Catherine's Emergency C-Section that felt positive

So here we go!

Last week I had a scan where it showed baby had gone up the centile charts and they recommended induction within the next week. I went for an attempted sweep the next day and midwife said although cervix was softening, top was still closed and firm and she couldn't continue, so we made a plan for me to go see her at 40w (Monday) for another sweep attempt and then induction plan.

Sunday - got a few mild cramps watching TV and then when hanging some laundry my waters broke! At that point I was GIDDY thinking great everything has happened of its own accord, both previous started with waters breaking. There wasn't loads of fluid so we pottered about finishing bags and I had a shower then when I was sure it was waters I went into triage for assessment. Kept having consistent contractions, they did a swab confirming it was my waters and we went home to let things progress.

Monday morning 7am everyone woke up and it all had stopped - tried to stay positive that it was just the commotion of the morning, but nothing materialised at all. So Monday night came back to triage for monitoring and observations (all normal) and spoke to the Dr about being admitted for antibiotics and monitoring. I was keen to go home to make sure I could sleep but we compromised on a private room.

Waited all day Tuesday for space down on labour ward to examine progress and make an induction plan. Went down at 7pm, talked it all through with the midwife in depth including birth preferences etc. And she examined me at 7.20 and broke the waters fully - contractions started and when she finished her shift, she said see you in the morning with your baby!

Things progressed well, within a couple of hours I had progressed to 3cm but baby's heart rate wasn't ideal and we all agreed for constant monitoring with the scalp electrode - unfortunately they couldn't quite get it on properly and we had to stick to the constant monitor instead.

Breathed through contractions and around midnight the sensation changed and my body started pushing - after a bit they couldn't see the head moving down so examined me and said I was 7cm, but as third baby could get to 10 at any time. Then it becomes a blur of thick fast unbearably painful contractions. Next thing I know is I can sense I am panicked, the room is full of Dr's etc. And we are going to theatre (but this felt right as I was so out of control with the pain and contractions). I had been confirmed to be 10cm and had been pushing, but they still couldn't see her head and her heart rate had been reduced for 13 mins (This part I was unaware about). Got to theatre and had a spinal block with the plan for the Dr to examine me (i had met her in triage Monday and I was SO pleased it was her doing it, we got on really well and I fully trusted her). She could get her hand on baby's head but couldn't rotate her (it was about 1.30 am at this point). We discussed how forceps was going to be hard and risky and her recommendation at this point was a section and I wholly agreed. So was prepped fully and did all the consents etc due to her being completely back to back and high up. Made the first cut at 2.15 and Hannah was out at 2.17. Unfortunately it then got hairy, I was losing a lot of blood and they had to bring in many more people to help/monitor/get blood transfusion set up. It turned out my uterus had torn vertically towards my cervix in the procedure, due to it being stretcher having had 2 children and being fully dilated. Took them 2 hours to get everything sorted (I remained stable and somehow just felt at peace despite how severe it was around me!) And we then went to recovery around 4.30 Wednesday morning.

Since then I've had a lot of people help me talk it through and understand all the events, and I still feel like I had a really positive experience overall and felt fully informed from the outset. Recovery is tough (i was always a c section in absolute emergency only person, and feel that it really was the best course of action given everything). Overhearing bits I think she was a bit tangled in the cord as well so was hindering her moving down but that's on my list for a debrief in a few weeks' time