Emma's Birth Story

Some background:
At my 39^th week doctor’s appointment – four days before the due date – we discovered that the baby had turned breech. I was so devastated – as every idea about how this baby would come into the world changed in an instant. In my mind I thought that I would never get to experience those pregnancy milestones: timing contractions, the water breaking, that car ride to the hospital, having the baby placed on my chest after the delivery, etc. I did not want to have an epidural and I wanted to labor at home as long as possible – things that would not be possible anymore because I’d have to have a c-section. Eventually I came to realize that I was still going to have special milestones with this delivery – it was just going to be different than I had originally planned.

The doctor scheduled the external cephalic version for 6:30 am on Tuesday November 25^th. If the procedure was successful, then I was going to be induced – another thing I didn’t want to have happen. If the procedure was unsuccessful, then I would go in for a c-section at 7:30 am. So in the days before the appointment I tried all kinds of crazy things to get the baby to turn around. I placed a flashlight on my belly, put bags of ice on the belly, and tried different stretches/positions to encourage the baby to move…crazy I know – but I was willing to try.

Tuesday morning we go to the hospital – the doctors check the baby’s position with the sonogram – still breech. So they begin the external cephalic version – and holy cow – was it the most painful thing I experienced the whole time while I was in the hospital. I can’t explain how it felt – but I was just screaming in pain. And of course, the baby didn’t budge. So it was time for the dreaded c-section – and I was just a crying mess! I was so overwhelmed and disappointed at how things turned out – I couldn’t stop crying.

Once I got into the OR – things changed. Everyone was so nice and talked me through everything. The nurses and doctors were all very funny – kept me distracted and laughing throughout the entire procedure. The part I was most worried about – the spinal – was nothing! It was a little sting when they numbed the area but honestly – I felt nothing. And the sensation of being numb from the waist down was so strange. I could feel people touching and pulling – but no pain. Soon my husband joined me in the OR and we awaited the birth of the baby. We didn’t find out the gender – so we were anxious to see if the baby was a girl or a boy. After what felt like forever - and after watching the video – it was a long time – this breech baby was not coming out in a hurry – at 8:46 am our baby girl Emma Claire was born.

Recovery from the c-section was not as bad as I thought it would be. The nurses had me sitting in a chair that night and walking and in the shower the next morning. Now after having had a c-section, I can’t imagine what delivery would be like any other way. And of course having a perfect baby girl makes it all worth it and I can now say that I would do it all over again in a second – well not a second but sometime in the distant future!