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Well, I had both types of deliveries and I don't want to speak for others but my c-section hurt for a lot longer than my v____al. Labor and pushing were intense, and rough, but I felt better immediately after my child's birth, sore and swollen, but better and everyday got better still. With my c-section I immediately got the pain, intense pain as soon as the spinal wore off and everyday it got worse for like a week or so. The more I did, the worse it got. My advice is to consider that a second baby is usually easier to birth, you know what worked and didn't work with your first and can avoid many of the problems the next time around. Also, consider that it is better to have most of the pain BEFORE the baby comes, not after. Good luck.

Yes, it hurts very much. I think SusanJ is right, your second one should go smoother (not a given, but..) and you will probably be trading one painful birth for another. Discuss better management of your second delivery with your doc and like SusanJ said, toss out what didn't work and explore options you didn't utilize for this birth. Good luck.

I have only had a c section, so i cant tell you if its worse. all i can say is it hurtso much to even move, getting out of bed and movinbg around was agony, and i hated not being able to lift my baby up properly. its hard to b___stfeed as you cant lay baby accross the stomach and it is a major operation where you cant even lift your baby in a car seat for 6 weeks. it takes 18 month to properly heal from a section and for your body to get back to normal. my mother had 3 normal deliverys and one section, and she told me she would rather 10 normal deliverys in one day than a section. it is a painful procedure, and a v____al birth may not be as bad this time round

I have only had a cesarian birth and can only speak to my experience, but since every delivery is different and every woman is different, there's really no way of really knowing what would hurt more for any given deivery. As the posts on these boards show, some c-sections are bad experiences, some are good experiences. Likewise for v____al births. I did not experience any pain during my c-section or afterwards. It was uncomfortable when they injected my spine with the spinal block, but who likes needles (especially in their spine)? I didn't feel anything else uncomfortable during the entire procedure. Afterwards, you need to recover (Iwas in the recovery room for about 1-2 hours-- I think. My baby and family were there with me), but I could hold my son right away. My baby was over 10 pounds, and I had no problems holding him. I could not get up and walk right afterwards -- in fact, I couldn't move my legs, but I could not feel pain. The hospital gave me a morphine drip initially (that I could control) and some other pain killers. I took them as needed, and did not take them around the clock (in fact, I never used anywhere near all of them). The postpartum nurses explained how important it was to try to walk once it was ok'd. It was slow going at first, but it didn't hurt. By the time I went in for my six week postpartum check up, I was back to normal: the scar had closed, I was cleared for all activiites (I still had a lot of weight to lose, though). It is major abdominal surgery, but unlike getting a gall bladder removed, you get a baby! So, there are a lot of psychological reasons why pain and discomfort, even if present, are not really felt the way. About b___stfeeding, Noodle is right, that you can't lay the baby across your stomach, but I just did the football hold, which worked fine. Another point, my milk came in a little later (1-2 days later than average v____al births) because of the c-section, and I had to use some supplemental formula during that time.

No easy answer, but in my cases, c-sections were very painful and took awhile to recover from, especially the one where I recquired several blood transfusions. In many cases, your second delivery won't be nearly as rough as your first since your body has done it before. Each delivery is different and you should ask that your notes be reviewed from your last delivery so some bad aspects can be eliminated. Best wishes.

I had a very different experience... I was desperately afraid of having a c-sec, but that's what I got. Actually, it wasn't bad for me at all. I got the spinal and didn't feel anything, NOTHING. Took about 2 hours before I had enough feeling to leave recovery. I spent the first day in bed. I had morphine in my spinal so I was pretty comfortable. Abs area sore when the nurses had to move me, but not that bad. I was walking around the next day, still a little sore, but again not too bad. I really think the secret is wearing that maternity binder afterwards. It supports your muscles and keeps the pressure off them and helps flatten your stomach. I was wearing my normal clothes after about 2 weeks! For me, the only time I was uncomfortable or hurt was trying to go to the bathroom the first 2 weeks, and I felt pretty sore getting out of the bed after a few hours if I wasn't wearing binder.

I've had one natural birth that was awful and attempted another natural birth with my second but ended up with a section because my labour was just as bad as the first. The c section wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. You have to weigh up the pros and cons. Do you want to go through the traumatic experience of labour but be up and about, able to look after your baby soon after. Or do you want the less painful c section but a longer recovery period where you are limited in what you can do for awhile after the birth. Could you arrange with your doctor to let you try a natural labour with the understanding that if it becomes like your first labour he/she let you have a c section?

I think every birth, v____al or c--section is different for everyone. I had very little pain at all from my c-section. I only took a few pain meds and even then the pain wasn't worse than having a headache but I took the meds anyway just to keep on top of it. I was walking about that same day and out in 2 days. Never even took pain meds when I got home. It was very easy for me. But I know some people have had it pretty rough. I think it just depends. :)

my c-section was sooo easy. very little pain. early the next morning i was up walking around the hospital, the only pain med's i took were ibprofen, and that was only for 3 days twice a day. i was so worried it would hurt but it didn't at all.

I've had one child v____ally and one via c-section. I see it as a transferance of pain. With the v____al, going to the bathroom was hell (needing to use the warm water to dilute or burn the heck out of myself), but I could at least walk around. With the c-Section using the bathroom was fine. Walking around, sitting and standing up were hell. I guess it just depends. I'm having a c-section this time because I feel it's safer for me and my medical needs, but after this I'm done. If I felt it would be okay, I probably would opt for the v____al birth this time.

to be honest, the c section was hell for me! it was the worst pain i ever expereinced the three days after and now 2 weeks later i still have some pain. the worst part was not being able to hold and kiss my baby right away, i could barely hold her for a couple of days much less change and nurse her. it was awful. however, i have never had a v____al birth but i pray i will be able to next time. Good luck to you.

Yes, it does. In my case much worse than long, unproductive labors.

I wouldnt know about v____al.....But c-sec really really hurts. My doctor said it could take years to get feeling back where the cut was made.