It was a c section...

by Celeste
(Fort Lauderdale, FL)

I was a first time mom and in a traditional hospital where the routine was to be tied to an IV and EFM and not able to walk around.

Since I knew ahead of time, I didn't want the added pain of not being able to walk around anyway, so I accepted the epidural. At that time, labor did NOT hurt. It was intense, but it was actually pretty cool! I was completely unaware of any side effects of epidurals. I thought that since it didn't enter the blood stream, that it doesn't effect the baby. So that's why I decided to get the epidural.

First of all, the anesthesiologist didn't count to 3 before sticking me with the needles, which I asked for. How hard is it to count to 3? I jump and scream if a needle surprises me and I told him that several times. Then it didn't work because he put it in wrong and had to do it all over again. He still didn't count to 3 for me.

Everything seemed fine, but only for a few hours until I started to feel pain in my left side. It completely drained on that side and the nurses said there was nothing I could do about it. So there I was dealing with this intense pain and I could barely make it laying from one side to the next. The nurses told me that when I laid on my left side, when it was more comfortable for me, the baby's heart rate dropped and they wanted me to stay on my right side, which was excruciating.

To this day I don't know whether they gave me pitocin or not, but I stayed at 5 cm from the time I received my epidural at about 10 am until about 5:45pm.

Some time in between there, they broke my water, which I don't remember being asked if that was ok.

My husband told me that they did it later. I became nauseous and threw up. The nurses thought that I was in transition, but when the doctor came back in (I did NOT like the doctor from the beginning) and checked me and I was still at 5 cm, and I was a little swollen on the anterior lip of my cervix.

He said that was a concern and said that we could try to push, but my cervix could tear. He also said that the baby is bigger than what he originally thought and that we could go ahead and try to push, but there would be a risk of nerve damage to me, the baby, or both and then we would end up in an emergency c section.

He looked right at my husband when he said that and then left us alone to talk it over. The first time the doctor came in that day, he asked me right away if I wanted a c section or natural birth.

When I gave him the "Are you crazy?" look and said that I wanted a natural birth, he immediately said, "But you're not opposed to c sections, right?" Unbelievable.

Well, at this point, my husband was scared and wanted to do a c section now and not have to do an emergency c section later. I felt like I would look like a bad mother by saying no at this point, so with eyes full of tears, I gave consent for the c section. Once I was in the operating room, since my epidural had drained from my left side, I could feel the pin prick test before they cut.

So, they had to completely put me under with ketamine, which has major side effects for both mother and baby. I still felt them cut me open and gave out the loudest blood curdling scream of my life. When I finally came back to consciousness, I only got to see pictures of my daughter's birth. When I learned that she was only 7 lbs and 3 oz, I was PISSED!!!! Afterwards, while dealing with the intense pain of being cut open, we also had latching problems and inadequate breast feeding support (we were eventually successful, thanks to la leche league).

I was never convinced it was necessary and have been doing research ever since. Every time I hear anyone mention that they want an epidural, I immediately give them my story. Even though the epidural was not the only factor to blame for my c section, it was a major factor. I also blame my doctor, who probably just wanted to go home, I blame the hospital for not allowing mobility, privacy and nourishment, and last, I blame myself for not doing the research that I should've done. It is every pregnant woman's responsibility to do as much research on birth as possible before they end up in an undesirable situation.