Since we were not prepped for the c-seAction, I can only share so much.
I was allowed into the room, dressed in an operating gown that went over my normal clothes. I job was to stand near my wife’s head and answer any non-doctor questions and relay what I could see. Due to the drape, I couldn’t see much until our baby was removed from my the womb, but the doc did a good job of narrating the process, and told us about the umbilical cord wrapping, but we couldn’t see it. The surgeon held her up high for a quick viewing, the detached the umbilical cord long enough so that after the initial weighing and wipe down, I was given the option to do it myself. After a few days of minimal sleep, and the excitement of the moment, I declined because my hands were shaking so much.
Because my wife was under anesthesia, she wasn’t allowed to hold our baby, so I brought our baby to her mom, for a good look, and then down to her breast for the initial latch and skin-on-skin time while the doctors cleaned out the womb.
The doctors then had to interrupt the bonding moment in order to close out the surgery, and I took my daughter to a small waiting just outside the operating room and just broke down in happy tears, holding her high and close to my chest.
We were then moved from the delivery ward to the post-partum ward, which was much smaller. You’ll receive a series of visits from nurses and doctors, and, hopefully, kicked out shortly thereafter, due to a lack of complications.
Once you’re home, for the first few weeks, and especially if there’s a c-section, be the diaper-parent and waiter for your wife. It can be a rough recovery for her and you. Perhaps get some disposable nitrile gloves to save yourself from near constant hand washing.
