Landry’s birth story— csection vs vaginal delivery

I wasn’t an active blogger when I was pregnant with Landry. I kinda got busy with life and quit. I’m glad to be back to it, because it’s an outlet for me and I did miss it. I am going to backtrack a little and talk about my pregnancy with him and the birth. I will then compare the two births and give you my honest take on vaginal vs csection birth.

So, with Landry we tried for almost a year to get pregnant. We had actually started seeing a fertility specialist when I ended up getting pregnant naturally. I am still so thankful for that experience. It was during that time I discovered I had hypothyroidism and also low progesterone. If I had not gone there, I wouldn’t have known that soon. I may have miscarried. Never know. I saw Dr. Schnell at Center of Reproductive Medicine or CORM. They are in the Houston area and Beaumont as well. I loved the people in the office, the doctors, all of it. Definitely not an experience I regret. I saw them until week 12 and then went to a regular OBGYN.

With Landry. I didn’t feel pregnant. I wasn’t sick at all. I never threw up I felt totally normal. I worked out until 38 weeks pregnant. I gained abou the same amount of weight both pregnancies. I had totally different cravings. They were just different experiences all the way around.

With that pregnancy, I rolled over in bed at 3 am and my water broke. Literally. We went into L&D. I was only a 1. My doctor started pitocin. I labored for 23 hours before Landry was born. I didn’t feel many contractions because I got an epidural at a 3-4. I had to use the peanut ball to make things move faster. I was about an hour away from having a csection. If I hadn’t had him by 24 hours of labor, they were taking me back, I barely made the cutoff. I pushed for about an hour and 45 minutes. I stayed in the hospital one night after that and I was released to go home, Other than being scared to pee, I was fine. Tired FOR SURE. So exhausted. It was all a blur. I barely remember the nurses and doctors. It was a bit overwhelming. Once home, I recovered pretty quickly.

So, the big question- vaginal or csection? Which is better? Harder?

I would say giving birth, no matter how, is not easy. Moms are superheros in my book.
Vaginal definitely takes longer in most cases.
A csection feels strange. You can tell someone is touching you but can’t feel the pain.
Epidurals work, but I felt the last pushes and it hurt like hell.
I was scared to pee after birth both times. I think that just comes with the territory.
Csection scars are no joke. I have a decent sized cut.
Recovery for a csection is longer. I was working out at 4 weeks postpartum with Landry. I never stopped doing my regular routine. This time, I have to be careful. I can’t pick up heavy things. I definitely took more pain killers for longer with my csection.

It’s really hard for me to say I prefer one over the other. Neither is fun. I just think my experience the second go around was better overall. I bonded with my doctor. I had amazing people on staff that night in L&D from the nurses to the anesthesiologists. My doctor was there and I felt super comfortable with the decisions she helped me make. I think all of that makes me lean more toward the csection. It wasn’t the horror story you hear about. I know so many women will go out of their way and go to extreme measures to avoid a csection but I don’t see any reason to do that. Whatever route you take, whatever you do to get the baby here safely and in good health- it’s worth it.