How C-sections Ruined My Life

      I don't think it's any secret that I am a natural-minded individual. And as such, I have issues with our medical system, and specifically the medicalization of the natural process that is giving birth. Doctors and hospitals definitely have their place, I can certainly attest to that. I even go as far as to say that I felt more comfortable giving birth in a hospital than at home, but there still remains the unnecessary medicalization of giving birth. Just watch "The Business of Being Born" if you want to know more. And if you don't, well, I'll stop my rant about this here, but it's on Netflix if you want to check it out. 

     Anyway, when I was pregnant with Laura, we took prenatal classes at the hospital where she was to be born, and there they told us that we needed to be open minded about everything to do with labour/ delivery. At the time, I told myself, "Yep, okay. I know I'm no hero when it comes to pain management, so if I need an epidural, I will take it. I would really like to do it without one, but I will take it if I need to. The only thing I am not open to is a C-section."
     Of course, then, we found out that Laura was breech before she was born and had to schedule a C-section despite my wishes. I discussed with my doctor and the OB/GYN options for turning her, but they said any efforts would likely be unsuccessful. I even went as far as to discuss a vaginal birth despite her being breech (my sister was born this way), and although the OB I was working with was trained for that, he didn't think it was a good idea given other factors. And because I was a First Time Mom, I conceded to their recommendations. (Knowing what I know now, I'm sure I would have fought even harder to avoid the C-section route.) And then one C-section led to two, despite my best efforts.

     I preface this post with all that because today I had my follow up appointment with the surgeon who performed my hysterectomy. To be honest, I was dreading the appointment. I didn't want to talk to her. I didn't want to acknowledge what had happened. I wanted to move on and try to forget (or at least not think about it nearly as frequently as I currently do).
    I had the appointment scheduled for when Laura was at preschool, and so after we dropped her off, Rachel and I headed to the OB's office. We spent an hour in the waiting room, Rachel charming the pants off everyone there, and then were taken in. Rachel, at this point, was beginning to get fussy/ tired, so I started nursing her just when the OB came in. The first thing she said was, "Oh, I'm so glad you are still able to breastfeed!"
"Yes, me too.We're down to less than one bottle/ day."
"I was a little worried because when your blood pressure gets as low as yours did, sometimes it starves your pituitary and subsequently messes with your hormones, which could have left you unable to continue breastfeeding."
"Oh.......... I would have been really mad at you if that happened." (half jokingly)
"Well, good, then. And you still have your ovaries, so you shouldn't need hormone supplements."
"Yes, I can already tell I've been cycling based on my moods."

     But an even more interesting part of our conversation involved her telling me that when she was sharing my story with a very old and experienced OB/GYN colleague of hers, he simply stated, "Oh. That was a cervical pregnancy." My OB said that these were extremely rare, as she had never seen one before, only read about them.
     I had never heard of a cervical pregnancy before, but as soon as I came home I looked it up. Apparently they happen in 0.1% of ectopic pregnancies. Not all pregnancies, ectopic pregnancies (pregnancies that implant outside of the uterus). So, they are extremely rare. Hence her never seeing one before. Also, my family doctor called a few weeks back to say he received a pathology report on my uterus, but hadn't received an operative report and wanted to know what happened. When I (painfully) recounted the story to him, he too said he had never seen anything like that. This, from a man who has been doing obstetrics for longer than I have been alive. So yeah. Rare. Even more rare than getting pregnant within six months post-partum. ;) My, this baby was something special.
     Anyway, after educating myself on cervical pregnancies, and truly believing that this is what happened, as all the other information about them fit the bill to a T, I feel much more at peace about the situation. Its so nice to have an answer. Yes, it still was a horrible situation, but at least I know now that no one was at fault, and that nothing we could have done would have prevented it.
     One thing I did read about them though is that cervical pregnancies are more common in women with previous cervical or uterine surgery, prior history of curettage or cesarean delivery. Me. I have had a D&C (dilation & curettage - surgery to remove retained "products of conception" from my first pregnancy), uterine polypectomy, and two caesarean sections. So, I was probably a pretty good candidate for a cervical pregnancy. And that is how I have twisted this story into "How C-sections Ruined My Life". Because I hate C-sections.