The decision was made swiftly. A C-section. She remembered the cold sting of antiseptic, the flood of anesthesia, the bright lights overhead. Her husband’s hand trembled in hers as they wheeled her into the operating theater. Fear and surrender blended until all she could do was close her eyes.
When she woke, the baby was already crying somewhere close. Relief hit first, flooding her eyes with tears. But beneath the gratitude lingered a hollow ache, the knowledge that her body had been opened and altered forever. She told herself the worst was behind her. She was wrong.