“What’s it like to have a c-section?”

That’s the search term I was frantically Googling at 3 am a little over a week ago. Although I had already had a c-section, it was almost 8 years ago. I can barely remember what happened in my life yesterday, so trying to think back that far wasn’t happening. I mean, the big stuff stood out in my mind, but it was the smaller details that I couldn’t remember that had me feeling anxious 12 hours before my second scheduled c-section.

First, a little history. I have uterine fibroids, which are basically non-cancerous tumors. They cause pain during my periods, and can make getting and staying pregnant difficult. The positioning of the fibroids that I had during my first pregnancy required a vertical, rather than horizontal, incision for my c-section. What that means is, instead of a tiny cut at my bikini line, I have a huge scar from below my belly button to right above my pubic line. Yes. Ouch.

After my first pregnancy, I had a myomectomy to remove the fibroids that I had. Unfortunately, they came back and required the same type of c-section for my second baby. These details will come in handy later. Now that you’re all caught up with the backstory, I want to share with it was like for me to have a c-section before the memory fades away. I hope this helps someone!

My c-section was scheduled for 4/19 at 12:00 PM. The day before the surgery, I received a phone call from the nurse to let me know that it was pushed back to 12:30 PM, so I could arrive at the hospital at 10:30 AM. She also reminded me not to eat after 4:30 AM, and to refrain from drinking water at that point, too.

I set an alarm for 4:00 AM so that I could eat. I wanted something light so that it would be easier to digest after the surgery, so I had yogurt and granola. At around 4:25 AM, I realized that was not going to be enough. I was still hungry! I made a gluten free toaster waffle and turkey sausage to wolf down, then went back to sleep until about 7 AM.

One of the things that I remembered from my last c-section was that the nurse encouraged me to wear super fresh, extra clean clothes to the hospital to minimize risk of infection. Terrence and I had washed our hospital outfits a few days before, so we showered, then got dressed. At around 10:00 AM, we headed out, stopping to take one last family of 3 picture with Ayva before we left.

There’s a lot more to this story! Check out this video for all of the dramatic details. Things get REALLY crazy!