#momlife

My abdominal birth scar has been with me for 12 years now. Here is the birth story of my first son Ahan.

My due date was October 18th 2009; I had a show on October 15th morning at 5 am followed by contraction at 8 am; I took a nice hair wash and then left to the hospital, which was 45 mins from my village. On reaching the hospital at 9.30 am, the doctor checked me and told me I was already 3 cm dilated; earlier, she said she would not admit me before that so I was happy about this progress.
I had no induction nor any Pitocin drip, nor a fetal monitor tied to my belly, just an occasional Doppler; I was walking, reading, drinking liquids and then talking with a room full of cousins in between my contractions. My husband, my dad and a whole bunch of people around me in my room.

By around 1 pm, my contraction became very intense; though I did not scream, I sat squeezing my sister’s hand during every contraction because I did not know what else to do then. By 5.30 pm, my contraction was very intense; the doctor wanted to check my cervix; she took me to the labor ward and check, my cervix was dilated to 7cm.

Next, she broke my water to help my labor progress better; on breaking, she found the water with a very thick meconium stain. 15mins from there, I found myself in the operation theatre for an emergency c section; they gave me general anesthesia and around 6.15pm, my warrior was born. The doctor suspected that Ahan might have swallowed some meconium, but by god’s grace, he did none and was strong enough to feed 4 to 5 times from an unconscious mommy who recovered only the following day.

At that point, I was happy that my baby was safe, and that mattered to me the most, but for years after, that was not how the world saw it.

The very next day family was commenting about how another mother who came out of the operation theatre came out talking while I was unconscious. So, they concluded that I did not even have enough strength to bear the operation, leaving me unconscious🙈.
Reality was that I had general Anesthesia where as another mother who was given local Anesthesia during the surgery.

People commenting, I was thin and weak so only I had a C section in the first place for years after.

But you know what? Till date, every time I see my scar, I am reminded of how I helped my son survive, I remember my warrior who made it to earth against odds…it is a symbol of sacrifice and so precious to me. I am proud of my scar.

Here is some food for thought:

Commenting “Your body is never going to be the same, you will surely face the ill effects of the operation years later” to a woman who just gave birth is insensitive.

Why do you ask a woman who has gone through two C sections, if she had done family planning and when the answer is no, pitying her that she should have done it at one shot is insensitive?

Vaginal birth is awesome but glorifying it to a mother who just had a C section is insensitive.
Making a woman who just had a C section feel that she is a less of a woman is insensitive.

I have heard this for for almost 12 years now but I hope my fellow sisters don’t hear the same.