Cesarean birth during Covid brings a new set of challenges, but when your spinal block doesn’t work after multiple attempts, there are a whole new set of challenges. Especially when you have a toddler AND a newborn to care for, as is the case with this second time mom! Julia is sharing her birth story today on our blog, take it away Julia!

Our daughter was born in December, one of the first in the wave of Covid babies or, Generation C. With our son, I had tried for a vaginal delivery, but after 36 hours of active labour and stalling at 6cm for 24 of those 36, my little guy went into early distress and so I tapped out and went for the emergency c-section. It was during this time that we discovered I had something in my spine, possibly a membrane, that prevented an epidural from spreading to more than half of my body at one time. This did not deter me from planning a VBAC for baby #2. I still wanted to try and prove to myself that I was a strong mama and could do it the old fashioned way. But, by 41 weeks, Baby #2 was not cooperating, and after numerous acupuncture appointments and visits to SpinningBabies.com, she wouldn’t drop so we ended up planning for a c-section at 41+4.

The whole thing was quite civilized. I woke up, had a shower, got ready, made my way to the hospital calmly. It was great! Arriving to the hospital with COVID precautions meant we had to leave all of our belongings in the car until after the birth and wear a mask, but otherwise things weren’t too different.

Prior to the delivery, I had a consultation with the anesthesiologist to discuss the issue with my epidural and (eventual) spinal block from the first delivery, and the plan was to do things the same way. After an easy time prepping, a final check in the mirror (glad I did, the top knot under the hair net was NOT working for me at all!), I walked myself into the operating room. They let me choose the music I wanted to listen to (Christmas tunes) and began the spinal block.

Or, should I say the first attempt at a spinal block. My spine was once again not cooperating and, even with the help of an ultrasound machine, the medicine just wasn’t making it. The first attempt was like a knife in my bum cheek, the second like a fist punch. I was asked to curl my back forward: not easy with a human being in the way! The third attempt was a lightning bolt down the other leg that actually made it shoot out and almost kick my midwife (Sorry Jill!). The fourth was like a slow punch back up on the bum. Switching gears, we went with an epidural (success!) and used that to feed the spinal block. And a quick 45 mins later, with one quick blood pressure drop and bounce back, we were good to go!

The delivery was different the second time, in that I remember it. Not sleeping and feeling contractions for 52 hours really prevents you from being “present”, so this time I got to feel the jostling around. The two doctors had to work hard to get the not-so-little baby out (she really wanted to stay in!), and when she was finally out, she let out a huge displeased scream that made the room laugh. They weighed her, measured her, and took us to recovery before bringing us to our postpartum room.

With my son, I was up and walking within about 12 hours, discharged 48 hours later, and mostly physically recovered in about a week. This would not be the case the second time around. I can’t say why, but by day 3 I was just barely making it to the washroom (where nothing happened without tears being shed).

My body also took offence to the 5-6 holes in my spine, and I developed spinal headaches (spinal fluid leaks from the holes which makes your brain sag. I had pressure on my eyeballs as well as extreme headache and nausea... but only when sitting up. You’re fine when lying flat, and  I can say that is not conducive to being a new mom). The idea of another needle in the spine wasn’t too appealing, so I opted for a different treatment that involved two long q-tips with numbing cream being inserted into my nose à la COVID test, and left there for 10 mins (fun fact, I also discovered that I had a deviated septum which made that a little bit of extra fun). It’s supposed to numb the nerve that sends the pain signals to your brain to give your body time to heal the holes and refill your spine naturally. And, naturally, this treatment did nothing for me.

So, on the 4th day at the hospital, I went for the blood patch treatment. The whole thing took about 2 hours, it wasn’t comfortable (again literal pains in the ass) but you just push through for the greater good, and I was discharged about an hour later. I walked as best as I could, which was extremely slow. Being on the top floor of a 3-story walk up suddenly seemed like a terrible idea. But I settled in at home, ready to start this new chapter. My head was feeling better and the blood patch was great, as it is successful in 90% of people.

Well, apparently I don’t like to be like the rest of people, because by the morning, the headaches were back. I tried to push through, but things got worse, so by that evening, leaving my newborn with my sister in law (who conveniently is a maternity nurse), we went back to the hospital for another blood patch. At this point, this was the 6th anesthesiologist I had seen in 5 days. He was great and got it done (success rate of second blood patch is 95%, and this one took). So we went home and started the easy part of a six-week + recovery and life with a newborn and toddler.