MSE Pregnancy Club IV

money_maker_3

I cant really remember if the needle in my back hurt or not as by the time I got it with my DD 6 years ago, I was in alot of pain after 13 hours of contractions at 5 mins apart and going nowhere, so I could have kissed the guy that gave me any pain relief !!!

I think though that I wouldnt like to be put out as you miss the moment the baby shows themselves all covered in goo :rotfl:

Am having an elected section this time due to complications with a colposcopy earlier last year, and am having the epidural so I can be awake.

happymoneysaver79

ladybirdintheuk wrote: »

I hope you managed to get yourself off to sleep in the end, and feel a bit clamer this morning.

I've just had baby number 1, and haven't experienced what you have. I did have a spinal block though (not for baby, but for them to stitch me up afterwards - it was complicated. I thought he was doing cross stitch down there!), so I can tell you what that was like.

First they get you to roll on your side, and give you an injection of local anaesthetic so you can't feel it when they put in the spinal block (this was the only bit that hurt!) Then in goes the spinal block.

It works quite quickly. It kind of feels pins-and-needly to start with - once it properly takes effect you can still feel pressure at times, but you can't feel any pain. When they were stitching me I couldn't feel it most of the time. I could feel it a bit when they were stitching my clit together, but even that bit didn't hurt, so it must be good

The only bit that was kind of annoying was that it made me shiver a lot. I was wrapped up in a blanket, but I was shivering because of the drugs rather than it being cold if you see what I mean.

As well as stitching me up, they were also putting their hands in to check all the placental had come out. I could kind of feel that, but it just felt a bit odd! I would imagine if you had a CS, you would be abel to feel a bit of what was going on, but no pain. I would recommend DH or your mum or someone come along too, with strict instructions to distract you! And once the baby is there you will have the baby to distract you while they finish up.

I echo what Mrs Tine says though - sounds like you need to speak to someone asap on Monday to put your mind at rest. If you can't speak to your own midwife, maybe you could call the maternity unit, and ask if the duty midwife can give you a call, or pop round to visit? You could do that today, as there will always be a duty midwife on call

Hi, thanks so much for your reply.
I had a retained placenta last time and a third degree tear, they tried to give me a spinal block to remove the placenta and stitch me up but they had left me for a long time prior to the op and I had lost so much blood that I kept passing out so I had a GA and to be honest I felt great afterwards initially so thats why I wasn't worried this time with a GA!

Thankyou for your helpfull insight into what goes on in the theatre, I need to go and grow myself a backbone and just get on with it I think.:eek:

Jvic28

Lu_T wrote: »

She has 15 mins with you to take some basics, gives you the pack of stuff to fill in for next time and books your scan & booking in app't. I was shocked, all very efficient.

My first appointment with the midwife lasted ages. She even lay me out and had a feel around and used a doppler thingy to listen for a heartbeat. Very thorough I thought. Shame I've got to wait so long for a scan though.

happymoneysaver79

Millie's_Mum wrote: »

Happymoneysaver79 I had an emergency section under a spinal block last time and although I don't see my consultant for the final decision until 10 feb i think I am going to have a section with a spinal block this time as well.

(Sorry MFD and AF I will probably jump the queue on you if I do that, also, MFD don't think about 13 March as being the last possible date cos if you leave it til 10 days over and are then induced it might still take 2 days.)

What is it about the spinal block rather than a general that scares you, personally i don't like the idea of a general and not being there if you know what I mean?

As a previous poster said with a spinal you are awake and aware (although after 3 days in labour I was falling asleep) you can't feel anything from your chest down and there is a screen up so you can't see anything, it feels weird no doubt about it but its like pressure rather than pain, you can tell they are doing something but not what, someone described it to me as feeling like someone doing the washing up in your stomach, i don't disagree with that but its a bit more than swishing about, you can feel your whole body moving on the table but there is no pain and you know whats happening all along.

I have a friend who had her first section under a general and second with a spinal and she said she quite enjoyed her second cos it had been scary the first time being out of it and not knowing what was happening.

Hope some of that made sense, feel free to ask any questions of me if you like, can you explain which part of it is bothering you, is the section altogether or the anaesthetic options which are scary?

Hi! thankyou for taking the time to reply. I suppose I am squeemish, I am worried that the spinal will hurt and worried that I wont be properly numb, I don't cope well with vomiting and I have been told that the anaesthetic can make you sick. Whenever I am in situations that are out of my control I panick and pass out. It makes me feel ebarrassed that I behave this way as beleive it or not I am usually a fairly rational person. I am not scared about the pain of child birth, I was induced before and had a long and painfull labour with little pain releif - I didn't mind this and would much prefer a natural birth but I know its not medically possible. I think that the thing that scares me is being awake and something going wrong. I honestly don't know how I am going to walk into the hospital on the day and let them do it!
I suppose I don't have faith in them - I don't know. xx

happymoneysaver79

money_maker wrote: »

I cant really remember if the needle in my back hurt or not as by the time I got it with my DD 6 years ago, I was in alot of pain after 13 hours of contractions at 5 mins apart and going nowhere, so I could have kissed the guy that gave me any pain relief !!!

I think though that I wouldnt like to be put out as you miss the moment the baby shows themselves all covered in goo :rotfl:

Am having an elected section this time due to complications with a colposcopy earlier last year, and am having the epidural so I can be awake.

You are all so brave, I wish I was like that x

Millie's_Mum

Its funny how we all see things differently isn't it? I would be more scared of being out of it and something going wrong than of being awake.

Can you explain to the anaesthetist that you are afraid of passing out? I would have thought that if there was a chance of you passing out that they would have preferred a GA anyway?

The spinal doesn't hurt when it is given and as it is in your back you don't see the needle.

Have you been able to find any info on the net about the differences between GA and spinal block? I would have thought recovery would be harder with a GA?

happymoneysaver79

Millie's_Mum wrote: »

Its funny how we all see things differently isn't it? I would be more scared of being out of it and something going wrong than of being awake.

Can you explain to the anaesthetist that you are afraid of passing out? I would have thought that if there was a chance of you passing out that they would have preferred a GA anyway?

The spinal doesn't hurt when it is given and as it is in your back you don't see the needle.

Have you been able to find any info on the net about the differences between GA and spinal block? I would have thought recovery would be harder with a GA?

As far as I can tell from reading and what has been said in the hopsital, it is safer to have a spinal but I'm not sure why. the thing that is confusing is that some consultants said yes have a GA then the one I saw the other day said no you will have a spinal!!! I would like to know one way or the other so I can try and come to terms with it. Some friends and relatives have said to go with the GA because thats what they did and I only know one other person who had a spinal and she is a wimp like me and told me that it was awful. I wonder if they could give me a mild sedative before the op?

cazscoob

i have had 2 normal births and 2 induced. first they broke my waters(not the most comfortable thing in the world?) then made me walk round and round to see if things would progress but sadly nothing so both time i was put on a drip which was slowly increased and brought on strong contractions. TBH i prefered natural labour as when i was induced i didnt get a break between the contractions and it was one after another. after baby was here it was just as if i had normal birth however i was more shaky and went into shock with one of them due to things going so fast.

am feeling really down right now could burst into tears at any time, OH said he was nipping to his mums for 5 and i could have cried?? have been on the phone to my sis bleathering for about an hour and i still feel just as bad. still in pjs so am planning on climbing back into bed when charlie goes down with dvd and tin of roses:D anyone fancy it lol!

Millie's_Mum

Happymoneysaver79 I think its clear that like you say you need to know what is going to happen so that you can prepare yourself for it, when do you next see the midwife? Can you explain to her that you need to actually talk the decision through with the consultant/anaesthetist? I think its fair enough that you want a proper explanation of what they plan to do and why, be pushy and insist that you get an appointment to talk it through, its a major operation and its your body so you should be able to be involoved in decisions about what happens to it.

Caz sorry you are fedup, me too but I don't know why, think i am getting to the stage where i have had enough being pregnant but not sure i am prepared for a baby iyswim? so yes DVD and roses would be lush but out of the question for me as OH at work.

feelinggood_2

About spinal blocks and all that - Not sure if its relevant, but could you get an appointment with the anesthesiologist at the hospital? I've got an appointment at 34 weeks to discuss all the pain relief options (because I'm so fat!), perhaps you could ask if you could talk to one too?