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sandwichcrackers t1_j5tg7vx wrote

Reply to comment by Lisylis in The women in my family give birth differently by EaPAtbp

Listen to me, it's so important that you understand this. If you're ever in the position that you have to have a C-section and you have the option to be knocked out for it, DO IT. It is so much nicer to be thinking of your little ones with a little mask over your face, counting back from 10, then gently wake up to your surgeon telling you how it went.

Far better than desperately annoying the anesthesiologist about your oxygen saturation because you don't think you're breathing, you're trembling between the meds and discomfort and anxiety, you're flat on a table with your arms tied down and a bunch of strangers standing over you like you're a frog in science class, and requesting cold clothes to keep the nausea at bay long enough for them to put all your organs back and close you up. I hated everything about it and it was honestly the experience that closed the deal that I would never have another child no matter what.

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Lisylis t1_j5tph3b wrote

I had a friend tell me about her C-section and a reflective surface above the bed meant she could see the doctors take her organs out of the places they belong to get the baby out, and dear Jesus I was already planning on not having kids but between your story and hers I am even more not going to have them now. My ovaries have withered up and died. I am so impressed you had three, what a horrifying experience.

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sandwichcrackers t1_j5tviix wrote

It's not for everyone, don't let anyone make you feel obligated to reproduce. I don't regret it for a second because I know and love my children, but between pregnancy (btw, little known fact, you commonly can't take full breaths late in pregnancy because there's a human pressing on your lungs and it scares the crap out of you to not be able to breathe deeply) and birth, it's the most damaging thing I've ever done to my body and has left serious scars on my mind.

Would I endure it all again to have my children? Yes. Would I have done it if you told me what I would go through before I became pregnant the first time with no knowledge of who my children are today? Absolutely not.

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Littlebird456 t1_j5wbajy wrote

I too was talked into being awake for my c-section against my better judgment and concur. Some places, they do most c-sections under general anesthesia. Personally, I would still much rather a c-section than the alternative. But although I love my kid it was still the worst day of my life.

There’s so much talk about population decline. It’s true that a lot of it is economic and due to poor supports for families. But I think at least some of it (more than society is willing to acknowledge) has to do with the fact that lots of women want to avoid the horrors of pregnancy and birth. Which is entirely rational, IMO.

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PumpkinDandie_1107 t1_j5wqwjm wrote

My wife had an emergency c-section with our son. She was awake and didn’t see anything, but I saw them pull her intestines out and put them back in. I almost passed out. It’s crazy that they can do that to people and they survive.

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Waste_Relationship46 t1_j5xh8qv wrote

You don't normally have the option. Going under is strictly for emergency situations.

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sandwichcrackers t1_j5xjeby wrote

Normally, if it's that much of an emergency, you're knocked out anyways, rather than wait for a spinal block.

With my first, I couldn't be moved, with the second, they said the baby was in distress but they still pushed for me to get the spinal and be awake because general anesthesia can depress breathing and stuff in the newborn. They had a good point, but if I had to do it over, I'd be knocked out instead.

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