My husband and I arrived at the hospital for our scheduled c-section at 530 a.m. on January 2nd. The surgery was scheduled at 39 weeks because my doctor and I were very concerned my baby would be very large (I'd measured between 5-6 weeks ahead by fundal height and ultrasound - so the doctor was open and supportive of the c-section one week early to get her out safely). We got to the hospital and got set up. All the nurses, anesthesiologists, and doctors came in and were so relaxed, it calmed any remaining nervousness I had completely. I had watched so many YouTube videos on c-section births, once I finally decided that was for sure the game plan, that I felt comfortably aware of what was going to happen on the big day. It certainly helped that I had had laproscopic surgery two years before, too, so this wasnt exactly my first surgery experience, but I had been pretty nervous. Everything went very smoothly throughout the whole process. I'm still amazed at how quickly everything happened for me and how little pain and discomfort I experienced and continue to experience as I'm at home recovering.

So, at 7:30 a.m., they wheeled me in a wheelchair down to the surgical suite. My husband had to wait outside the suite in order to get into his jumpsuit thing, and for me to get my spinal. Once I was in the room, I climbed up in the table, was introduced to the surgical staff, and we began the process of the spinal. First of all, if you are having a c-section and are scared about the spinal, try not to be. Talk to your anesthesiologist and let him/her know if you feel anything you don't want to. They start by getting you into position and feeling the spaces between the bones in your spine, which was the most uncomfortable part. Then, they give you a local anesthetic, so you don't feel the spinal needle going in. I did have a weird shooting sensation down one leg and then the other, but I made sure to breathe and tell the anesthesiologist about it, and he moved the needle and placed the spinal perfectly. After that, everyone milled around for a bit, the nurses placed my catheter (again, something else I was nervous about, but ended up not feeling at all). My doctor and the pediatrician came in at this point and they started getting me prepped for surgery. I could feel people and things sort of touching my skin, but it wasn't painful at all. I felt pretty good, and I do have a tendency to get weird in hospitals, so I asked my doctor if we could turn on some music, like we'd discussed at my appointment the week before (where I'd joked about wanting to listen to gangster rap during delivery 😂). The doctor asked me if 70's music was okay. I joked and asked if he could spare me and my husband a bit and at least give us some 80's. The nurses laughed and quickly changed it to my requested station (80's Throwback).

At this point, the doctors started pulling around and shaking me a bit. This didn't hurt, but it did make me nervous that my husband was going to miss the birth of our daughter! I asked where he was and they told me they hadn't forgotten about him and he was coming right in. He came in and stood by my head. They put up a clear drape so I could see the doctors and would see my baby girl the minute she was delivered. My husband was a champ and stood and watched the whole thing, all while holding my hand. I could feel the suspense building as they got to my uterus and the moment we'd meet our little girl. I told my husband and the doctor, "I just want to know if she has hair." My husband says, "Yep, she's got hair," and the doctor chuckled in a bit of an amazed tone and said, "Oh yeah, she's got hair. Lots of hair." A second later she was out, and we heard the most beautiful sound in the world. Our daughter Holly's first cry. They lifted her for me to see, and I instantly loved her. I instantly felt like I would walk in front of a bus for her, you know, if I could have walked at that point. They moved her to the warmer and I could see she was a nice big, beautiful girl. She was pink and began pooping and peeing as soon as she got to the warmer! They had to use three hot towels to clean her up and work to get a diaper on her right away! 🤣 I was laughing and crying so much. They finally brought her to me and laid her by my head. The nurse snapped some wonderful pictures of the first moment I met my daughter that I'll treasure forever! See below.

They took her away after several minutes of bonding and began to stitch me up. Not 10 minutes later and I was wheeled into recovery where my husband was waiting with Holly and the recovery nurses. She wasn't as big as we were thinking, but one look at her head, and I'm so glad I didn't push it out of me; she would have gotten stuck! Not to mention, a cone head with all that hair would have been a sight! She was born at 8:21 a.m., weighing 8lbs 8oz and measuring 20 inches long.

Recovery has been better than I imagined; Holly is a Rockstar and my milk came in 12 hours after surgery, so we've been doing awesome.

I hope my story calms some people's nerves about the thought of having a c-section because they definitely can be easier than they seem to be.

Okay, enough words, here are some pics of my girl!