Planned Cesarean Details

What happens in a planned cesarean? Here is Isaiah's birth story.

On the morning of a planned cesarean, we wake at 4 a.m. We need to be at the hospital at 5:30, which is two hours before the surgery is scheduled to begin.

After a quick check-in, we are shown to a labor and delivery room. The nurses hook monitors up and we listen to Baby's heartbeat for two hours. They watch him and monitor him to make sure everything seems normal. I can hear some poor mother moaning in the next room. My heart aches for her because I know what labor feels like.

The phlebotomist comes in to take blood. The anesthesiologist comes in to discuss our options. I tell him that an oxygen mask over my face will make me feel panicky. He agrees to put tubes under my nose instead. The nurse shaves my abdomen and swabs me all over with iodine. Another nurse comes in to start an IV. I sign several forms. We watch the sun rise over the city and know that our baby will be here soon.

At 7:00, the nurse has Jeremy get into scrubs. We walk down to the operating room and I see that there are already four people milling around. One nurse supports me in a sort of bear hug as the anesthesiologist inserts the needle into my spine for the spinal. After the spinal has set in and I have reminded the seven people milling around to cover my exposed body, the nurses insert a catheter. They put my body on wedges so that I am inclined slightly to one side. They put monitors on my chest and spread my arms as if I'm the letter T and attach them to the table. The screen goes up. They ask if I'd like a mirror to see Baby's birth? (No way, Jose!) I can hear my heart pounding away over the monitors and I wonder if anyone else notices how odd it sounds. I'm nervous and that usually means I have PVCs--a benign but irregular heartbeat. No one seems concerned.

My doctor arrives and then the surgeon arrives. When they are sure that I am numb, they begin. I hear only the chatter of the surgical team and feel very little for several minutes and then the tugging begins. My body jerks around a little. Then it feels like someone is sitting on my chest. Just when I think it'll go on forever, I can suddenly take a deep breath and I hear Baby's cries and it's almost over! Surgery started at 7:30 and it's 7:36. I've got an excellent surgeon, folks. They take the oxygen off of my face and release my arms.

They hold the baby up and take him over to be cleaned. My doctor brings him to me almost immediately and it is good to see him in all of his wailing glory. I cry. I can hear the surgical team finishing their work, counting tools, and suctioning.

At 8:00, Jeremy, the baby, and our doctor disappear to the nursery. After a short bout with dry heaving which is miraculously cured with something into the IV, I head to recovery. Jeremy and the baby come to recovery and the nurses tell me that I can begin breastfeeding. But I'm not sitting up yet and I know that I'll be moved into a room soon. I ask how long and they say about 15 or 20 minutes. So with Jeremy's help, I hold the baby and talk to him. I'd rather wait to nurse when I'm in my own room with nowhere else to go (it's a good thing, too, because that first nursing session lasted over an hour).

12 hours later, the nurse helps me into the chair next to the bed. It's good for me to move because my rear end is really starting to hurt from sitting in bed. First thing the next morning, all of the tubes come out and I walk to the bathroom for the first time, use the toilet, and take a shower. We go home on the fourth day.