We went to clinic on monday morning to discuss the fact that Matthew was still transverse lie, the Dr saw us, said out of the blue, right. well i think we should keep you in and do your c section tomorrow!!! i nearly fell out my chair but was so happy!
Bearly got any sleep that night due to excitement and nerves. I got taken through to delivery theatre and by this time I was shitting myself about the epidural. Had to sit on the theatre table and lean over a pillow, as they knew i was petrified of this they had people talking to me about all sorts of crap to distract me, however after the 4th attempt i was getting rather distressed, so they went off to get a scanner to help them find the right spot. After two attempts with the scanner that failed i was actually sobbing and begging them to put me to sleep. They said they wanted to try with a more detailed scanner but if that didn't work they would have to put me to sleep. Luckily it took about half an hour to get the other scanner so i had time to calm down. They were able to mark exact spots on my back and when they started again it only took 2 mins from start to finish to do it successfully.
They let Rich in and everything seemed to be going ok. My blood pressure had been raised before the epidural and but once the operation started it dropped then i noticed people seemed to be looking more serious. All of a sudden i came over really dizzy and everything going rather grey, thats when i heard the anethetists say 'i need adrenaline infusion and atropine' and 'shall we move the partner outside?' (it doesnt help being a nurse and knowing that these drugs are used to prevent cardiac arrest)
Aparently as they cut my uterus, normally the wall would have thinned due to the pressure of the baby, however due to his lie this had never happened so it was like cutting into a major organ. I lost 2 ltrs of blood in 2 mins and 3ltrs in total, however they couldnt stop the bleeding until Matthew was out, they had to do an inverted t shaped cut to my uterus to get him out rather than just a horizontal line. Once they stopped the bleeding i recovered fairly quickly, the anethetist told me he was a boy born at 12.50pm weighing 6lbs 14 oz and he was crying but i couldn't hear him so eventually about 5 mins later they showed him to me (not that i could see much) and took him out to Rich. The rest of the op went ok, took them longer to stitch me up due to the extra cut and i had to have a top up of pain relief. I was told that my blood pressure dropped to 40/20 and my heart rate was 30 at the worst, they had organised me an intensive care bed but i recovered so well in theatre i didn't end up needing it.
I was moved to recovery and Rich was allowed back in but i couldn't hold Matthew as i was attached to so many drips and that's when i heard that my blood count had gone from 13 to 7 and they wrote me up for 6 units of blood as they expected it to get worse. I spent the night on delivery ward with one to one midwife care, it was 8pm before i got a chance to hold him and try to feed him, he latched on immediately and it was amazing. I only ended up needing 2 units and my blood count went up to 8.4 which is low but doesn't need treating with blood just iron tablets.
By the next morning i had got out of bed and sat in the chair. I was told i could go to the ward if i could walk around and pass urine within 4 hours of catheter being removed, so being stubbon that's what i did and i was on the ward by 2pm, i even pushed Matthew in his cot round there! Everyone who had seen me the day before was shocked at how well i looked. I continued to recover so well that they said i could go home after only 3 days as long as i took it easy at home.
It has scared me about what it would be like next time, as i will have no choice in the matter it has to be a c section and i have to wait at least 2 years as i would not be able to carry full term. I don't think it has put me off totally though and as the months pass the more i think about how much i'd like to have another on day!
