Expect the Unexpected - An unplanned c-section delivery during the Covid-19 Pandemic
Updated: Aug 23
Doesn’t it feel like when you plan things, when you truly plan things, they just don’t go according to plan? Yeah, that’s exactly what happened to me. This is the story of my unexpected delivery during a pandemic.
It was insane!
I have to admit, things are not so funny at the moment they're happening--they're pretty scary actually. But after some time, you realize that what you went through was actually kind of what you expected, and kind of funny somehow.
So, let me give you some background information. Many people don’t believe in intuition or destiny, but I have lived through so much and experienced so much in my life not to believe in it. When my baby was conceived, I basically received a universal ultimatum. But the ultimatum was about choosing a zodiac sign for the baby, which the only options I got were Pisces, Aries, and Taurus. After her conception, based on her due date it seemed that she’d be an Aries. And while I have nothing against Aries, just based on personal experiences, they weren’t my cup of tea.
My original preferences for my little one would have been for her to be an Aquarius (like her father), a Taurus (like her cousin), a Cancer (like me), a Leo (like her grandma), or a Scorpio (like my best friend). But, life is life and we don’t ALWAYS get what we want. Oh so we think.
You must be wondering why this is even important, it's not. It's just one of those things that parents wish they could get, like a feature on a baby or a personality trait.
Anyway, from the moment I found out I was pregnant, I was determined to have a full on unmedicated natural birth, either at my home or a birth house. I did NOT want to have my baby at a hospital. Personally, I was never fond of hospitals, and I’m still not.
After some research, I finally found my perfect match. I registered to give birth at Magnolia Birth House in North Miami Beach, Florida. Everything was falling into place. It was perfect! I followed all of the midwife's recommendations to exercise, eat healthy, drink a lot of water and rest when needed.
The beginning of change in my pregnancy started on the first two days of the new year. On New Year’s Eve, I spent the last few minutes of the year reflecting on my emotions and thoughts with the moon. I awaited the arrival of the new year alone. For a moment, I was accepting that I was entering the new year without the company of another soul; but with a little kick, my daughter, who had been silent my entire pregnancy, finally allowed her presence to be known, spiritually. The moon allowed me to see upcoming change, and my daughter confirmed that I was not alone. I felt at ease. Change was definitely coming, and I was definitely not alone.
Saturday, January 2nd marked week 28 of my pregnancy, the beginning of my 3rd trimester. I always counted my baby’s weekly progress and growth on Saturday’s because it was the day that she’d reach the beginning of a new fetal week. The spiritual bond between my baby and myself became deeper after New Year's Eve. After that night, I somehow couldn't shake off this feeling that I would be meeting her sooner than expected.
From that moment on, every Saturday after that, I started researching the probability of having a healthy baby at 28 weeks, 29 weeks, and so on. I stopped at 32 weeks, however. I hadn’t had the chance to keep searching the probability of healthy babies after 32 weeks, as life started to get a little busy.
But this is where it all started getting interesting. Despite all my hard work, I sadly failed my 28th week glucose test. I know, I know. How does this happen? To be quite honest, I don’t know. But I surely blame the hormones. That’s all we can really do honestly. When women become pregnant, our bodies change so drastically that we can’t keep up. With that said, I was scheduled for a 3-hour glucose exam, and I was restricted from eating too much sugar and carbohydrates.
By the time I reached week 30 of my pregnancy, I felt in my heart the urge and necessity to prepare the hospital bags for both my baby and myself. I couldn’t explain it, but I felt my baby urging me to be prepared.
On Saturday, January 23rd, week 31 of my pregnancy, I went to go visit my very good friend, Nova. It had been quite some time since I drove. Almost three months I would say. But that day was beautiful, and I just needed to go see my Nova. On my way to her house, the moon looked down on me with a smile. This magical, healing energy surrounded me and made my skin rise with goosebumps. It had been a while since I was able to feel a rush like that.
As my day progressed and I hung out with Nova, I experienced what is known as Braxton Hicks for the first time. For those that don’t know what that is, they are basically false contractions that your body experiences to prepare itself for labor. It typically happens in the third trimester, and not all women experience it. My experience with Braxton Hicks lasted about three to four hours.
On Wednesday, January 27th, the day before the full moon, I went to the park with my family to enjoy the sunset and the rising of the moon. The moon was bright that evening. The bay was calm and the sky was like a pastel rainbow. I remember looking at the moon and the ocean, and wondering why they felt so suspiciously calm and happy. Like if they knew something I didn't.
I was scheduled to do my 3-hour glucose test the following day. That morning I went to my appointment as I would normally do. I made sure to take snacks and water and all the fun stuff pregnant women take when they're going out for most of the day. By 12:00pm my blood was drawn and I had taken the glucose drink. I was asked to wait out the hour in my car to avoid being in a place where people continuously walked in and out. I walked to my car and sat there for about a minute or two, but the day was too beautiful and I wanted to enjoy some sunlight.
I went for a relatively short walk. Unfortunately, my hips couldn’t take too much walking at that point. I took a picture of some beautiful yellows flowers and walked back to my car.
Are you ready? This is where the fun part begins!
Just a few feet from my car, I feel this warm burst come out from my goodie spot. Now, at first I thought I had urinated myself because I had the urge to use the restroom, but when I checked myself, I realized I was bleeding. It was a little embarrassing because there was a young gentleman walking towards me when this all happened. And to make matters worse, he was staring straight at me!
I was trying to stay calm, I really was, but no one prepared me for this. I called my significant other and told him what was going on, and then I called my midwife. I was advised to go to the hospital because vaginal bleeding at 31.5 weeks was not normal.
Great!
What is going on, I wondered.
I drove to my home, took a quick shower, and rushed to the hospital. I didn’t know what to say. So many things were crossing my mind. Did my water break? Is the baby ok? Am I ok? What was going to happen?
After confirming that I was losing a lot of blood, I was admitted with urgency. I was unable to stand, I was unable to eat, I was pretty much unable to do anything. The nurses started poking me with needles, strapping me with machines, and talking to me all at the same time. It was chaos.
It was confirmed that the baby was fine and the placenta was fine, but they were unsure as to why I was bleeding. I was worried. I was not good with blood, and that was a lot of blood. And to make matters worse, I was required to take a COVID-19 test. I mean I get it, safety first, but why? It was a very painful test.
They stuck three sticks in my nose, and when the longest one went down my nasal cavity, I started bleeding. Again, me and blood don’t mix. I tried so hard not to throw up, but instead, I started crying. I was overwhelmed, emotional, and confused.
I didn’t realize how obvious my uneasiness to blood was, until the nurse asked me, “you don’t like blood do you? Your face got really pale when you saw it.”
Yes. It’s that bad. I just always associated blood with pain and loss.
After some time, the doctor came in and checked me. By this time, I started feeling some contractions. After some evaluations, she mentioned that I was having contractions, but I was not dilated. I received so many medications to help stop the bleeding and the contractions. I was bombarded with paperwork that I had to sign in the event that I had to deliver.
I hadn’t really paid attention to the time, but when I finally did, I realized that four hours had gone by. It was around 5:15pm that the doctor came back and told me that the contractions were getting closer, I was still not dilated, the placenta was detaching, and my baby was breached. It was inevitable, I was scheduled for an immediate C-Section.
I remember looking at my significant other, tears building up in my eyes, and telling him that this was not part of my plan. I had a plan. It was written, and I had planned to type it out. Not one part of my plan had an option for C-Section. I refused to believe that I would need it. But there I was, preparing for just that.
While we waited for the nurse to come back to prep me up, my significant other played some instrumental music. He remembered that in my plan I wanted my favorite instrumental music to play in the background during the birth. So to ease my mind, he did just that. It worked. I was feeling better.
My baby was born January 28th, at 5:42pm by cesarean delivery two months prior to her due date. But she was perfect. She was big and looked healthy. And that’s all that mattered to me.
My experience with a C-Section was unusual. I didn’t know it was possible to throw up while having surgery, at least not until it happened to me. Can you imagine something magical happening, and you’re puking your guts away?! I missed the whole thing.
I remember her first cry. That moment was surreal. But I couldn’t even kiss her. Not after puking, eww.
I was happy I was able to touch her though. She was so warm, fresh out the womb.
My baby, Anora, was to stay in NICU for some time to gain her strength.
As for me, my mommy duties have begun and so I will be focusing on preparing my home and lifestyle for this lovely new goddess.
“Conceived on her mother's birthday week, born on her father's birthday week. She wanted to be an Aquarius like daddy so bad it seems.”
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It's not an easy task being a full time mom, a full time worker, and a full time business owner. Especially, when your work consists of helping others constantly. While I do genuinely find joy in everything that I do, I am still a human with a limited amount of time and energy.
Life is an unexpected series of events, and it's always good to plan ahead, but not all things are foreseeable.
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To read about the conception of Anora, click here.