“I was not having a C-section. I had heard the ugly horror stories.
I knew a natural birth was better for my baby because I had read the books, way too many books. I had been studying HypnoBirthing. I had been practicing the breathing techniques for months.
More so, I had long dreamed of the moment I would give birth to our first child. It would be just like the movies. I would weep tears of joy as my husband held my hand, kissed my forehead, and told me how perfect our son was.
Unfortunately, a natural birth for a person with my rare medical condition was very risky. This condition also meant an epidural was out of the question.
The only safe option left was a C-section under general anesthesia. That meant not only enduring major abdominal surgery, but also being put completely to sleep.
It meant I would miss the birth of my firstborn child. I told my overly patient and compassionate OB that I wanted the all-natural birth. I was willing to roll the dice. I wanted the movie scene birth that I had always dreamed of.
It took a thoughtful perinatologist to really put things into perspective:
‘You aren’t having a baby for the 12 hours of labor ending with a beautiful natural birth. You are having a baby for the beautiful lifetime you get to spend loving him.’ From that moment on, I decided to actively seek out the beauty in our C-section birth story.
Waking up to the cooing sounds of my son? Beautiful. Weeping tears of joy as my husband held my hand, kissed my forehead, and told me how perfect our son was? Beautiful.
I thank God everyday for placing those professional yet understanding Avera doctors in my life, for giving me a healthy baby boy, and for getting me through the delivery safely.
It was not the natural movie scene birth I had long dreamed of, but it was the start of our story. A beautiful story. A story I am overjoyed to continue writing!
I asked my mom to help photograph the beauty of our story. So, here it is. I had a C-section. And it was beautiful.”
This story was submitted to Love What Matters by Katie. Submit your story here, and subscribe to our best love stories here.
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