Fiona's Birth Story

Better late than never!

Fiona Maeve was born on May 27th via a planned c-section -- pretty much the exact opposite of her brother's birth. After my first traumatic labor and emergency c-section I considered a VBAC but in the end decided that since I'm really not a good candidate (small pelvis) and I didn't want to end up with another emergency situation I would go for the planned c-section. It was a hard decision for me but one that made the most sense for all of us.

Ready to go for surgery and meet our little girl!

On the morning of her birth we arrived at the hospital with all of our stuff after a good night's sleep (so different). The nurses took great care of us and my anesthesiologist was absolutely amazing. After about 90 minutes of taking vitals and getting prepped we were wheeled down to the operating room. I was feeling very nervous and excited at this point, everything seemed like it was going SO quickly. I was administered the spinal which would numb me from the waist down, which stung but not as bad as I was anticipating. The worst part of the day was right after I got the spinal, I started to feel very nauseous and tingly throughout my whole body. I thought maybe I was going to feel like this for the whole surgery but within 5-10 minutes my body felt numb and a complete calm washed over me.

I had a moment to look around and made a comment about how exciting it was that there were about 10 people in the room and only one (besides Patrick) was a man (a scrub tech in the corner). I had two female OB's performing the surgery, a female anesthesiologist, and a whole bunch of amazing female nurses. It will be so fun to tell my daughter that she came into the world surrounded by a group of talented female clinicians!

After about 20 minutes we heard that she was about to come into the world! There was a little clear section of plastic in the drape that was shielding the surgery which was opened and after a little pressure on my abdomen she was right there in front of us! The first thing I said was "she looks exactly like her brother!!" Then I asked if she was really small because she seemed so tiny to me. I think it was just in comparison to her huge older brother. They told me she was normal size. :)

After a couple of minutes clearing her lungs they set her on my chest and she immediately relaxed, was quiet and snuggled in to me -- which is soooo her personality still. The doctors and nurses remarked that she was a very relaxed baby and it was unusual that she was so calm. She laid on my chest for another 40 minutes while they stitched me up and I think Patrick and I were on cloud nine just smiling and taking photos. After that we got wheeled upstairs to our room and spent the rest of the day feeding her and meeting family.

Fiona's birth-day was really sweet and heavenly, I couldn't have hoped for more from my planned c-section. I will say that the next day reality began to settle in that I was going to have a long recovery from major surgery. I unfortunately had a tear in my bladder during the procedure (caused by previous scar tissue) that caused me to have to wear a catheter home for a week. I would never recommend a c-section to someone who can give birth vaginally but it was definitely the right choice for us. And two months later I am feeling great!