Preparing for an Unexpected Cesarean with Katy – Episode 116

How can you prepare for the unexpected? Today on the podcast Katy shares 3 things she did to get her confident birth, even when things didn’t go as she had planned.

Today’s guest is Katy, a recent graduate from The Online Prenatal Class for Couples if you’re looking to get your confident birth, it’s your key!

In this episode

Using a birth plan

Choosing your hospital

How to prepare for an unexpected cesarean

Shaking after a cesearean

Other things that might interest you

Preparing for a c-section

Producer: Drew Erickson

Check out my other pregnancy podcasts:

Transcript

[00:00:00.000] – Hilary Erickson

Hey, guys, welcome back to the Pulling Curls Podcast. Today on episode 116, we have another graduate on we’re gonna find out what made her have a confident delivery. And I can’t wait to share this episode with you guys. Let’s untangle it.

[00:00:22.310] – Hilary Erickson

Hi, I’m Hilary Erickson. The curly head behind the Pulling Curls Podcast. We untangle pregnancy, parenting, home and even travel. We know there’s no right answer for every family, but hopefully we can spark some ideas that will work for yours. Life tangled just like my hair.

[00:00:45.380] – Hilary Erickson

Okay, guys, before you get started, leave a review. I mean, you could leave a review for the online course. You could leave a review for the podcast. Honestly, hearing from other people what they loved is just so important, which is, of course, why I do these episodes. Leave a review.

[00:00:59.070] – Hilary Erickson

Okay, guys, today’s guest is the mom of an adorable nine month old. She is a graduate of the online prenatal class for couples. I want to welcome my friend Katy.

[00:01:09.590]

Do you feel prepared for your delivery? In just three short hours, you can be prepared for the confident, collaborative delivery you want, you’ll know what to expect and how to talk with your health care team.

[00:01:20.110] – Hilary Erickson

And there are no boring lessons in this class. I’ll use humor, stories from my 20 years in the delivery room to engage both of you. I love how Alyssa told me that she found herself laughing things that it used to sound scary. Most of all, you guys are going to be on the same page from bump to bassinette. Join the online prenatal class for couples today. You can save 15% with coupon code UNTANGLED. You can find the link in the show notes.

[00:01:45.230] – Hilary Erickson

Hey, Katy, welcome to the Pulling Curls Podcast.

[00:01:48.570] – Katy

Thank you. So great to be here, Hilary.

[00:01:50.820] – Hilary Erickson

Oh, I love having graduate than. So let’s jump right in.

[00:01:54.060] – Katy

First off, how old’s your baby he is nine months now. Yeah.

[00:01:57.730] – Hilary Erickson

So you’ve had a lot of time to think about what happened in the labor room?

[00:02:01.450] – Katy

Absolutely. Absolutely. Lots of time to reflect back and miss those days.

[00:02:06.070] – Hilary Erickson

Actually, miss the days of the labor room.

[00:02:08.640] – Katy

I do. Actually, it’s such an interesting experience, right? It was my first baby. So it’s interesting to think back on those days. Okay.

[00:02:17.850] – Hilary Erickson

That is awesome.

[00:02:18.690] – Katy

All right.

[00:02:19.150] – Hilary Erickson

So what are three things that you felt like you did in advance to feel confident at your birth?

[00:02:24.240] – Katy

I think number one, birth plan. For sure. Number two going through your course. It was my first kid. I didn’t know what to expect, so to feel prepared. Going through your course was so helpful. And I would say number three is picking the right hospital.

[00:02:39.310] – Hilary Erickson

Okay. All right. Let’s dive deeper. So birth plan. Did you have anything you were married to on the birth plan?

[00:02:44.070] – Katy

We were really go with the flow, which I think helped us. We didn’t have any rigid no’s. I think the only one would have been. I didn’t want to see if the baby’s head. So don’t give me a mirror.

[00:02:54.720] – Katy

I don’t want it.

[00:02:55.710] – Katy

Don’t even think about it. But otherwise, it was really. I trusted my team to do it was best for us.

[00:03:02.320] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah, I love that. And honestly, I know a lot of people are like, oh, I used the mirror. Very rare. The people enjoy the mirror a lot of times they won’t ask people, do you want to have a mirror? And they’re like, no.

[00:03:14.330] – Katy

Hey, some people want to see it. It’s a crazy thing that’s happening, right? So some people want to witness that I was not one, not one of those people.

[00:03:22.810] – Hilary Erickson

Sometimes he’ll ask them if they want to touch the head while they’re pushing to see the progress that they’re making. Most people don’t want to do that, either.

[00:03:29.160] – Katy

Yeah. No, no. Fortunately, I had a cesarean, so I didn’t even have to worry about that.

[00:03:34.510] – Hilary Erickson

No, that’s true. You definitely wouldn’t want to touch the head as it came out there.

[00:03:37.940] – Katy

No, thank you.

[00:03:39.240] – Hilary Erickson

That’s a no. Okay. In my class, anything specific? Any chapter you think people should concentrate on that you found that was helpful.

[00:03:50.060] – Katy

I think the testing one was really helpful for my husband and I. We didn’t do any research in terms of what testing was available. And you had a chapter that kind of explained what testing was out there, what it covered. And so that kind of helped us direct what testing we wanted to ask for versus testing that we didn’t really to get. So that was really helpful. Like I said, I had a cesarean. So the cesarean section was huge for me because it was not an anticipated cesarean.

[00:04:18.480] – Katy

I told about a week before when we decided to induce and then it was a cesarean because he was breach. But I think I had I not gone through your class and gone through that chapter specifically, I would have had no idea what was going on. And I’m very OCD and very much a planner. So not knowing things I think would have put me in a stressful tail spend. So it was like, hey, we have to C section. My husband and I immediately were like, Well, let’s do it.

[00:04:44.520] – Katy

No problem. And there were, like, any questions, and we were like, no, where do you know what’s gonna happen? So that was huge. Okay.

[00:04:50.930] – Hilary Erickson

And you felt like your experience was similar to what I go through in the class because I try and go through exactly what you’re going to experience so that, you know, because I love that. I love to know what been my thing is that the Home Depot before I go there, I definitely want to know that for exactly no.

[00:05:06.230] – Katy

You actually hit everything that we encountered. I think the one thing that you couldn’t have even touched on too much because it was unexpected was my husband made the mistake of looking. They ask them. Do you want to look over the curtain? He was like, sure. And then immediately got sent out into the hallway to go lay down with a little hit box of Apple juice.

[00:05:25.750] – Hilary Erickson

So other than that.

[00:05:27.590] – Katy

So it covered everything.

[00:05:29.590] – Hilary Erickson

The good news on C sections is it’s hard for them to accidentally look because they’re buying the drape with you. So if anybody is right.

[00:05:37.490] – Katy

Yeah.

[00:05:37.640] – Hilary Erickson

But a lot of husbands are like, no, but then some are like, yeah, and I want to video tape the whole thing, and we’re like, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa. Sitter down there.

[00:05:44.630] – Katy

But I think when they asked my husband, he was like, they must have had some level of confidence, looking at me, thinking that I can handle it. And it turns out he couldn’t at all. Which was very unexpected.

[00:05:56.840] – Hilary Erickson

My first time in surgery, I was in the hallway with a Graham cracker with my head between my legs. It is not a natural thing to look at, especially if you like, if he hadn’t just eaten or there are a lot of things you need to do. I mean, now, obviously, it’s like second nature to be in surgery. But for most people, it’s not. So that’s awesome.

[00:06:15.200] – Katy

Right.

[00:06:15.970] – Hilary Erickson

And then you said, picking your birth hospital. So how did you go about finding one that you thought would be a good fit for you?

[00:06:23.150] – Katy

I mean, number one was looking at, where does our insurance cover? I already had a doctor that I had been seen, and so do I want to maintain my relationship with her and then just go to the hospital that she refers to, or I had several friends give birth at another hospital. So it was kind of like, do we want to just go rogue and based on referrals from friends? Or do we want to do the doctor insurance route? I actually stuck with my doctor’s referral. So we went to the hospital that she was on call at and the insurance covered.

[00:06:55.660] – Katy

And they also had a Nick. So that was the other thing for me is my first kid. I don’t know what’s going to go wrong. Should anything go wrong. It was convenient that the NickQ was right there. We weren’t having to travel anywhere else. So that was kind of what cemented our decision.

[00:07:12.790] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah. So for people listening, NikQ’s come in different levels. There can be a level one, although I don’t see many level ones. Maybe in very rural areas. Level two, which is actually where I used to work at, which means they can do everything up to kind of like a ventilator. And then level three is the ventilators and up. And we would refer anybody less than about 30 weeks to the level three, just because those babies were more likely to need more intensive care. And then if anybody’s looking just a little heads up.

[00:07:37.400] – Hilary Erickson

But I love those things. Now, I’m glad you went to the hospital. Your doctor worked at because sometimes people just show up and they’re like, our friends all like, delivering here. We want to deliver here, too. And we’re like, we don’t have your prenatal records. Your doctor can’t deliver you. You’re getting the crap, or you might get a resident, which is probably not your favorite. So yeah, good call going with your doctors. One. And I will say insurance pretty much dictates that show anymore. Sure.

[00:07:59.470] – Katy

Yeah, absolutely. And we weren’t really wanting to pay out of pocket for everything. So I was like, well, we might as well stick with what the insurance is going to cover.

[00:08:07.390] – Hilary Erickson

As long as you’re going to an accredited hospital, it would definitely be worth it to use your insurance rather than to go, just like, I’m just gonna pay for this out of pocket because I heard this one’s better. Yeah. Build a College fund with that money instead of exactly. All right. Anything you learned about yourself in labor or after when, as you were recovering from your C section.

[00:08:26.880] – Katy

You know, there was a couple of things that did surprise me when I was put under, right. When we were wheeled into the operating room to get my C section. I didn’t expect the shake. That was something that I never even heard of. So when I started shaking uncontrollably, and I started to panic, thinking like, Why can’t I stop shaking? I’m not cold. This is so weird. So I didn’t know that that was the side effect of the anesthesia, and it’s fairly common. So that was an unexpected thing.

[00:08:57.110] – Katy

It also scared my husband. So he’s like, Why is she shaking? Someone come get her. She’s shaking. I don’t know what’s happening. So other than that, I actually felt really confident in my labor, which was surprising because this is my first one, and it was a C section, so to have the ability to just kind of go into it, knowing I’m in good hands, they’re going to do what’s best for me. I don’t need to worry about this. I really think that your class helped me with that, because knowing what they’re going to do and what they can do to help me made me have that confidence in them.

[00:09:33.210] – Katy

So it was nice to just trust my team. And I was worried about myself in that sense of, are you going to be able to let go and let them take care of you, or are you gonna try a nitpick? So I was proud of myself for just letting go.

[00:09:46.410] – Hilary Erickson

Oh, I love that, because I was definitely the knit picker for quite a while on my last. Maybe I felt like, I mean, I had been a labor nurse for, like, eight years, so. But I too, had to be like, okay, now we need an outside perspective here, Hilary. So I love that. I think that’s so good. And I will say the nurses and the doctors really value everybody. They want the best for you. Even doctors that I don’t adore definitely want the best for you and are great in the or.

[00:10:12.470] – Hilary Erickson

This is what they do. Sure. It’s awesome. All right.

[00:10:15.420] – Katy

I love this, Katy.

[00:10:16.580] – Hilary Erickson

How’s life with a nine month old. What do people have to look forward to?

[00:10:20.270] – Katy

It’s crazy. It’s you hear so many times it goes by fast, and nothing can truly prepare you for how fast it actually goes. 1 second. He’s a little potato that I sat down somewhere and he stays there, and now he’s crawling. He’s all over the place. He’s fun. We have tickle fights. So it really does. Just in the flash of an eye, it’s just gone. So I think post post coming home from the hospital after we had him having a great support system really helped me get through those first couple of months to be able to enjoy my newborn, not worry about.

[00:10:56.480] – Katy

Oh, my God. I have to be this perfect. Mom, what do I do? It was really nice to have that confidence in just being like, oh, I could just enjoy this time and stay home with him and give him smooches and snuggle and then going back to work. He just started school. So it’s been a blast having him learn sign language and he comes home and now he’s babbling. So it’s a circus, but a very fun circus.

[00:11:21.600] – Hilary Erickson

I always say that the days are long, especially with a newborn. Don’t anyone think that those days are going in a Dragon sometimes, but then you look back and you’re like, how has this happened so fast?

[00:11:30.440] – Katy

Yeah, absolutely.

[00:11:31.850] – Hilary Erickson

It doesn’t slow down. I still think that when I have one graduating from College.

[00:11:35.660] – Katy

So.

[00:11:36.170] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah.

[00:11:37.910] – Katy

Thank you for giving me hope.

[00:11:39.360] – Hilary Erickson

There has been many long days and parents also, I love it. All right, Katy, Congratulations on doing it for nine months out. Time to get pregnant again, right?

[00:11:50.930] – Katy

No, not yet. Yeah, I agree. All right.

[00:11:55.080] – Hilary Erickson

Thanks for coming on, Katy.

[00:11:56.250] – Katy

Thank you. You so much gravy in here.

[00:11:58.020] – Hilary Erickson

Okay, guys, I hope you enjoyed that interview. I forgot to mention during the time that the shaking is very normal and it’s more than your average shaking because a lot of people almost feel like they’re having a seizure because it is so deep, like a guteral shake. I don’t know that’s the word, but it’s just a very firm shaking. And so it can be a little bit scary, but it’s very normal. And your best thing to do is to not fight it. It’s just trying to kind of breathe through it.

[00:12:21.030] – Hilary Erickson

And if baby is out at a baby on your chest, because that really helps with the shaking. So a little bonus tip it’s with Katy’s interview. I hope you guys enjoyed this episode. I love hearing what Katy felt helps make her confident. I hope that you guys are preparing to have your confident birth if you have not taken a birth class yet or you weren’t loving the one you took. I would love it if you would join me in the online prenatal class for couples, we help you have a confident birth in less than 3 hours time.

[00:12:45.930] – Hilary Erickson

So it doesn’t mean if birth is gonna be less than 3 hours. But the class is less than 3 hours. In fact, it could be like too if you went one five speed. But I think we’re all aware I talked pretty fast so that could be a lot of information. Anyway, join me in the online prenatal class for couples. I’d love to have you inside. You can find it at online prenatal class.com. You can find it at either of my websites pullingcurls.com or pregnurse.com under courses.

[00:13:07.520] – Hilary Erickson

Do not miss next week’s episode. We are talking about organizing for the holidays. I know you’re all nesting, so let’s organize together.

[00:13:13.940] – Hilary Erickson

Thanks so much for joining us on today’s episode. We know you have lots of options for your ears and we are glad that you chose us. We dropped episodes weekly. And until next time, we hope you have a tangle free day.