was honestly such a calm experience compared to my unscheduled c-section with Mina. Everyone was just chatting about their day, laughing and joking, it was nice. Even having my spinal block placed I felt pretty chilled, I still held my nurses hand though! I started to feel nauseous straight away so I made sure to ask for some meds. 

My husband came in when everything was set up. And 1:03pm Roya was born. She had the cord wrapped around her neck twice which makes me so thankful I had her at 39 weeks via c-section...So scary.

Roya was huge at 9lbs 😂 She had a full head of dark hair and just looked so precious. My husband stayed with Roya and the baby nurse whilst they got her cleaned up. 

There was no complications with my surgery but after Roya was born my doctor asked me if I had 2 uterus's. Apparently they found what appeared to be a second uterus, they aren't quite sure but they took a picture and I might have to have someone look into it. But she reassured me it wouldn't affect my health in any way. 

The surgery took around 1hr30, planned c-sections usually are a little longer because they can take their time. With Mina once the c-section was decided it was go go go! Also my scar this time around is so neat and tidy, you can definitely tell they took their time.

Baby Roya's birth story

Once we got back to the room I did skin to skin with Roya and it was so perfect, she started nursing straight away, she was pretty eager actually and latched ok not perfect but it was bearable. 

I first stood up and walked 5 hours after surgery. it didn't go too well as I felt super light-headed and I threw up. I threw up quite a lot over the next few hours so eating was out of the question. The second time I stood up I did a little better and managed to walk to the bathroom but again I threw up. The third time was better but I passed some pretty huge clots (tmi but this is a birth story!) My doctor wasn't alarmed and gave the ok to remove my catheter. The first few days recovering from a c-section are so painful, just sitting up is a full on work out and I couldn't lift Roya out of her bassinet so every time she needed to be fed my husband would hand her to me. 

She was cluster feeding for the first few days in hospital so as you can imagine my boobs felt incredibly sore. Also because she was a big baby they had to monitor her sugar levels every few hours which was heartbreaking to watch your newborn being prodded all the time. Her levels were low at one point and my hospital policy is to give them 10ml of formula unless I could express 10ml of colostrum which I tried so hard to do but I had no where near enough. My nurse gave her the formula and her sugar levels returned to normal.

The nurses were incredible and really looked after us. On the second night at hospital Roya was constantly feeding and we had zero sleep, our nurse suggested we put Roya in the nursery for a while and she'd look after her for us. That night we had a 4 hour stint of sleep and it was pure magic.

My milk came in just 48hours after birth, with Mina it took 6 days so you can imagine how happy and relieved I was. I requested to see a lactation consultant before I left just to make sure my latch was good. The consultant was so lovely and instilled so much confidence in my ability to breastfeed. My whole birth experience has been extremely positive second time around.

Roya was thriving too and passed her hearing test and her other checks so we were allowed to go home after the second night.

By far my favorite moment was introducing Roya to Mina, she was besotted straight away. A little heavy handed but she has learned to be more gentle.

As far as recovery goes I'm feeling like my normal self, ready to start working out again but I won't start until my doctor has given the ok. The hormones have been intense,I cried a lot for the first 3 weeks but right now I'm feeling better. I should also mention the after birth contractions! Oh my, way worse with this birth but again they have subsided now thankfully!

Breastfeeding is still going well, I had a few painful weeks dealing with bleeding nipples but after talking with lactation consultants and my friends I managed to get on top of the situation. I used comfort gels by Ameda and there were game changers. I don't have to wear them anymore as we've figured out a great latch and have a somewhat structured feeding schedule.

Roya is a great sleeper like her sister. Were currently having a 6 hour stint and then another 3 hours of sleep so I can't complain.

I can't believe how quick these past 6 weeks have gone, time really does flash before your eyes. Roya seems so big now! But its lovely seeing her change and grow day to day. I'm really looking forward to seeing my two girls grow up together and hopefully be best of friends.

Sisters meeting for the first time

Happy baby and happy momma!

Thank you so much for reading Roya's birth story.

Love Sarah