My waters broke and I went into labour at 10pm on Monday night. About 2 hours later my contractions were 5 minutes apart and we excitedly went to hospital.
I was about 4cm dilated when we arrived. I had decided on a no drugs approach so continued to labour through the night. By 5am on Tuesday morning I was fully dilated and ready to start pushing.
We moved into the delivery room and things took an unexpected turn. My baby had not dropped all the way down into my cervix and her head was tilted in just the wrong angle. We gave it some more time for her to drop but she wouldn’t move. We tried pushing her out but she wouldn’t move.
After being fully dilated for 3 hours; with very little rest between contractions I was exhausted. My wonderful gynae who had journeyed so wonderfully with me made the call to do an emergency caesarian! My relief was tangible as I was exhausted and couldn’t anymore.
It took a while to get the epidural in as my contractions would not stop but when it hit I felt as if I could breathe for the first time in hours. My beautiful little girl was born just after 9 am. Exhilaration!
Looking back I have no regrets. I wish I could have pushed her out as I wanted, but I am so thankful that having a c/section was an option available to me. I am grateful to the surgical team who took care of us. I am grateful that as soon as she was checked out she was placed straight into my arms and onto my boob.
When I look at, and touch my scar it is a reminder of my precious, full of life little girl. How she got here is not nearly as important as the fact that she got here, and she is healthy!