Hummingbird, I could have written your first post... just swap DS for DD.

My DH couldn't be in surgery with me so I had Mum in there instead.
Whilst the hospital I was at say they promote immediate skin to skin with the mother - bub was wrapped and placed next to me in surgery, then whisked away for skin to skin with her Daddy while I lay in recovery for an hour with the nurses talking over me (literally having a conversation across my bed and not talking to me!)

Because I had GD, bubs sugar levels were really low. After maybe 1/2 an hour on me in the ward, my DH and Mum went home, the middies came in and took bub away to Special Care for the next 6 days - where they tube fed her formula because no one spoke to me about expressing (first time mum, how was I meant to know there was a room with expressing machines that you were free to take back to your bed and use? How was I meant to know that was even encouraged/expected until someone asked me why I hadn't been?!)

I think for me, the worst part was waking up that morning. Bub was delivered at 12.23am (after a 10 hour labour resulting in emergency CS). I woke at 7am in a room by myself, with no DH/family, no baby, not pregnant... and not able to sit up from the pain (so even if I'd been aware enough, I couldn't have left my bed to go see bub).

I too, thought I had to ask to see my baby. Towards the end of my stay, I couldn't sleep one night so I got up and wandered past the nurses station and asked if I could go round in to SPN.... they gave me the strangest look for asking.

Immediately after her birth, I was fine with everything - I had a happy, healthy bub, I was ok, all was good.... Now, 2 months later, I'm starting to feel pretty gipped that I didn't get the birth I wanted for my daughter(I had planned drug free, and if I wanted drugs to gradually work my way up ... yeah, I had everything under the sun!) and that I failed my baby.

Some days are better than others... today just happens to be one of the bad ones!

I'm glad to hear that you're feeling better about your DS's delivery - let's me know that there is light at the end of the tunnel so to speak! lol

That said... she's perfect! She sleeps from 7pm til 4.30/5am most nights and sleeps/feeds really well during the day. I've got an awesome baby... I'm just upset that I couldn't give her a natural entrance into the world and that I wasn't with her for her first few hours of life.