Question For Jbear-pg113675250518
3 Replies
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I have read your imput and really appreciate the fact that you are nonjudgemental on the issue of c-sections. I am due in April and am torn between the decision of a va___al birth and a c-section. So far both the baby and I are healthy. But the fact that I have heart problems, fibromyalgia, and am very pet_te (110 pounds at the start of my last trimester) makes me wonder if the best choice for my baby and I would be a c-section. The funny thing that keeps plaguing me is about the pain afterward. How bad is it? I feel really funny asking this, especially in this war zone where many seem so anti c-section. I understand the procedure, but hearing imput is always helpful. Thanks.
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Amber, you should first and foremost speak to your doc. If you have a heart condition, it is most likely a csection will be recommended. and you should go for it.
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Amber, I am not JBear, but like the last poster said, if you have certain heart conditions they may recommend a c-section...ON THE OTHER HAND...some heart conditions are not good candidates for surgery and the potential for blood clots, infection and bleeding, so you must seriously discuss this with your doctor. Some will disagree, but many will agree with me, the pain afterwards is pretty tough, and I did not enjoy my c-section at all even though it was scheduled. I, too, am very pet_te and weighed 116 on the OR table which was tricky for the amount of spinal anesthetic administered.
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I've never had a v____al birth, so I can't really compare the two. Also, I'm really overweight (more than double your weight) which might have made my recovery more difficult than yours would be...but I don't know. I'm a__suming you have several doctors, a rheumatologist as well as an ob/gyn...have they made any suggestions about how you should have your baby? There's not a lot of info out there about fibromyalgia and pregnancy (I was looking it up just now) but maybe your doctor has had experience with it and knows what will work best for you. My sister sees a rheumatologist (for a rare form of vasculitis) and says his advice is usually the most practical of any of her doctors. As far as the pain after the c-section, let me be as honest as I can. Not all c-sections are the same, even for the same person. If I had only had one c-section, I would be telling people to do everything they could to avoid one, because my first was pretty bad. They tried to induce for a couple of days, but my body just wasn't ready and nothing happened (it was 4 weeks early). The incision was really wide, from hipbone to hipbone, which mean that it hurt really bad for me to get out of bed. My baby had to go to intensive care for a couple of weeks, because she had so much fluid in her lungs. I got a spinal headache, which is like the mother of all migraines. The c-section itself was unpleasant--there were 30+ people in the operating room (it was a teaching hospital). When they cut into my uterus, the amniotic fluid sprayed all over, even into my eyes. My hands were strapped down and I wasn't allowed to wear my contact lenses, so everything was a blur. They stuck the baby in my face for a second before whisking her away to NICU, and it was a day and a half before I saw her again. When I did see her I was vomiting from the spinal headache and she was hooked up to so many machines that we actually had to arrange the wires over our shoulders to hold her. I had really bad gas pains (a normal part of recovery) and the hospital wouldn't let me go home until I'd had a bowel movement, but I couldn't eat the food they served, it was too greasy. I had a blood patch done to fix the spinal headache, and I went home a while before my baby was able to. I was in pretty intense pain for the first week, walking a little bit doubled over, taking my pain meds before I even attempted to start trying to get out of bed, which would take about 30 minutes because I was scared of ripping the incision open. My second c-section went better...the incision was only about 5 inches wide, there were 6 people in the operating room, my hands weren't strapped down, I was allowed to keep my contact lenses in, and the baby was healthier...my husband got to hold her almost as soon as she came out, and we got to take her to the recovery area with us. I was given meds for gas and for itching, and I was up and walking the hallways 12 hours after the surgery. I did still have some bad pain, and the hospital I was at either didn't have enough nurses or they were stingy with their meds, because I could tell when the meds wore off, and I'd call for a nurse and then wait hours for more pain relief. My recovery was quicker, though. By the time I left the hospital, I was already past the "intense pain" stage of things. Within two days, I was only taking half a pain pill at a time. I was scared to lie down, because of the pain involved in getting up, so I slept on the couch with my feet on the ottoman, and I got really swollen, my ankles looked like tree trunks and I had red streaks from the swelling. I called my doc about the swelling, and he said I'd have to be brave and just lie down, so I could elevate my feet. So I tried it, and it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be to get up. I'm not trying to scare you...just let you know what it was like. One thing I did read about pregnant ladies with fibromyalgia is that most need some help caring for the baby for a while after the baby comes...the same is true after most c-sections, that it's best to have a relative or a baby nurse come help out for a while, if possible.
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