Amazing C Section Experience
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Hello, I just had a c-section a week ago at 39 weeks and I just wanted to share my wonderful experience. In the weeks leading to my surgery I had read almost every post on this forum which was extremely helpful! When I went in for my c-section I was so well informed on everything that was going to happen both during the surgery and post-op. If you are going to have a cesarean, read through this whole forum!
So here is my experience. First I should mention that I have had one child already by va___al delivery and this time I opted for a c-section. I had no medical reason, but I suffer from severe panic attacks and I wanted my delivery to be controlled and quick. So my boyfriend and I went in at 9:30 for a 12:30 surgery time. There was alot of waiting and preop stuff, like iv fluids, antibiotics, shaving the pubic area, etc. After what seemed like an eternity, it was time for me to be wheeled back to the OR. My boyfriend waited outside & put on his cute little OR outfit :-) Then I met the anesthesiologist and I discussed with him that I had terrible panic attacks so he gave me what he called a "magarita" :-) This relaxed me somewhat. Then he did the spinal which was suprisingly very quick, simple, problem-free and effective. It is just a shot in the spine, instead of a an epideral where there is a tube inserted into the spine that stays there. In my opinion the spinal was a better experience than the epi that I had with my va___al. Then they inserted the foley.
After the spinal my boyfriend was allowed to come into the room. I was extremely nervous even though I had the relaxing med, taking deep breaths really really helped me. What also help calm me was the fact that my twin sister is a NICU RN and she was in my delivery and was the person in charge of caring for my baby once delivered. So she was there to comfort me as well as my boyfriend.
So once the surgery started there is this burning smell that I had never read about and its the smell of them cutting your skin :-/ but goes away quickly. I then realized that I could see the surgery in the reflection of the surgical lights above me! That completely freaked me out so I just focused on my boyfriend.
It seemed like my dr, who is amazing I must add, had just started the surgery when she said, I see hair! There was pressure but not too bad, no pain. Then my beautiful 8 lb baby boy was out. He started crying immediently which then made me cry, out of extreme joy of course. My sister cleaned him and brought him over for me to kiss and then took him to the nursery with my boyfriend.
As soon as the baby was out I started shaking uncontrollably, which lasted about an hour after surgery and I was told it was just the cold OR room & my body reacting to surgery. They then finished sewing me up & sent me to recovery for about 45 min where people could come visit & show me pics of my bundle of joy. There they attempted to control my shaking with demerol but that would only last 5 min & they would have to give it again, but like I said, it went away after an hour.
Then I went to my postpartum room where my baby was brought to me. The spinal wore off after about 2 hours and there was alot of pain which they then controlled with meds, but you still feel pain. However, seeing & holding your beautiful child dulls this pain. TAKE THE MEDS!! And take them on time, if the nurse forgets, remind her!! Its very important to keep up with these. I took the maximum amount while in the hospital, I have a very low tolerance for pain.
I was allowed only broth & juice for 24 hours but this was ok because I wasnt really hungry. They took the foley out the next morning at about 8 and I took a shower. Painful but bearable. I was walking later that day and was suprised at the strength I had. They will continuously ask you if you have passed gas & bowel movements. I had read on this forum about terrible gas pain after the surgery, so I took gas medicine to the hospital, took it, & had no gas pain. They gave me a suppository which made me have my first bowel movement no problem.
I know this annoys some people, but the whole experience was actually quite easy, so much better than I expected. The baby and I went home after 2 days. I was sent home with a prescription for loratab & motrin & this combination is really effective for the pain. I suggest that you take it every for to 6 hours as recommended once you get home. It keeps you comfortable & lets you accomplish so much more. Its quite painful if you miss a dose. I also requested a prescription for an antibiotic because I had read stories about infection on this board & I wanted to prevent this.
I am so happy with my decision to have an elective section. It depends on how you are personally feeling, but I was out to church and lunch 4 days later, small trips to the store, etc. It has been a week and I feel almost back to normal! Its amazing. The most beautiful experience of my life. I didnt have to worry about damage to my va___al/rectal area or the trauma of birth on the baby. The nurses and staff were so amazing, caring, and sympathetic. I cant say enough how happy I am that I went this route. Sorry my story is so long, but I tried to address every aspect of the experience that I was wondering about before my surgery.
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Hi There
What a wonderful experience!! I myself have had three caesarean sections. My first baby was an emergency caesarean. He was in distress so he was delivered quickly. My other two babies were planned caesareans and were wonderful too. Within half an hour everything is done and your back in the ward holding your little precious. Just like yourself the staff in the hospital were so caring and thoughtful. I think that helps a lot when you having people who are genuinely caring when you can feel quite scared. I have three beautiful boys - they are 4, 2 and 6 months. I have been very lucky that I have had no complications with all three caesareans. With my youngest baby I was out on day 3 and recovered with no problems at home. I think possibly another baby would be lovely - maybe in a few years' time though!!
I hope your having a lovely time with your new beautiful addition.
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I have had all 3 of my children by c section and I never had a problem ,I would not do it any other way even if I were to have another child but im finished......
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Hi there, I am due to go for an elective c section in December due to having major problems giving birth naturally to my Daughter 22 months ago, I had a 3rd degree tear and a ruptured bowel, due to a quick labour, my daughter being back to back and her being 9lb 1 oz. I was only in labour for 4 hours yet had to spend 5 hours in surgery immediately after she was born and I was re-admitted a week after she was born due to toxic shock also as my body couldnt cope. So this time round as you can imagine I have opted for an elective section :) However, I have been extremely nervous and scared at the thought of this and not knowing at all what to expect. After reading the stories posted here it has really helped me to feel a lot calmer about the experience and not so scared so thank you very much to all of you :)
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To Fiona1980, that is exactly why I posted my experience. I know the extreme fear and anxiety a woman feels before going into her first c-section. Of course not all c-sections are positive experiences, but mine was absolutely fantastic and i just wanted to ease the minds of some of those anxious mothers-to-be out there! The best tool that you can bring on that day is knowledge, read all that you can, I cant stress enough how much that played a part in making my experience so smooth. It seems like just yesterday I had the surgery, but now I have my healthy, chubby 5 week old baby boy laying right next to me! Ladies, i know it feels like the day will never come, but it does of course and I wish you all the luck in the world and my god bless you, your babies, and your doctors.
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Let me just add a bit more. I originally started this thread a week after my surgery so let me update you on a few things. I mentioned that I requested an antibiotic because I had read about the incision becoming infected. I took the antibiotic for 10 days and had absolutely no problems at all. Its 5 weeks after surgery and the incision just looks like someone drew a line with a pen. It healed so amazingly even though I started to become very active about 1 week after my surgery. But thats just my nature, I cant sit still. Another thing, I had v____al bleeding, sometimes heavy, sometimes light, depending on my activity level, for 4 weeks after the c-section, just to give you mothers-to-be some perspective on that aspect of the experience. If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask! I know how nervous you are trust me!!
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I like to here that. I have had 4 children. Three v____ally and one c- section. I had a panic attack on the table due to I know this is stupid but in my head i wanted to move my legs, and i could not I got it under control. There are defiatly alot of benifits to a csection. One you have the baby in 5 minuets,they suck out all the blood. My thing is to tell all og you WALK, the more you walk the better you feel. I am pregnant again and I am not sure what I want to do a csection or a v back. Hey you have a csection you can pick your date. That is a plus and not waiting on when you are going to start your labor. I would like to know where there are articals about c-sections and having to prepare for them.
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how are you doing since the surgery? I am 10 weeks, and was wanting a c-section. You helped ease my mind!!!
Thank u
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To mariec, hi this is Jenn, I originally started this post back in September I believe, shortly after I had my c-section. Well it is now 4 months later and I have yet to have any problems due to the surgery, thank god. Everything went great, I healed very well, the scar is just a small line.
Women like you are exactly why I posted my experience. It seemed like an enternity waiting for the surgery and I did so much research and read so many experiences by other women. So when it came my turn to share my experience I wanted to make sure I answered every question I was looking for while I was pregnant. Good luck! I hope your experience goes as well as mine did :-)
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yeah I am nervous because I just found out at 10 weeks that I was pregnant, and I had drank before I found out.... So I am losing sleep and freaking out at the moment. Are there tests they can do to make sure the baby is A-OK?
I cant wait to see this little person!! :)
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Hi everyone, thought I would come on and leave a wee update. As I said before I was due in for an elective c section in December 08, well on the 29th of December at 12:16pm my beautiful baby boy was born, weighing a healthy 8lb 5oz :) I just wanted to come on and say to all you ladies that are getting c-sections and worry about it, that my experience was amazing and so much better than I ever thought it could be. As in my previous post I was extremely nervous and I was reading every article and forum I could to try and gain some knowledge in what I would experience, but in fact I had nothing to be nervous about. My doctors and all the other staff made me feel so calm and they were extremely helpful to me and my husband during the surgery. I had to get a spinal previously to repair the damage I suffered after my daughter was born and it was very difficult to get this in and this was a horrible and painful experience for me and I was worried that this time would be the same, because of this past problem I was seen by my consultant and aneathatist on several occasions before my surgery and on the day I went in they were all there supporting me through it and the head aneathatist who carried out the spinal procedure on me for the section managed to get it in after only 4 attempts and within 20 mins of this my boy was born I could not believe how quickly it all happened and I was back up in my ward an hour after going down to theatre. My husband was allowed to watch the full surgery if he wished to do so so he could see what was happening, but as he is very squemish he decided not to so sat by my side instead. The only problem I had throughout my recent experience was they used the proline beads and one of them was very tight causing me to get an infection which ended up going through my wound and I was on very strong antibiotics for a week. I was out of hospital after 2 nights, however I did not expect the pain afterwards when trying to get out of bed or stand up. I do not know how much pain is experienced by other ladies or if my pain was caused by the infection but I was very sore and uncomfortable for at least 3 weeks. My boy is 4 weeks old now and I am still sore if I stand up too quickly or if I have to lift my 2 year old but that is to be expected as it was major surgery.
On the whole though I would definately have an elective c-section again, that's if I can talk my hubbie into having more kids ;) ha ha.
I hope you all get on ok and enjoy the experience as much as I did.
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I second or third or whatever the GREAT csection experience, i had mine in dec of 2007! and seven days later- i felt MUCH better! and my scar which was only 4 inches across, is now barely noticiable... and i am due with my second csection in july of 2009! With my first since it was an emergency case, i was scared!!! but honestly took 15 mins, didn't even feel that "pressure" the warn you about, my baby girl was born just fine and i was up and holding her in no time (ok so it was like 2 hours later but thats because the morphine machine wasn't working correctly... but i felt fine!!! the incision didn't hurt at all, though i was sure it would... so relax!!! it will be fine!
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one thing that i didn't think about and no one told be about was your first bm after c-section. this might be the same for v____al, but i don't know. my best bit of advice is take a stoll softener as soon as you can. no one told me i'd need one or about any problems that could arise and i was in so much pain 1 week after birth. i was in more pain than when i gave birth to my sons. seriously. it was horrible. this may have been a gross comment, but if it helps just one person, it's worth it.
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I just had my 2nd c-section last Monday and it went very well. I was very nervous going into it because I was knocked out completely during my first due to an emergency so I had no idea what to expect. The whole procedure went very quickly and my two boys were delivered within in a minute of one another. The doctor an anesthesiologist were both wonderful during the procedure. Recovery has gone well considering I'm chasing a toddler and taking care of two newborns. My doctor actually had me take stool softeners before I left the hospital and I'm glad she did.
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