I had my DTs by a surprise elcs. I was adamant to start with that I’d have a vag birth, and see sawed back and forth between the two during pregnancy, but ultimately decided on the section the day they were planning on inducing me due to pe, and the dr looked at my chart and said let’s get them out today.
I was absolutely bloody terrified of having a section and was basically in tears at what was to come. It was absolutely bloody brilliant! I had a team, and each of my babies had their own team, and the anaesthetist had been told how scared I was and took the time to explain everything to me, checked multiple times I couldn’t feel a thing, reassured me that whatever happened she had a solution for it, and that she wouldn’t let a thing happen to me, and nothing would happen without my say so. Hell, she even held my hand through part of it. Between her and the dr who was part of my team too, they made me feel like I was 100% in control of the entire process (despite my never having been so vulnerable before), and that anything I was scared about would be fixed and taken care of before it even became an issue. They were absolutely true to their word, and even when things got hairy (DT2 wasn’t breathing properly when she was born) the room filled up with another army of medics and she was whisked away but absolutely fine and joined us in the recovery room later on.
If I were to have another baby, I absolutely would have another section. It was brilliant, and definitely the best choice for the three of us. Recovery was fine, I was out and about shopping when they were two days old, back to driving at two weeks, and although I have an overhang on my stomach, my scar is neat and tidy. Given the size I was when I delivered them, I’m not surprised I’ve got an overhang!
To prepare for both vaginal and section delivery I googled and read only positive stories on here. I figured the babies would be coming out of me anyway, so if anything bad were to happen I’d just get through it somehow, but wanted to prepare my mind as much as I could do hence the positive stories, to give me a belief that it would all be ok.
Having a section is scary, having a vaginal birth is scary too. An elcs I think is possibly the calmest way to give birth, becuase it’s being done to you, you’re not in labour and there’s no pain so you can concentrate and be helped with your fears etc. I don’t think I’ve explained that terribly well, but hopefully you get what I’m trying to say!
Good luck whichever way you give birth, and enjoy those newborn snuggles!