The Birth Story of Horia: A Cesarean Birth

Shared by Oh Baby graduate, Corina from @wombnutrition

I wanted to talk about my experience during last year’s April Cesarean month, but it was too soon after birth and I didn’t feel ready. I am happy to Oh Baby Nutrition has invited me to share my experience and I’m grateful for all the empowering content they convey. Because one thing’s for sure: all mothers need support, regardless of how they choose or have to give birth.

During my first pregnancy, I was reading all the time. About woman’s anatomy, menstruation cycle, in utero baby development, pregnancy, and postpartum nutrition. All the time. I had just signed up to study with Oh Baby Nutrition and was highly fascinated by what a woman’s body is capable of during pregnancy and beyond. 

I didn’t read much about other women’s birth experiences though. I knew I wanted a vaginal birth and wished for a non-medicated experience if possible. And I just found that every single story influenced how I imagined my son’s birth to be, which I didn’t want. Call me crazy, but I didn’t want to have any comparison criteria for my first birth experience. 

Ever since I was 15 I was told that, when the time comes, I’d have to give birth via C-section. I had high myopia and all ophthalmologists, man or woman, gave me the same speech, even when childbearing was the last thing on my teenage agenda. But this message stuck with me and, when I eventually got pregnant for the first time, I was scared. I wanted a vaginal birth and had studied all its benefits, both for me and my baby. And after months of researching the topic, I eventually went to see two amazing doctors who checked my retina thoroughly and told me a vaginal birth wouldn’t pose a risk. I knew almost everything about recovering after a vaginal birth and had pre-planned most of it during the last month of my pregnancy. 

My labor started on the evening of Feb 19th and, after a few hours, we were already at the hospital with regular contractions and 1,5 cm dilation. The midwives and doctors I met there (and I met quite a few — three different shifts!) were all extraordinary, I felt empowered and supported throughout the whole labor (and beyond) despite seeing them for the first time. The 26 hours of labor that I experienced are still a bit fuzzy to date, I remember fractions and feelings and key phrases that stuck with me for many months.

My dilation slowly progressed and after around 23 - 24 hours I had eventually reached 10 cm. I was so tired by then that I didn’t even have the energy to feel joy anymore, I just felt relief and was telling myself “I can finally start pushing”. And just when I thought I was almost over, the most difficult part was just about to begin. Those repetitive trials of pushing my baby out to this world have made my hopes of having a vaginal birth vanish. During the entire labor, my baby had always been in a “sunny side up” position (occiput posterior position) and despite (some successful) painful efforts to reposition him, he would always return back to his favorite position “he’s looking at the stars”, the doctor was saying. 

Somehow, although completely exhausted and really down psychologically, whenever it was time for me to push again, I managed to find even the last bit of energy left and pushed with all the power of my cells. Nothing — Horia, my baby, would just lay there looking at the stars.

I developed a fever and the effects of the epidural were already gone — excruciating pain came back and my mind gave up on me. After a final ultrasound that confirmed the baby was in the same position and hadn’t advanced down the birth canal, we all decided it was time to do a C-section. 

I had always thought I accepted and healed myself from this experience, yet tears tickled my cheeks as I wrote this C-section story. Healing from a birth experience is a process and it takes time, both physically and mentally. I love and admire myself for everything I’ve been through and would do it all over again if I could go back in time. And I love my partner for having been there supporting me and caring for me the entire time. 

An entire chapter on recovering after a Cesarean birth that I had ignored for myself, but am now dedicated to using to help so many women experience a more supported recovery post Cesarean section.