My beautiful unplanned cesarean section

A beautiful cesarean section? I think the range of experiences with a cesarean section is very wide. While many people find an (especially unplanned) C-section stressful or even traumatic, others associate it with a beautiful birth. I am glad that Tina was willing to write about her birth and that I am allowed to publish this report. The rest of the text is now from her. By the way, the title was also chosen by her.

Today I would like to tell you about my birth experience in January 2018. Due to a very early detected gestational diabetes, I was very quickly closely monitored by a doctor during pregnancy. The diabetes I got very well under control and so I hoped that nothing would stand in the way of my desire for a natural birth. A C-section was really the last resort for me, as I did not want to deprive my baby and myself of a natural birth and had also often read about breastfeeding difficulties after C-section surgeries.

At 36 weeks, a checkup revealed that my amniotic fluid was getting less, so I had to go to the hospital for induction at 38 weeks. The induction scared me because I had read a lot about it on the internet beforehand and the prospect of days and nights of waiting in the hospital was not my idea of a nice birth.

For a long time I had tried to delay the induction, but now from a doctor's point of view it was no longer possible, the risk would have been too great for my belly dwarf. I got a labor cocktail and suddenly it started slowly while I was walking around the hospital with my husband.

Back in the delivery room, a CTG was done. The midwife in charge of me, Dörte from the hospital, wasn't completely satisfied with the heart sounds from the dwarf and gave me water to drink. She said that usually relaxes the situation. After 5 minutes she stood in the room again and wanted to explain the CTG to us. This time, however, a female doctor was already there and somehow I knew something was wrong.

They both explained to me that a c-section would have to be done because the heart tones continued to deteriorate. I said "yes do it" without much thought. It was absolutely the right thing for me to do at that moment. The preparation was very quick and routine and Dörte was with my husband and me the whole time. She helped me fill out the paperwork and explained many things to us in more detail. At the end, she told me again that my baby would stay with me in the operating room and would only be separated from me for a short time for the U1, but that my husband could be with me during the examination. This was very important to me that our child is not separated from us.

After I had been made ready in the operating room and everyone had introduced themselves, my husband was allowed to join me and the operation started. I was in a trance during the surgery. It wasn't until I heard my baby crying that I was back. Dörte put it on my chest right after the first wipe down and spent 20 minutes gently showing the little man the way to the milk. I was actually able to nurse my baby in the OR already and it was a wonderful feeling.

Even though the birth was not what I had hoped for, it was beautiful. My husband was with me the whole time, my baby never alone and thanks to the insanely amazing midwife I was able to breastfeed right away and I felt well taken care of the whole time.

Before the birth I thought a few times about what if it comes to the cesarean section. For me it was always clear that if I was advised by a doctor for the good of the child, I would not hesitate. When I think about my decision now, it is clear to me that I would always do it again for the good of my baby and that in my case I made the best decision for my child at that time. As a remnant of my C-section, I fortunately only have my physical scar and positive beautiful memories of the birth of my baby.

However, in case of a second pregnancy, I would favor a natural birth again.

The cover image comes from unsplash.com.