Rachel shares her c-section story
I had never expected to be a c-section mum. My own mother had quick, non-complicated deliveries with no tearing, and as I’m built just like her I thought I would too. The Plunket nurse taking the antenatal class didn’t spend too much time on c-sections, dismissing them a bit like a bad smell to focus on the more ‘aspirational’ natural birth.
At 37 weeks I was feeling ginormous and suggested to my midwife that I would like a scan. She said I didn’t need one and there were no concerns about growth. At 41 weeks and 5 days, the size of a small planet with my own gravitational pull, I insisted on scans before I was to be induced.
The sonographer went very quiet. The baby was measuring up at around 5 kg. I was taken aback – this was my first baby and I didn’t have diabetes or any other health issues.
That afternoon I was assessed by the medical team who decided on a c-section. After a few hours of waiting I was wheeled in and a skilled anesthetist had a spinal tap done in 2 minutes. The room seemed to be packed with people and behind the curtain they draped over my stomach it felt like they were rummaging around in a handbag.
Our baby boy was so happily entrenched they had to use forceps to pull him out. He came our wailing, weighing a whooping 5.11 kg (11 pounds 4).
My recovery from the c-section was pretty quick and my scar healed nicely. You hear horror stories about sections but I am so glad I did not have to deliver my chumbawamba baby naturally!
