Owen's Birth Story

So as we know from the post about the External Cephalic Version (ECV), Baby G did not turn. The result: a scheduled c-section. It took me a while to come to terms with having a c-section, especially since I wanted a drug-free birth (ideally…though I was certainly open to an epidural if labor took a long time or a c-section if necessary). And with Baby G being breech, the c-section was necessary. The same team that did the ECV was scheduled to do the section: Dr. Charles and Midwife Susan Schmidt. The only difference was the doula. While Doula Debbie attended my ECV, Doula Randy would be at the birth. I'm really happy that I was able to work with both my doulas in different situations! To echo one of my friend's who used a doula in NYC, hiring a doula was the priceless. Especially in this situation. We arrived at the hospital at 3:30p.m.with the c-section scheduled at 5p.m. From reading about scheduled c-sections online, I knew that the procedure often was delayed. When we arrived at the hospital, we found out that there was another c-section in process and that ours would happen probably around 6 p.m. But Doula Randy gave us wonderful news upon our arrival. She arranged for the baby to stay in the operating room with us the entire time. Unlike most c-sections, he would probably not have to go to the NICU. Additionally, we were going to try to put him on me—skin-to-skin during the operation. When we arrived in the labor room for preparation, Doula Randy suggested that she braid my hair—brilliant. I highly recommend a French braid for c-sections, as I still looked pretty put-together after major surgery. While Randy braided my hair, Dr. Charles informed me as to what would happen during and after the surgery—as well as telling me the risks to a c-section. I signed my release form and we were set to go. They put the warm socks on and they moved me to the operating room, which was beautifully painted by a muralist. Clouds adorn the ceiling and the word "breathe" stood out on the ceiling directly above my head. Dr. Small, the anesthesiologist, started the process of my epidural. When he was finished and I was lying down, I remember discussing his dog with him while going numb. He took out his cell phone to show me pictures of his Catahoula Australian Shepherd. The anesthesia took a while to kick in. Meanwhile Mike and Doula Randy got dressed in their scrubs. I had feeling on my right side for awhile, which seemed to surprise everyone. Then all of a sudden I didn't and I started to lose the room (I assume this was the morphine). I started saying "I feel weird." Then I just repeated the words "weird" and "odd" because for a moment I didn't know where I was. I came back to the room when Dr. Small said, "Megan, there's someone here to see you." And I heard Mike's voice say "Hi honey." I immediately said "Hi. I love you" and I felt Mike's hands on my head and shoulders. Dr. Charles apparently started to cut me open at this moment. I don't remember how long this took clearly. But I do remember hearing the midwife tell Doula Randy (who was taking pictures) to "Get a picture of his butt!" so I knew he was coming out. A couple seconds later, Mike told me we had a son and asked if I could see him. I could not see him, but I heard Baby G cry and began to cry myself. The nurses put him in the warmer while the neonatologist checked him out. Because the warmer sat high up and the operating table sat down low, I could not see him. Then, I saw his foot stick up, which kind of struck me as funny at the time. Breech babies often stick their feet up in the air for several weeks after birth (Owen is still doing that). Finally, the nurses put him in the bassinet and I could see him. To my surprise, he looked a lot like me, very Irish, not so Italian! Mike asked me about a name. I told him that I didn't think any of the Italian names would work, and he agreed. I heard him mention the name "Foley" to the nurses (which was on our list), but he didn't really look like a Foley to me. I mentioned "Owen" but we hadn't decided on that yet. Next, Mike brought him over to me for the skin-to-skin contact. But as you can see, there isn't a lot of room on the my non-operation side of the sheet. So we did skin to skin on my face; I got to give Baby G many kisses. Suddenly, I was overcome with nausea, so they took Baby G back to the warmer, brought me a small pink plastic pail to puke in, and gave me a shot of anti-nausea medicine. Shortly later, the medicine kicked in and I felt totally fine. The plastic pail remained unused. Dr. Charles, who was apparently rooting around in my uterus at the time, announced that I did not have any uterine abnormalities (these can cause a baby to be breech). The good thing about this news is that it is highly unlikely that a second baby would be breech should we choose to go that route. Mike brought Baby G back to my face. Baby G immediately began to suck on my chin—I even had a bit of a hickey the next day! At this point, Doula Randy suggested that we start to breastfeed while on the other side of the curtain, Dr. Charles replaced my organs and stitched me up. Randy and Mike got me set up to feed (especially since I couldn't move). Mike held Baby G upside down on me. The breastfeeding worked! From what I understand from Doula Randy, the nurses, Dr. Charles, and Midwife Susan, the breastfeeding and skin-to-skin helped me recover enormously. Immediately afterward, I didn't really feel like I had major surgery (no strange reactions to the medication or removal of baby). My body adjusted as if I just gave birth naturally. Mike took the baby to the recovery room, and the doctors transferred me to the recovery bed. Then Dr. Charles and Dr. Small wheeled me out of the recovery room. During this time, Dr. Charles admitted that she was a terrible bed driver (there were a few bumps along the way) but a fantastic stitcher (also true since the nurses kept commenting on how wonderful my incision looked). When we reached our recovery room, I was allowed to have ice chips...which tasted delicious considering I hadn't had anything to eat or drink since 3 a.m. In recovery, we decided to name the young man Owen It seemed perfect.