Advice on C section

lyndseyann

Katgoddess wrote: »

You will bleed the most the first time you stand up as everything has been building up while you are in bed lying down and gravity will bring it all out. Sorry, for the TMI but no one told me this and there was claret everywhere. I thought I was hemerraging. :o Once that is all cleared out the bleeding isn't too bad. I used an always ultra nighttime pad with two maternity pads (overlapped to make a long pad with a thick bit in the middle) over the top in the beginning (after the scare) but didn't really need this much padding after the first day.

I was in hospital for four days but they were happy for people to go after 3 days. A 5th time mum on my ward was let out after 2 days after she said she would do her stomach injection herself. :eek: Can't remember what the injection is for but you get one a day for the first three days. Helps everything to contract I think?

Don't be afraid to ask for more drugs. They wouldn't let me have any paracetamol during the first 24 hours after the surgery but were quite happy for me to have a dose of morphine.

OH came and sat with the baby every morning in the hospital while I had a shower. I could managed the shower by myself, thankfully, just took twice as long as ususal.

Remember to take pictures. One of my OH's favourite pictures is of him dressed in surgical scrubs. :rolleyes:

Good luck. :beer:

My hubby managed to get someone to take a photo of him in scrubs holding my little girl ( i was awake for the second, and under for the first) it was lovely, then as he was printing photos at home for family, he accidently deleted it off the camera, before he had chance to print he was gutted, as was me


Hi RoxieW, Congratulations and good luck to you too :j

Thats another thing.......its a major operation, but i didnt see it as that i thought because the stitches on the outside were fine ( i had wire stitches too....ouch!) , i didnt think about the stitches inside me, so i thought i could tackle anything, till someone reminded me i needed to take it easy, accept any help i was offered, even though im used to doing every thing myself.

Sweetpeanut

Hi, i myself have had 2 c-sections. 1st emergency & 2nd planned, with my 1st DD, i thought i would rip in two if i stood up straight!!:eek:, i also found i ended up with a infection in my wound with both of my DD's, it took the midwife a week to sort out antibiotics both times :mad::mad:, even though i was constantly telling her it smelt really bad!! because they have to take swabs to say YES YOU HAVE A INFECTION!! also with my second DD the epidural busted my spinal fluid, needless to say my 3rd child is a shih-tzu :rotfl:(don't worry the busted spinal fluid, is very rare, guess i was the lucky one:rolleyes:) so good luck and im sure everything will be fine :D

sarymclary

Hi,
I had a planned C section for exactly the same reasons as you. Son No.3 was the wrong way round, and it was like was on a spin cycle half the time, but he just liked to be bum down, especially when a midwife came anywhere near me!

I was 2 days off my due date when I had him. Having had 2 normal births previously, I was a bit miffed, and really worried about not being able to 'get on', especially as my husband was working as a contractor at the time, and couldn't take much time off with me.

Here's a brief idea of what my experience was, I had a spinal block procedure:
Go in night before, no fluids after midnight. Bikini line gets shaved (you can do it yourself and it's basically the bit where a top of briefs go, not everything).
I walked into the operating theatre, sat on the edge of the bed, pillow on my lap, leaning forward to open up my spine. Anaethetist does his thing (mine was nicknamed 'Nobby')! They lay you on the table, and tilt it slightly down towards your head, and a bit to the side. A blood pressure cuff is put on your arm, that automatically measures your BP. They put a green fabric screen across, but wasn't bothered about what went on really. OH was in his green scrubs by now, doing his best George Clooney!
There's a small team of people involved, and they gave me an idea of what was going on, and plenty of 'not long now's.
Son No.3 was born within about 20-25 mins of me going in, so pretty quick, considering all that needs to be done. The procedure itself was very quick, and my son was lifted up, and brought round to see me, before my husband went with the nurse outside to help get him in his 1st nappy and dressed (he had to be trusted to bring the baby's bag of bits with him, to leave just outside when we walked down from the ward).
After being sewn up, I was pushed into a recovery room next door. A catheter was put in, although I had no idea it was done. Surgical stockings were put on me (gorgeous dahling!) which was hillarious, because I had no feeling in my legs, they had to be lifted up by the nurse, and they waggled around as if they were someone else's!!
I got checked regularly to ensure the feeling was coming back to my legs, etc., and after a couple of hours (we got held up because a lady with an emergency procedure had been taken ill and took priority), a cup of tea and a sandwich, and a good breastfeed by bubs, I was wheeled back onto the ward.
DS was born at 11.55am, and I had plenty of feeling by the afternoon. I had to stay in bed overnight, and the catheter stayed in place until first thing the following morning. As soon as that was removed, I got up, and went for a shower. I had to stay in hospital for about 4 days because DS was jaundiced, but I was up and about, as fairly normal. I felt rather tired, but hadn't realised I was being prescribed co-proxamol every few hours, so no wonder! I didn't have any pain from the site of the op, in fact it was completely numb! The only thing I did get were 'after pains' during breastfeeding, where the uterus was contracting back. A paracetamol half an hour before a feed helped with this. If I recall rightly, my stitches came out after approx. 10 days. My midwife commented on what a lovely job had been done of stitching me up so neatly. I had no infections or anything. I kept it nice and clean, and I didn't get too hot or sweaty, which I think helped.

Once home, I felt a bit more tired than normal, but I seem to recall washing the kitchen floor the same day I came back! The main reason you aren't allowed to drive for 6 weeks is that if you were to be involved in a serious accident with forceful impact the site of your op would be very weak, and it could lead to serious injuries. Your car insurance would be invalid too, as you'd be deemed unfit to drive. I called my insurer at 3 weeks, to ask if I could drive legally, and they said they would only OK it if I got a letter from my doctor to say I was fit.

I lived several miles from the children's school, so once the easter hols were over, it was rather impractical. I got help from friends and family, thankfully!

All in all, I would say I was hardly incapacitated by the procedure, and I felt 100% energy wise within a couple or so weeks. The only main difference I think there was between a normal birth and a 'C', is that clearly the healing process must take some of your energy reserves. I ensured I didn't push myself unnecessarily.

I hadn't been looking forward to an extended stay in hospital, as I usually am home within 24hrs of a birth, but on this occasion, I looked upon it as a bit of special time for me and new baby to have extra time together, I was having all my meals cooked for me, my bed was being made for me, and I could take an afternoon nap without any problems, so it was a great hotel! The only downside was other ladies in the ward snoring, and their babies crying and waking me up! My jaundiced baby was very sleepy, as they tend to be, so I had to tickle his feet to get him to feed more, and get his system flushed through.

I am a total control freak, but there really are times when commonsense prevails, and you know you have to just let go of things a bit. In no time you'll be back in total control - with a vengeance!! moo-ha-ha-ha!!

Congratulations on the impending new arrival. You'll be absolutely fine! xx

Counting_Pennies_2

Good luck, hope in the meantime baby turns. Have you tried accupuncture, there is evidence it can be very effective. While it didn't work for me, nor indeed the rather painful attempt to turn, it has worked for many of my friends.

I haven't had a chance to read the replies, but thought I would put the details below in case it is any help to you.

I won't beat around the bush a c-section can be a relatively civilised affair, it is the recovery after that you feel the pain, and also sometimes frustration at your incapacity.

I have had two c-sections and you feel very reassured as to the competence of the consultants operating on you, my last section was due to a serious complication with my DD and I had a few complications at the time of surgery. What I was very reassured about is how calm the entire experience was.

Your question was about incapacitation. You really won't know your own capabilities until the time comes. You might be brimming with energy and able to do many light weight things, or you might be completely knocked by the experience and the effects of the drugs and need to rest all the time. After my first section I remember being up a ladder on week 2 decorating a room as I decided i wanted the nursery in another room (foolhardy but I was up to it) second time around I had no energy at all to function and was sent by the doctor on bedrest for a week.

What I must stress though is the importance of not lifting. It will be hard with a three year old (my DS was the same age when DD arrived) the temptation will be to lift up and give lots of cuddles to reassure your little one, but you must try to see if they can climb up to you and not smother you completely! My scar opened up just by doing a little more than I should and it slowed my recovery significantly, not being able to drive for up to 12 weeks!

Lean on absolutely everyone you can, you really should avoid driving for 6 weeks, although some doctors do say it is ok to start at 4 weeks. I am assuming you are already on preschool runs, or nursery. If so see if you can rally an army of mums who already drop off and pick up to do one day a week for you so you don't need to drag yourself out, see if you can get this arranged to start when your husband has returned to work, and see if you can get this to carry on for a few weeks. No medals are won for making it to the gates every day.

Use any offers of help from family to come and entertain your older child, you will want to take every moment to rest. Having a second child it is not as easy as it was with the first to rest when baby rests, so get your feet up every minute you can manage it.

I relied heavily on Tesco to deliver online groceries, it was a saviour. Get them to bring it into the kitchen, explain you have had stomach surgery and could they unload the bags onto your work top for you. They have been absolutely delightful to me in doing this.

I won't lie to you it will hurt afterwards for a few weeks, you are having major surgery to your stomach. Any other surgery you would be given several weeks of bed rest with no movement or requirements on you. Take your medication regularly. It is important to take it at regular intervals. I found if I decided to be brave and try with out too much I would suddenly get a dreadful pain and it would take hours for the medication to kick in again. For at least 2 weeks take every medication that is offered. Don't forget the laxatives though, codeine can bung you up quite dreadfully. Also during your stay in hospital there is a fantastic wind remedy called Peppermint Water, not peppermint tea, it is a special medication that comes on the drugs trolley. You can't get it in normal pharmacies, it seems to be a hospital thing only, it is fantastic and certainly relieves the wind pain that tends to arrive for me on day 2 to 5!

Ensure you are on an electric bed, if not ensure you are moved to one (get your husband to insist) also a bed ladder is great, it hangs at the end of your bed and you can rest it between your legs in bed so you can slowly climb your arms along the ladder to help you sit up.

A great pant for c-sections are Mava pants (sort of like a string vest) great at avoiding the scar and being very comfortable. Highly recommend them.
http://www.nctsales.co.uk/prodshow.asp?id=59&cat=0&scat=0&parent=

I am waffling terribly, but I just want to help you be prepared as much as you can.

In terms of your question of incapacity, expect 100% need for help for the first two weeks from your husband (if he can be off work for longer I would keep that option open), and then get your army of mums at preschool and neighbours and any relatives to help as much as they can, especially with your older one.

I found it very difficult second time around, and in the end I employed a Doula http://www.doula.org.uk/ click on find a Doula to find one in your area. I didn't have an army of helpers and needed some help. If your financial circumstances dictate you can't afford one, they do have a hardship fund and it is there to be used to help. Don't be shy in asking.

Good luck, rest as much as you can, get in as much help as you can, and enjoy your new little one.

x

Counting_Pennies_2

RoxieW wrote: »

Hi becks and all
Just had my midwife visit and baby is still breech so am booked in for a fortnight for a scan and turn if still breech. Hoping he turns before then but would rather prepare myself for a c section. I read somewhere that they give an epidural for the turning as its so painful? Is this a load of wodswallop?
thans

Just having a quick flick through previous answers.

For me it was very uncomfortable. They don't give an epidural, but you will be offered gas and air and I strongly advise it!

beckseven

Thanks again for all the advice-I'm going to be as sensible as I can and not do too much and take a deep breath and ignore the mess!

RoxieW

Counting_Pennies wrote: »

Just having a quick flick through previous answers.

For me it was very uncomfortable. They don't give an epidural, but you will be offered gas and air and I strongly advise it!

did the turn work?

Counting_Pennies_2

RoxieW wrote: »

did the turn work?

Sadly no, have a look at my post one above the reply I think I wrote war and peace!

Js_Other_Half

Just had a thought about being either as passenger or a driver in a car after a section. Take my advice and use the bump belt (or whatever else you were using whilst pregnant) for several months after the surgery. One of my friends was in a car crash a few weeks after her section - the seat belt opened up her scar... she's fine now though.