My Experiences Between a C Section and Natural Birth
Now having had a c section with Dominic and a natural birth with Giulietta, I wanted to share my thoughts and experiences with both.
Read Dominic’s birth story HERE and read Giulietta’s birth story HERE.
I think birth is a beautiful and amazing moment no matter how it happens, but since having a c section and a natural birth, I am going to share my experiences with recovery time to emotions to ease of getting back to feeling yourself and more!
Each birth is so unique and different for each woman. Each birth is also different for each baby you have. This was truly the case with both of the births for my children.
Dominic ended up being a c section birth because I was pushing for 3 hours and he wasn’t making any progress. It was not an emergency c section, but pushing for 3 hours is tiring to not have any movement so my doctor suggested a c section as she didn’t think he was going to make much more progress.
When I first found out I was pregnant with Giulietta, I knew I wanted to try for a VBAC. I wanted to experience a natural birth. Of course I wanted the safest option for both of us, but I was constantly advocating for a VBAC since the beginning of my pregnancy.
C SECTION RECOVERY
The recovery for my c section with Dominic wasn’t awful. I have heard way worse stories than mine. I wasn’t able to get out of the hospital bed the first day as I was recovering. The first time I was able to get up from the bed was super painful. I remember taking the smallest steps to get to the bathroom and the nurse told me each step would get easier which it did.
Healing at home wasn’t too bad. I had to move slowly and needed help going up the stairs for the first few days. Getting Dominic in and out of the bassinet the first week or so was tough, but luckily I had John Paul to help!
My stomach was a little tender for a while as the scar was healing. They are cutting through nerves so that area felt kind of numb for a few months which my doctor told me was normal. Now I am completely healed and not numb at all.
Thankfully my scar has healed really well and you can barely see it anymore. It’s faded a lot and is very small.
NATURAL BIRTH RECOVERY
The recovery time frame was much quicker with my natural birth. I was able to shower a few hours after Giulietta was born which was so nice! I had no pain walking to the bathroom at all. I loved being able to get up and walk around since I had had the epidural about 7 hours prior to my shower and wasn’t able to get out of bed since then.
The nurses gave me ice packs to help with the swelling and motrin to help with any pain. I didn’t take the motrin much after leaving the hospital as the contractions from after birth had subsided and the swelling had gone down.
I was pretty mobile from the get go which was so nice. I did take it easy and slow even when we came home, but I was not in pain moving around.
C SECTION EXPERIENCE
I wouldn’t say I had a bad c section experience, however I would not recommend someone choosing a c section birth over a natural birth. When comparing the 2 types of births, I was much more comfortable after the natural birth. The pain after a c section is much worse than the natural birth.
I was also extremely groggy and tired after having the c section. I had already been in labor for about 10 hours before having the c section so I was exhausted by the time Dominic was even born. As soon as I saw him, I passed out on the bed until I was wheeled into a recovery room where Dominic and John Paul were waiting for me.
I didn’t get to experience skin to skin right away as they were stitching everything up. I did skin to skin shortly after the surgery, but it just wasn’t the same as the natural birth.
We luckily only had to stay in the hospital for 2 nights because both Dominic and I were doing great! That was nice considering that is not always the outcome when having a c section.
NATURAL BIRTH EXPERIENCE
I personally enjoyed the natural birth much better. I loved being able to do skin to skin right away and Gigi even breastfed pretty much instantly. Experiencing the breast crawl was pretty incredible! I don’t remember Dominic doing that.
I was not as exhausted after having the natural birth. I was in labor for about the same amount of time for both births, but the natural birth was just easier on my body. This made for a more enjoyable hospital stay. We only stayed over 1 night in the hospital and then got to go home!
I felt more in control during the labor of my natural birth. I was able to really enjoy the birthing process rather than be behind a curtain.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
I definitely enjoyed the natural birth experience more than the c section. Don’t get me wrong, both births brought me my happy and healthy babies so I can’t complain, but if I had to choose, I would choose the natural birth.
The recovery time alone was much better with the natural birth. I was able to get up and walk around instantly. I could pick up the baby a lot easier. Everything was just a bit more simple when having the natural birth.
I think I was a little shocked at how easy things were after Giulietta was born compared to when Dominic was born. I had always heard that a natural birth was easier on the Mom afterwards, but never truly understood.
Each birth was unique and I am grateful that I have experienced both. I think for me personally, I wanted to prove to myself that I could have a natural birth after having a c section.
I understand not everyone has the same natural birth experience as I did, but from my experiences with both types of birth, I would much prefer a natural birth.
How were your birth experiences?
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-LA
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