The Next Morning

Or actually it was just later that same morning, it just felt like the next day, Dr Halles came to do her rounds.

She checked my scar that was now quite a bit bigger that my first one was.  I was also very bruised around the cut and my body felt stiff and sore.  My cut was fine though and would heal well.  She told me that my uterus was very thin and that she didn't cut open my uterus, it  had openened by itself.  If I had been in labour, she estimates, an hour longer, we would have had a really big emergency on our hands and a lot of damage.  She asked me that I please wait at least two years between pregnancies to give my uterus enough time to heal.

She also said that the cord was wrapped very tightly around his neck.

My doctor came to check on me and asked me how I was feeling and how baby was feeding etc but nothing further.

The next day my doctor came in to check on me early.  He washed his hands and as he was drying them he turned to me and said that he had read Dr Halles's notes.  He told me that we very nearly had a disaster on our hands but there was no damage done and that my uterus should heal completely and I mustn't worry about any of this should I wish to fall pregnant again.  He would advise though that next time I have an elective cesarean 10 days prior to my due date.  He checked the cut again and my legs for any swelling, and everything was perfect.

I asked him why this happened and why once again, I didn't dilate, and why could he not come by himself? The doctor replied that the umbilical cord was holding him high.  The head was not in my pelvis to help me dilate. I was contracting and because my contractions were so strong and on top of one another and I wasn't dilating something had to give...so what gave was the weakest place in my uterus; where the previous cesarean cut had been.

He said that he was happy that myself and the baby are all well and I musn't worry about anything and just take my time to heal and rest.

I know that little Logan would have been an emergency cesarean regardless of whether or not my first one could have been a natural birth.  I am happy that I waited until my due date because I always would have wondered "what if."  But I do feel quilty about the fact that I had subjected my unborn child to unnecessary danger.  I now feel like chasing a birth experience I felt I was entitled to was selfish.  My recovery this time round was a lot longer and I was in a lot of pain.  The emotional recovery was alos a lot harder.  But that's a whole new blog for another time.