I welcomed my son by a planned c section. I’m sharing what to expect from a planned c section birth and why it was the best decision for me.
Well, here I am the night before Theodore’s first birthday and really can’t believe it. How has it been one year since we welcomed our sweet boy. It’s hard to remember life before that.
Becoming a mother of two has been a rollercoaster. So uplifting and special but so exhausting. There has been nothing more rewarding in my life than watching my children bond. I’m getting weepy thinking about the night we brought Theo home from the hospital and Amelia leaned over, kissed his head, and said I love you. Poor Arthur was left wondering why I was crying through story time. Can you relate, mama?
Let’s rewind to the day I finally met the little person I felt growing for 39 weeks.
When is a c section scheduled?
Arthur and I knew what day we’d be welcoming our baby early on in my pregnancy. It was a strange feeling.
Not only was it strange to know your child would be born on a specific date but it was emotional making the decision to have a planned c section.
We decided a planned c section was the best option for both me and our son after a stalled labour with Amelia that ended up with an emergency c section. The surgeon who would deliver both my babies explained it was Fetopelvic Disproportion. What in the hell? What that means is there was a significant mismatch between the size of my babies and the size of my pelvis. Who knew! I certainly didn’t.
When I asked about my changes of delivering naturally I was told it was under 50% and the baby would need to be significantly smaller than Amelia had been, which they didn’t believe would be the case. Trusting the doctors I had chosen to care for me and my children, I agreed to a planned c section.
What to expect the day of a planned c section
I’ll be honest, it was a bit surreal.
My c section was scheduled for 8:00 am on March 26th, the first of the day. I needed to arrive two hours before for pre-op bloodwork and assessment.
I woke up early to wash my face, put on a little makeup and straighten my hair. Definitely a perk of knowing exactly when you’d be in labour and avoiding the whole pushing a baby out part of giving birth.
Arthur and I drove to the hospital and if I’m honest I still wondered if I was making the right decision. Was he ready to come into the world? I knew deep in my heart it was but with no signs he was ready to make his appearance it was strange. I worried I’d miss the excitement of going into labour, knowing your child was on its way. I did miss it, a little bit.
We checked in to the hospital, walked up to Labour and Delivery, and were greeted by the nurses.
Here’s where I say it was a bit surreal. It was calm, like any other day. So incredibly different than going into labour naturally.
Our doctors met us there. We were introduced to our team of nurses and the anesthesiologist. I truly valued this component of having a planned c section birth.
Just like that, it was 8:00am and time to have a baby.
Funny enough, we ended up having the same nurse who cared for us after Amelia was born. I recognized her voice and she was just as calming as she had been to me two years earlier. She told Arthur to kiss me and she and my doctor walked me into the operation room.
Now this was a strange feeling climbing up onto a cold table while the doctor told me about all the potential side effects of the spinal tap. I started to shake uncontrollably. My incredible doctor noticed and held me tightly and talked to me about her family vacation. The distraction was welcome.
I laid down and suddenly I was completely in tune with my breath. I wasn’t afraid anymore. I was ready to meet my son.
Arthur joined me and at 8:32 am with little more than a peep Theodore Mason Cavasin was born.
The tears started flowing. He’s been my weakness since the moment I heard him cry.
Again, I was grateful for our planned c section birth because we had time to ask questions like if we could take a photo. When Amelia was born I was so exhausted we didn’t think to ask and I was sad we didn’t have a photo of her moments after she was born. I was also so exhausted I don’t remember those first few minutes together.
The nurse brought Theodore over, who was so calm, and told us how strong he was. He was solid, weighing 9 pounds 4 ounces, with big hands, and a head 4 cm bigger than average. The doctor reminded me our planned c section birth was the right choice.
There he was. It was like I had known him my whole life. Arthur held him against my face. He found his fingers and started sucking right away letting me know he was ready to eat – Theo has never stopped eating since!!
I look back on Theodore’s planned c section birth with such a sense of calm. In the moments before he joined us I felt confident and at ease.
As any mother of two will tell you no two children are the same. Amelia struggled to latch; Theo latched perfectly. Amelia gained weight like a champ; Theo lost 7.5% of his birth weight. Amelia needed no supplementing with formula; Theo was considered large at birth and his blood sugar and weight required top up for the first week.
Yet I was still at ease. I trusted my instinct. I was no longer afraid that supplementing with formula meant I had failed him.
Tomorrow I’ll snuggle the boy who forever changed me and I’ll melt the same way I did the first time I heard him cry. Happy Birthday, my sweet boy.
