I am a mother of 3 boys, Oliver who is almost 10, Grayson 5 almost 6 and William who just turned 2. And I have met other mothers and non-mothers who have told me since I had 3 C-sections that I truly didn't experience childbirth since I didn't give birth naturally.
They have gone as far as saying that having a C-section is taking the easy way out.
Well, I call bullshit on that, it doesn't matter how you give birth natural or C-section as long as they get your baby out safely is all that matters.
I had my first C-section because Oliver was breach, they tried turning him but it didn't work and since is numbers were dropping they needed to get him out, so I ended up having a C-section, and I wouldn't change it because they got him out safely, he was tiny but healthy.
With Grayson I had him right on him due date, my water broke on May 8th, 2014 I spent 17 hours in labor because I was trying to have him naturally, but at the 17th-hour mark, they tell me that im contracting and infection and have a temperature of 102 and I wasn't dilating past 4 1/2 centimeters, and they needed to get him out.
So I had another c-section, but the problem was that the pain medication they had given me was not working, I could feel them cutting into me, my husband asked if there was something else they could do. They ended up giving me something that knocked me out.
I had my son at 1.45 pm, I didn't wake up in recovery till 8 pm. My uterus had stopped contracting after they got him out, I lost 2 pints of blood. I had to have a blood transfusion, I had never had one before, the next day they gave me the transfusion it was a couple of hours after having it, that I experienced a reaction to it. Its called a delayed hemolytic transfusion reaction.
My legs swelled up, I had a head to toe red itchy rash. they told me I was having a reaction to the pain killers and antibiotics, but I had taking these medications before so that didn't make sense to me. I spent a week dealing with the rash and swelling, it wasn't till I saw my OB the following week that she said it was in fact a blood reaction, she gave me steroids to clear it up.
I didn't find out till I was pregnant with my youngest that the blood that I had received had antibodies in it, most O positive blood does not have antibodies, that's why my body reacted like that, they did not screen it well and now I have those antibodies, I was told that I have to carry a medicare card or wear a bracelet stating I am now O positive with anti C antibodies.
Because if I had to have another transfusion and they gave me just O positive it could give me a heart attack. And when I had my last son in 2018 everything was fine until I was in recovery. The nurse came in to check on me, she asked if I had felt a gush or any wetness, I said no because I was still numb.
It turns out I was hemorrhaging my uterus had stopped contracting again. I had two doctors shoving needles in my hips to get it to start contracting again, and then I spent the next 24 hours with nurses coming in pressing down on my newly stapled stomach to push all the blood clots out, that was the worst pain I have ever felt in my life.
I had to have another transfusion because I lost 2 1/2 pints of blood this time, I had to tell the nurse about the last one, it took them 6 hours to get the blood that had the antibodies in it. I spent 4 days in the hospital because of it.
So this is to all the women out there that think having a C-section is taking the easy way out and is not true childbirth, having a C-section is more painful, has a longer healing time and carries a larger risk for the mother's health. I didn't have a choice this was the way it was going to be.
And I wouldn't change it for the world, all of my boys are healthy because of it. So stop shaming us because we didn't or couldn't have our kids naturally.
