I know I am three months late in posting on this subject but really – it’s always a timely subject – delivery. I’ve now experienced both ways – a vaginal delivery with my first and a c-section with my second. The OB learned that I have a very narrow pelvic bone during my first delivery. With my second, I went full-term vs. 36 weeks with my first, and so conventional wisdom would suggest the second child was going to be bigger. Therefore, getting her out the old fashioned way was not only likely to take a lot longer but posed potential serious harm to the baby – her shoulder could get damaged and beyond repair. So, I elected to have a c because I didn’t want to risk harm to a shoulder that was presumably unharmed in the womb.
It turned out to be the right choice, the second OB confirmed I would not have gotten second baby out the old fashioned way due to very narrow pelvic bone and second child was almost 9 pounds and angled funny inside – the doc said she had to “wrestle” her out of me. Sweet. It felt awesome.
OK – so the subject at hand, from only my personal perspective is – vag vs. c – which one wins?
In my book – HANDS DOWN – it’s the old fashioned way. I went into the C not really thinking about it – I just didn’t think it was a big deal, I thought pushing for three hours was horrible. Well, I’d take pushing for three hours over a C any day because once that kiddo is out – you are done. Sure, you need an ice pack on your sore vag and you cling to it for dear life – but still, you are up and about on your own shortly after.
I was alarmed to find the C to be painful, scary and it seemed to last an eternity. I was even more alarmed to experience the pain thereafter, the horror of having a catheter in for 24 hours, those hideous compression things on your legs for 24 hours, and the difficulty in walking one block four days later. Keep in mind, I went into it in pretty good physical shape, having done a 6am body sculpting class until 8 months and cardio the entire pregnancy.
Now, this is my own personal experience and the doctors did suspect that my epidural wasn’t “fully effective” and it has been three years since I delivered vaginally and we know the memory fades – but I still think the C was horrible and unexpectedly painful and the recovery much much worse than vaginal delivery. I completely underestimated it, is the bottom line.
So there you have it kittens, KT’s view on C vs. vag…..vag it up girls, if you can.
Signed,
KT, “MD”
my experience was just the opposite. i had a c with the first and a vag with the second. my first was an emergency c after going all the way through labor. i had an epidural and didn’t feel a thing. i was up and down the stairs (probably shouldn’t have been) the moment i got home. everybody is different. i decided to try a vag with the second. however, everything happened so quickly that i was unable to get an epidural. holy sh$$ – i have never experienced something so painful in my life! believe me, i have never wanted to try the natural thing, but boy did i get it. so there you have it – i say c it up.
After going through labor with an epidural thinking I was going to go the old fashioned way and then hearing the Dr. say “I’m sorry, he’s not coming out that way, he’s stuck and we can’t turn him,” I would have rather not had the C. I had complications afterwards and was not truly mobile for almost 2 weeks. It sucked and I wish it hadn’t gone that way.