"Cooper arrived, healthy, with ten fingers and ten toes, and our world has never been the same since"

Guest blog by Susan Stafford aka @miss_susieq_fitmum

#StoriesFromTheSunroof

​I never imagined or contemplated having a cesarean.

I had always envisioned a vaginal birth, went to pregnancy yoga classes and learnt useful mindful tools to help pain relief and my anxiety. But something wasn’t quite right with Cooper ... he was stubborn, like his mumma and grandmother, and was quite happily stuck in the breech/compound breech position.  

Our Obstetrician recommended we give an ECV procedure done (external cephalic version, or in laymen's terms, manually move baby into a better position) to turn him so he was head down, as all the inversions and underwater handstands I had attempted hadn’t worked. So, at 38 weeks pregnant we went to the hospital. I had pure ventolin intravenously administered to increase my heart rate and to ‘relax’ me, and the doctor had approximately 3 minutes to try and turn the baby...

It. Was. Horrific.

The pain and discomfort was unbearable. My poor husband had to leave the room because he felt sick seeing my body contorted the way it was, and his sympathy towards me and what I was going through made him feel sick. The doctor tried for longer than recommended and the ventolin had well worn off before he was defeated.
 
We were booked in to have our cesarean the following week at 39 weeks exactly.

The day finally came and my anxiety was through the roof... good anxiety of course, but all anxiety is tainted with negative thoughts. We arrived at the hospital the recommended time prior to surgery, brought up to our room where we had about half an hour to make the room our own, before being whisked away to theatre. The wait there was excruciating and I did 3 nervous wees before we were called into the surgery room! As we walked in to theatre, a wave of calm swept over me. It was surreal and bizarre to be feeling so anxious and suddenly so calm. I believe it was my mum, who was an RN before she passed away in 2009, who sent me into a state of calm, as she knew the process and was ‘in control’ of how things would pan out. It was so comforting, and such a lovely feeling knowing she was there with us.

​ We had the run down from our Obstetrician and met the team (it’s surprising how many people are involved!) and things started to happen rather quickly. I had the epidural and spinal block (what a bloody odd feeling!), laid down, sheet up, and bam! things were underway! The mood and vibe of the room was upbeat and happy, what an exciting time! I could feel my body being moved around, tugged, pushed and prodded (Cooper was well and truly stuck thanks to my core muscles and an apparent short umbilical cord!) but couldn’t feel any kind of pain sensation.

That was really hard to get my head around!

​Then, at 16:06 on the 16/6/16 (yep!!!) our gorgeous Little Love Cooper arrived, healthy, with ten fingers and ten toes, and our world has never been the same since. He latched to my breast straight away; I requested skin on skin for at least half an hour before any measurements were to be taken, and after being stitched up, we were all taken to the recovery ward. 
​
It was here that the side affects of the epidural and spinal block started to really ramp up; I had a constant and insatiable tickly itch on my face and neck. It was horrible, but thankfully was later given a counter drug to ease this, as well as cold compresses in the meantime. 

Even though a cesarean birth was not in our original plan for 99% of our pregnancy, it was still such a pleasant, calm, and happy experience that we both look back on with nothing but positive memories.

If you would love to follow Susan's journey on Instagram click, here.