This is Part 3 of my birth-story – so if you haven’t yet – first read Part 1 and Part 2! In the operating room, the first thing that happened was the anaesthetist put in a drip. When that was done, it was time for the spinal block. This was one of the parts I had been dreading, since I had heard from several women that this could be painful. Nonetheless, I was committed to breathe and relax as much as possible, preparing my body for the injections so that there is the least possible level of tension and physical trauma. I was asked to sit on the side of the table, while hugging and bending over a pillow in front of me. The first injection was one to locally numb the area around my spine where the spinal block would go. I felt a little sting, but it wasn’t really painful. Placing in the drip had been more painful, I presume the needle was bigger… After the local anaesthetic, it was time for the actual spinal block. I didn’t experience any pain with it, just some pressure as the anaesthetic was squeezed into my body, and some anxiety in knowing that a foreign object was momentarily being placed IN my spine. I was especially nervous about moving, I wanted to make sure I was absolutely still so that nothing gets ‘hit’ that is not supposed to get hit, so I hugged the pillow in front of me tighter than I needed to, but it helped me in that moment to focus on remaining absolutely still. The anaesthetist also was great in letting me know every few seconds that everything was going well. It took only a few seconds for tingling to start in my legs and feet, and then I experienced this warmth washing down the bottom half of my body. It had been cold in the operating room, and I was just about to ask someone if they could turn up the heat a bit when the anaesthetic had this warming effect and my body instantly stabilized. I was then assisted to lie down on the operating table and the surgical assistant placed in the catheter. This didn’t hurt in the least because the spinal block was doing its job already. Oh, by the way, I could still feel the outline of my legs. In case you were wondering if it feels as though your body stops around your waste with part of your body feeling like it is ‘no longer there’ – it doesn’t! Lol. I found the experience with the spinal block quite fascinating – because I couldn’t feel when I was being touched, and couldn’t move anything below my waist, but I still had an awareness of my entire body and could also feel when any part under anaesthesia was being moved from side to side for instance. After the catheter was in, they continue to prep me for the actual C-section, placing the screen etc. At this point, I started feeling a bit nauseous in my body – I checked to see if there was any anxiety or fear that would trigger nausea, in case it was a point I could breathe through, but I felt completely calm. So, I let the anaesthetist know that I was feeling a bit nauseous and he adjusted the drip to support, and then the nausea lifted in a matter of seconds.
Round about this time, Leslie John joined me in the theatre. I didn’t recognize him at first, cause he was dressed in blue scrubs, lol. Once Lj was with me, it didn’t take long before they started the actual C-section. I actually asked Lj if they had started yet, he peeked over the screen and said ‘oh yes, they did’. So I just laid there and breathed and smiled… cause this was it :). The assistant surgeon let Lj know to get his cell phone out cause the baby would be here any moment now. By the time Lj had his phone out, Syntia was born and being moved to a station on the side for cleaning and for her checks. I saw and heard her for the first time when she was being moved from the operating table to the side-station – and…. What did I experience…???? Nothing in particular! Lol, quite the anti-climax, lol – but with nothing in particular, here meaning – there was no surges of love or excitement or any other energetic feeling. There was more an overall sense that everything is going as it should be going - I was at peace within me, and enjoying the moment – nothing more, nothing less. Lj got up to join her and I simply watched from the operating table, smiling, grateful that she was here, she was okay and she was in good hands. I had no need to hold her right away, I was not worried about her – everything was simply good.
As I was laying like this, I considered my experience in that moment, and throughout the day so far and I thought – if only every woman could give and experience birth this way – because it was so much better than anything I could have hoped for – no trauma, no instability, being absolutely present, here, embracing and enjoying every part of the process.
When her checks were done, the paediatrician came to me to introduce himself and let me know everything looked good. A nurse then came and placed Syntia on my chest. This was the first time I could see her face, and it was all smooshed up, probably due to how she’d been sitting in my belly. I thought it quite funny and appropriate that we’d been calling her ‘Smoosh’, lol. I felt her skin, which was really soft, and gave her a kiss on the nose. The nurse said she was a bit cold, so she wanted to take her through to maternity, and so off she went together with Lj. Closing me up didn’t take as long as I had expected. Towards the end, nausea started to creep up again – this time I was asked to take deep breaths since they were almost done. Before moving me off the operating table, the nausea spiked, a little bowl was handed to me and I was able to puke up the tiny bit of liquid I had been given by the anaesthetist before the surgery. When this was out, my body was stable again. And that was basically the entire procedure. Once I was moved off the operating table, back into the hospital bed, I was for a moment stationed in this transit area right outside the operating room, where I got to rest and they monitored my vitals. I have no idea how long I was there, maybe 15 minutes, half an hour? Afterwards I was wheeled back to my room at the maternity ward, where, before long, I was joined by Leslie John and Syntia. And just like that – in a matter of a few hours, we grew from being a couple to being a family.