This time, all seemed relaxed, calm and orderly. There was
no rush to it and I was prepped up pretty well. Most important of all, I was not doped up out
of my head. I was lucid throughout the entire process and this time round, I
did not fight with the Anesthetician. :)
In fact, I had one of the most experienced Anesthetician on
board (she is 74 years old! When she told us her age, I had a mental image of shivering
hands trying to administer epidural on me on my spine and missing the mark!). She
was gentle, kind, reassuring and despite her age, still extremely alert, chatty
and lucid. She took the time to explain what she was going to do and how it
would make me feel. Most of all, she very kindly accommodated to my request of
wanting to have Silver Bullet around with me for the entire procedure. Having
Silver Bullet with me the entire time was one huge comfort factor to calm my
nerves whilst at the operating table – particularly at the point of when she
was administering the epidural.
In no time at all, Dr. Ah-Chai walked in, worked on me and
pulled Squirt out. I was done in no more
than 40 minutes before they isolated me into the recovery room for 2 hours. I like the fact that I was completely lucid and alert the entire time, and none of that doped-up feeling nonsense.
The only difference this time was that I barely held Squirt
after they pulled him out. And that was only for a few mandatory after-delivery
pictures.
After about half an hour of being isolated in the recovery
room, I started breaking out in sweat and was feeling so nauseated that I was
throwing up almost all of the time – rendering me useless to hold Squirt for
his first breastfeeding session while in isolation.
The nausea and vomiting lasted for at least 2 more hours
after that; an apparent side effect from the anesthesia. The sweating thing continued for a good 3 days - they came in super hot flushes, especially at night. All I know was that 2
drops of morphine was being used in the epidural and that had caused the
side-effects. The dizziness lasted for
at least another day. All of which I did
not experienced in the last C-Sect.
What was different this time round however, was the fact
that I regained the feeling to my legs a few hours after the surgery. In the
last C-Sect, the feeling in my legs had only returned the next day. By about 3 pm that same day, I was not feeling
any sort of excruciating pain and could also lift myself up in bed – something which
I was not able to do in the last surgery, at least not until a few days later.
The IV Drip and the catheter were both removed by noon the
next day and within the hour after that, something amazing happened. Despite
being a little dizzy still, I could actually move myself from the bed, put both
my feet down on the floor and walked that first few crucial steps to the
bathroom!
I was beyond relief! What was great about it this time was
that before the end of the day, I was already able to walk very, very slowly to
the nursery which was about 10-20 meters away from my room. Quite a feat considering I’ve been cut opened
at the abdomen 30 hours prior!
I probably was walking at one-step-a minute-at-a-time, but
hey! This was definitely and considerably better than my last C-Sect experience
2 years ago.
4 days after the operation later on a Monday, I was ready to
be discharged. And by Monday 4.30 pm, we all went home, with a new baby in tow.
It has to be said that my experiences with both C-Sects have
been on two extremes. Granted, had I not have had such a traumatic experiencewith C-Sect before, I think I would not have believed that recovery would have
been so difficult and hard if I were to base it on this experience alone. If it
weren’t for my previous experience, I too, would also likely to believe that
those who said they a were not able to get on their feet 3 days after the
surgery would have been just an exaggeration.
I don’t know what it was that made such a stark difference.
The only thing I could think of was the fact that I was a little bit well-prepared
mentally and relaxed. On the hindsight, the type of anesthesia used could also
play a very important factor as to how the whole thing played out. Who knows!
In any case, everything turned out well. And that, my friends, has been my not-so-amazing-birth-story of all time.
In any case, everything turned out well. And that, my friends, has been my not-so-amazing-birth-story of all time.
No going ooooh..and…ahhh of how beautiful it was to have the
perfect and beautiful birthing experience. Mine was just straight-off clinical
and actually, I’m not so sure if I would even call it birth. Truthfully, it
seemed more like an “extraction” of a baby than anything else.
Whatever that was, it doesn’t matter to me. Whatever the
metaphor that was used, birth via cesarean marks the beginning of a new
life.
I am cynical and, at this point, I am not actually looking forward
to the first 6 months where we’ll yet again be subjected to a whole new world
of unpredictability, trying to establish some
routine, breast-feeding, pumping milk, controlled crying, sleep training…and
whatever else that comes with it.
Double the joy, double the chaos. Wish us luck.
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