Why Cesarean Sections suck

*I want to start off by saying that I do realize there are circumstances where c-sections are necessary for the safety of mom and/or baby (such as my own experience). This post isn't meant to start a debate over c-sections vs. vaginal births; its simply an outlet for me to describe my personal experience.

Over the past year, since experiencing my own c-section, I've found myself involved in various discussions/debates regarding this very topic. Its been extremely eye opening to discover people's misperceptions about this surgery. I know many ladies who will be having their first child in the upcoming months (is there a baby-boom going on, or what?), so I thought this post might be informational, if nothing more.

Before I move forward, I want to give a quick background to my c-section story. At my 34 week appointment, we discovered that baby Pierce was in a transverse (sideways) position. My OB assured me that there was still plenty of time for baby to turn, and if he/she (we didn't know the gender) didn't turn on his/her own, we had some options. My next appointment wasn't until 36 weeks, so I spent the following weeks doing everything and anything I could to turn baby Pierce: breech tilt, massages, playing music at the bottom of my belly, putting cold packs at the topic of my belly, shining flashlights on my belly, mantras, praying, persuasion, spending an inordinate amount of time on my hands and knees, doing handstands in the water...you name it, I tried it. By the time we got to the 36 week appointment, I had myself convinced that I'd turned baby Pierce...unfortunately, I was wrong. Baby Pierce was officially breech (I won't even begin to describe how disappointed and depressed I was with this news). At this point, I was given the option to either schedule a c-section right then and there, or attempt to manually turn the baby in the coming weeks. Determined not to give in to a c-section, I opted for an External Version. We attempted the EV at 37 1/2 weeks, which was unsuccessful (and oh-so-painful, I wouldn't even know how to put this pain into words), so we had no other choice but to schedule a c-section. (I'm also going to leave out the part where I cried in bed for 3 days straight because my hopes and dreams for an uncomplicated vaginal delivery were history.) Realizing that the most important thing at this point was the health and safety of my baby, I finally gave in to the fact that things weren't going to go according to my plan (hahaha, this is so funny to read, because there is no plan but the baby's plan!) - so we scheduled the c-section for 39 1/2 weeks, and the rest is history.

So, back to the topic of this post...reasons why c-sections suck:

1 - It's major surgery, for gosh sakes! Cutting a living being out of someone isn't something to take lightly. With a major surgery like this, there are risks: infections (of the uterus and/or incision), blood clots, injury to mom and/or baby, anesthesia side-effects, heavy blood loss, and breathing problems for the baby (if delivered before the due date). For those of you who are feeling extra bold today, I've attached this link. It contains step-by-step pictures of a c-section.

2 - You miss out on those first moments. First diaper change = missed because I was in the operating room getting stitched up. Weight and height check = missed because I was in the operating room getting stitched up. First bath = didn't get to participate in; struggled to keep my eyes open and eventually passed out from all the drugs. The worst was that I had to wait for over an hour to hold my son...the baby that I carried for 9 months, who I knew better than anyone else in this entire world, didn't get to be in my arms until over an hour after he was born. How sad is that? Some people who have c-sections have to wait even longer than I did! When you've been waiting 9 months to meet that baby of yours, even a second seems like an eternity.

3 - It hurts! I mean really, really, really hurts. I've been through some pretty painful things in my 29 years on this earth (kidney stones (while pregnant), gallstones, broken vertebrae), and none of those experiences compare to the pain I felt after my c-section. I've spoken to a handful of women who've experienced vaginal births and c-sections, and all but one of them preferred the vaginal delivery by far. Imagine someone cutting your stomach open, pulling a baby out, poking around in your uterus, and then stapling it shut with a staple gun. Then, imagine trying to do something simple (like rolling over) only a day after your surgery, and feeling like your abdomen is about to rip open, spilling out all of your internal organs. I am not over-exaggerating when I type this, people. I seriously felt like I was going to lose my innards at any given moment that first week post-surgery. I needed help to sit up, lay down, roll over, shower, pee, walk, pick up my baby...anything that involved moving a body part, I needed help those first few days because it was so painful. I couldn't laugh or cough without fear something awful was going to come out of my incision. And this pain wasn't restricted to my stay in the hospital...it lasted weeks after I got home. More on the recovery process later.

4 - The scar. Yes, I know that my c-section scar is a physical reminder of my gorgeous baby boy who now makes my world more beautiful than I could have ever imagined...but, it is one ugly scar. I am by no means a superficial person, so I am not bothered by scars because I have more than my fair share. But this scar brought with it much unpleasantness. Have I mentioned that I still, to this day, have no feeling on or around my scar? I'm not likely to get that feeling back if I haven't already... I also have a few little scars around the incision, from staple wounds that got infected (yes, infected; they oozed blood and puss - gross, but reality). Not to mention, my pubic hair line is now about 1/2 an inch higher than it was pre-surgery. When they prep your lower abdomen for surgery, they shave the entire area...which means when that hair starts growing back, it comes back thicker and darker than before. Nice, huh? I considered posting a picture of my own scar, but since I wasn't feeling like an exhibitionist today, I thought I'd post some that I found on the web that looked similar to mine. Check out these staples. Or how about this one. My scar looks similar to this, but the incision is a little thicker and darker.

5 - Your first attempts at breastfeeding are more difficult. Breastfeeding is hard enough to get used to as it is, so adding in the fact that you can't move around to help your baby latch (without feeling like your stomach is going to rip open) definitely throws a wrench into the mix. Most women who have vaginal deliveries can attempt breastfeeding within minutes of the birth, while women who have c-sections have to wait anywhere from 1 - 3 hours to give it a shot. I needed help with every step of the process. If Kellen was crying because he was hungry, I couldn't simply walk over to him and pick him up. Those first few days, I needed help to: adjust my bed, adjust my pillow, get Kellen, position Kellen, switch Kellen to the other boob, burp Kellen, change his diaper... I didn't even get to change his diaper until our 2nd day in the hospital! So sad!

6 - Pain killers. Pain killers are unfortunately a must during the recovery process (see #3), and I was so thankful for them because I don't know how I would've made it through the recovery process otherwise. However, those pain killers came with a price. Because I was breastfeeding, every pill I took, Kellen took. Even though the medicine was so necessary for my recovery, I felt extreme guilt because I knew Kellen was getting the drugs as well. The doctors assured me that Kellen would be fine, and that as I weened myself from the pills, he too would be weened. But if I hadn't needed pain killers, Kellen would never have ingested anything, and he'd be better off in the long run. Just something to consider...

7 - It takes much longer to recover than you'd think. Recovery time for a c-section can take months. According to an article I read, 1 in 14 women report incision pain six months or more post surgery. Fortunately, I didn't experience this long of a recovery time, but I did have pain around the incision for about 2 months. I walked around hunched over for nearly 2 weeks, and walked gingerly for weeks after that just trying to protect myself from any pain. And just like my vaginal delivery friends, I bled heavily for a good 2 weeks, and still needed to use pads or pantyliners up until 7 weeks after having Kellen. Going to the bathroom was not an easy task - that first bowel movement was frightening...instead of feeling like I was going to tear my vag up to my rear, I felt like my intestines were going to burst out of my incision. I'm not sure which is worse since I don't have v-birth to compare it to, but it was pretty miserable. And because I couldn't reach around to do any wiping (front or back) because of the stomach pain, I had to use a squirt bottle filled with warm water to clean myself up...nice picture, huh? (Additionally, I didn't feel the sensation to urinate until 3 months after Kellen's birthday. I literally never felt the urge to pee and had to force myself to use the bathroom because I knew I'd get a bladder infection if I didn't.)

8 - You're not saved from pain in your nether regions, either. Just because I didn't push Kellen out of my vagina doesn't mean I didn't hurt "down there" afterwards. In fact, those first few sessions of intimacy post-delivery were extremely painful. I was still in a considerable amount of pain at the 6 week post-partum point, so the thought of any love-making was terrifying, but I knew I just had to DO IT (pun intended).

9 - Restrictions, restrictions, restrictions. Because of the painkillers, I couldn't drive for 2 weeks after having Kellen (it would've been longer had I not weened myself of the drugs earlier than was recommended). Additionally, to avoid a hemorrhage, I wasn't supposed to lift anything heavier than my sweet baby boy for the first 3 - 4 weeks. I couldn't carry his car seat, a basket of clothes, a bag of groceries...if something weighed more than 10 pounds, I wasn't supposed to be carrying it. I am not a person who likes to be waited on, and I like to be able to do things when I want to do them (hello, there's been a basket of laundry sitting there for 3 days! If you're not going to do it, I'm going to just do it myself!), so this aspect of recovery was a pain in the rear!

10 - Missing out on the labor and delivery experience was a hard pill to swallow. I can't even tell you how many women have laughed at me when I've said this very thing. "Honey, you aint missin' nothin'" or "Why in the world would you want to experience such a thing?" Call me crazy, but I was so excited for this part...the anticipation of when is it going to happen?...how is it going to feel?...how will I handle the pain?...what will it be like when I push my baby out and see him/her in front of me for the first time?...it was so overwhelming, I dreamt about it for months! I read my books, took my classes, talked to my friends...I was so ready to tackle this beast, you have no idea. My body was created for childbirth, and I wanted to see how I handled it. I love challenges, and I think I would've handled this challenge exceptionally well... Anyways, I digress. I guess there's always next time! Unless, of course, I have another breech baby...which is very likely considering my uterus is heart-shaped (found this out after the c-section...which is probably the reason why the external version didn't work)! Who ever heard of such a thing?!?

So, there you have it. I could probably come up with another 10 awful things about c-sections (longer stay in the hospital, etc), but I will spare y'all and leave it as is. Like I said above, I'm not trying to judge or sway people in either direction...I just want to share my experience in the hopes that it will help others!