The Cesarean: Part of my Birth Story

The cesarean: How I feared you, how I tried so hard to avoid you. But 6 months later- I’m grateful for my c-section and here’s why.
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I was pregnant for 42 weeks and a day followed by 46 hours of labor. I labored naturally for 27 hours and dilated to 3.5 cm. By the time my midwives recommended hospital transfer I was already packing my bag and ready for an epidural (also something I thought I didn’t want during my birth)
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I will always try the holistic method first but knowing we have western medicine options can be a God-send. Having pain relief after my days of labor was a game changer.
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The pain meds were like night and day. I couldn’t believe how much better I felt finally being able to rest, hydrate, breathe and simply be in my body.
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After another 19 hours of labor, I was finally at 10cm but the pressure on my butt was excruciating.
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After 4 hours of pushing my midwives suggested c-section but were very supportive in me advocating for myself and listened to what I thought, felt and needed.
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“Ok, I want to push through 1 more round of contractions and then I agree, let’s do the c-section.”
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Even though I was terrified, I was also prepared for this as a possibility and was still able to go into it feeling informed and in charge.
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My 5’3, previously 110 lb being birthed a beautiful 8.8 lb baby girl with a head in the 91% for size!
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When I saw her head and the trauma on her skull- it was obvious she wasn’t coming out vaginally without worse head trauma and probably either tearing me or cracking my coccyx (which is probably all the pressure I felt)
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Obviously I can’t say for sure those things would have happened but I look back on my birth and feel I did what was best for me and my baby.
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Yoga and reiki allowed me to heal quickly and have a blissful fourth trimester- filled with love, bonding and all the oxytocin highs you could imagine.
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As doulas, we are trained to avoid c-section when we can. But as your doula, if this happens- we are going to make it a powerful and beautiful experience for you. Just like it was for me!
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All paths to birth are sacred.