C/S Tips?

Mrs.Guz

I am facing a c/s in about 6 weeks (unless i go on my own before then l) because both babies are breech (Baby A has been breech the whole time while baby B keeps flipping) and they are running out f time and space to flip.

Anyway, do y'all have any tips to make it easier? Things to take to the hospital and to have on hand at home to help with recovery etc?

Also, any tips in general. It's been 5 years since I had Abigail and forgot a lot of stuff so feeling like I'm starting completely over. TIA!

slwprincess

First of all, go ahead and start taking colace the week before in preparation.  The first poop after c/s is no fun so anything you can do to ease it up is a good idea.  Take it with you to the hospital and just pop one each day.  I had to ask for them and it was hit or miss if the nurse actually remembered to bring them.

Pack pj's with drawstring pants- NO ELASTIC.  I watched Target and just bought some on clearance- they are going to get gross so nothing pretty.  The kind with the button up tops are perfect so you can wear a nursing tank and just pull on the shirt over it when you get cold.  Take several pairs, I had terrible night sweats and chills both times.  My teeth would start chattering so bad DH thought I was having a seizure.  The nurses would cover me in warm blankets till it subsided.  Apparently its the hormones and the drugs from the c/s wearing off.

Get up and walk as soon as they allow it.  It hurts and you won't make it farther than the bathroom but it is important.  Also, wear those silly inflatable things on your legs as much as possible.  They prevent blood clots but they do make your legs sweat so I could only handle them in short spurts.

Stay in the hospital as long as insurance allows.  I know you want to get home to Abigail and just get back to normal but seriously... your recovery will be so much easier if you take that time in the hospital to rest.  Send the babies to the nursery (Kennestone has one now, right?) or let the nurses watch them for you to take naps.

TAKE YOUR PAIN PILLS ON TIME.  Don't try to stop them early- it will make your recovery take longer.  Keep taking motrin around the clock even after you stop the pain pills at home.  It helps with inflammation and makes your scar prettier.  Don't worry about it passing to the babies through breastmilk.  They will be fine and it will help you be a better mama.  Take it.

If you are going to BF, I told the nurses while they were prepping me that I wanted to see the LC ASAP after birth.  She was sitting in the recovery room waiting when they wheeled me in.  Sophie was nursing within 20 min of her birth with the LC right there by my side.  Can't guarantee you'll get that lucky but keep asking until they send one.

Hope you don't need it, but the NICU was awesome as well.  Those nurses were amazing.  They have a few rooming in suites so even if you get discharged, ask about availability of those rooms.  We only had to stay there one night before Gavin was discharged but it just saved my sanity not having to go home without him. 

GTJess

following this thread too. I think my biggest fear is not being able to nurse right away since I went through that with Reese since she was so early and had to go straight to pumping.

slwprincess

GTJess said:

following this thread too. I think my biggest fear is not being able to nurse right away since I went through that with Reese since she was so early and had to go straight to pumping.

Jess, I don't know how Piedmont handles it but at Kennestone, I was nursing as soon as we got back to recovery. It was probably 20 min max after delivery. For Gavin, that's when the nurse caught his breathing issue and sent him to NICU. Anyway, I was going to suggest talking to your Ob ahead of time and then remind her the day of that way she can also advocate for you. Other than that, just be firm about your wishes and expectations.

kbowman78

I second a lot of what was already mentioned. Take your pain pills on time because once the pain gets ahead of you it's hard to control. I also agree with walking as soon as you can, but I will caution you not to overdo it. The nurse was pressuring me to walk, so I took it too far and walked WAY too much and then had horrendous back pain from walking bent over.

I agree with the Colace too. Keep taking that stuff even after you get home from the hospital until you are sure you'll have no issues. I upped the fiber intake too, ate a lot of bran cereal and fruit.

Also, I didn't realize it at the time, but all of my underwear that I had hit right where my section scar was, so I had to go out and by granny panties and wear them for quite a while until it didn't feel uncomfortable to have a panty line rubbing up against the scar.

 

MSquires100

I will second a lot of what has already been posted, but the things that I found with both c/s to be most helpful: 

Pack pj's with drawstring pants - NO ELASTIC:  Definitely!  I had a pair of elastic ones the 2nd time and they were miserable.  The material was comfy but the waistband was right on my incision!

Get up and walk as soon as they allow it.  It hurts and you won't make it farther than the bathroom but it is important:  Definitely do this as soon as the nurses want you moving.  And in line with the pain meds, I will say that's what helped me walk   It will most definitely help once you get home and are moving around. 

Stay in the hospital as long as insurance allows:  With both boys, I definitely felt like I was twiddling my thumbs by the 3rd day, but it was worth it especially with having a 2 year old at home waiting on me.  I knew I would need the rest.  So max out your stay! 

TAKE YOUR PAIN PILLS ON TIME:  With my first, I told the nurses keep me on a schedule and they did and it worked wonders on controlling the pain.  For some reason, not sure what was up, but with my 2nd I felt like some of the nurses weren't as open to it.  And my pain was much worse the 2nd time.  My right side just hurt, like the doctor just tugged and tugged to open me up.  So just keep up with the pills and they will help you get to moving too!

Good luck!  Of course I bet sweet Abigail will be such a little helper too!

runblondie26

Get out of bed an move as soon as possible. Walking the halls and moving around helped a lot.

Rest assured, not all c-sections are terrible to recover from. I never took pain pills. I didn't think the pain was unmanageable. Getting my wisdom teeth out was worse for me. That said, don't hestitate to take them if you are in pain!

Yoga pants and full panel maternity pants rolled down onto my hips were my favorite things to wear the first couple weeks.

Best wishes for an easy delivery!

MrsL1022

I agree with everything that was mentioned above. Stay ahead of the pain with the meds. My c/a with B was worse than my c/s with C. I bought these really soft PJ pants from gap body that were drawstring. I wished I had bought 10 pairs of them. Make sure you take all of the thick pads and mesh panties you can get your hands on and bring them home. I just wore those instead of buying granny panties bc they had no elastic, and let's face it it's easier to just throw stuff like that away. Definitely walk ASAP but only short distances at a time. When you get home you instinct will be to try to resume life and take care of Abigail. Don't push yourself to do anything other than rest.

All in all my c/a recoveries were not bad. I took a little longer to bounce back the second time, a lot of that was me overdoing it. The first few days you feel like you will never e back to normal but by a week out you will feel pretty normal. GL can't wait to see pics of these babes!!

Mrs.Guz

Thanks everyone! I'm so anxious and scared about having a c/s and still hoping I won't need one. But I've been trying to metally prepare myself since we found it was twins.

MrsFv20

I 100% agree with staying on top of your pain meds. Even in the middle of the night.

My other big tip beyond what the other ladies said is to take all the help you can get from the nurses, and your H if he is there. My first c/s I tried to do everything myself and with the 2nd, I really let them take care of me and it made things so much easier, even just bringing over a cup and toothbrush so I could brush my teeth in bed. One wonderful nurse even helped me roll over in bed every couple of hours, holding pillows against my abdomen.

I also agree with being sure to take it easy at home too. Don't pick up Abigail and don't push it with driving or house cleaning...if you push it too early it just takes longer and longer to heal!

Good luck!!

Daisy22

Everything Stacy said I agree with completely. I wore maternity capri yoga pants from ON in the hospital with a nursing tank. All of  3 of my c/s were pretty easy and my last one was the easiest. Just makes sure you listen to your body and don't over do it. 

Are you delivering at Northside? If so the pre-op and recovery area is pretty nice now. They redid it between me havin Bryce in Oct 2010 and having Preston in June 2012. The recovery area is the biggest change. You have your own area with walls between patients. It use to be one big room with curtains around the beds. There is still a curtain that goes across the front but it's way more private and bigger area. I was actually only in recovery for an hour before I was moved upstairs to my room. 

Daisy22

GTJess said:

following this thread too. I think my biggest fear is not being able to nurse right away since I went through that with Reese since she was so early and had to go straight to pumping.

Not sure how it is at Piedmont which I think is where you are delivering but at Northside I was with the baby within 45min to an hour. The hour was with DS3 b/c I got my tubes tied during my c/s. The thing the nurses had me do was skin to skin and trying to get the baby nursing. I did skin to skin a lot the first 48 hours just to establish a bond. With Bailey and Bryce, they never had issues. Preston only had issues b/c the kid had a horrible latch that I could never get him to change and he had major reflux issues. I ended up pumping exclusively with him for 6 months. I do not attribute any of that to me not be able to nurse him until he was an hour old. 

Mrs.Guz

Thanks for all the tips! I'm actually surprised by the pants recommendation. I was going to get a nightgown that buttons up the front because I figured pants would rub against the c/s cut. But I'm definitely more comfortable with pants.

Another question: do you still bleed real bad with a c/s? Should I plan on taking a bunch of those monster pads home with me? How long does the bleeding last if so?

slwprincess

No nightgown!  It will get tangled up in the sheets and there is no way to get out of bed gracefully without showing all your goods!  My FIL was in there when they came to get me up the first time.  I had to kick him out- ha.  I got out of that damn hospital gown ASAP and was so much more comfortable in my pjs.  Heck, I wore them home with Sophie.  Didn't even bother putting on real clothes. 

Yes, you will still have a good bit of bleeding with the c/s.  Clots and all.  The nurses will keep an eye on it at first to make sure its nothing excessive.  The first few days were heaviest in the hospital.  Not so bad when I got home- I could get by with regular stayfree pads instead of the giant hospital ones. But I always knew when I had overdone it b/c my bleeding would get very heavy again. 

Oh and I hadn't even thought about the tubal ligation taking longer and delaying nursing.  I will need to ask about that.  At Kennestone, baby stays in the OR the whole time w/ mom (DH just held them next to my head after they finished weighing/measuring/swaddling) but I wonder if that's still the case if you are also having the tubal?  A good question for my next visit.. 

Daisy22

Yes you still bleed. 

Stacy - it only added 5-10 minutes to the surgery time but it took them longer to close me up due to it being my 3rd c/s. I had a lot of scar tissue from the 2nd c/s so it took about an hour from the time Preston came out to get into recovery. I actually held Preston while they were doing the tubal and then Adam held him at my head for most of it. I think they left the OR about 20 minutes before I did. 

Mrs.Guz

I'll have to remember to ask about the tubal ligation procedure and healing time. The benefit of having a c/s is that they can go ahead and take care of that while they're in there.

Daisy- I'm delivering at kennestone.

I was told they have separate recovery rooms for those with twins. Which I'm really hoping will be available.

slwprincess

Mrs.Guz said:

 I was told they have separate recovery rooms for those with twins. Which I'm really hoping will be available.

Guz, I think this is true... or maybe they just take you to a regular L&D room instead of the curtained recovery room?  That's what happened with Gavin.  He wasn't a sched. c/s- remember, I was in there all day w/ reduced fetal movement and heartrate.  Once we decided to go for a c/s they moved me from the triage area to a L&D room for just about an hour while they got an OR and prepped me.  After the c/s, they brought us back in there and did his bath and that's when the nurse discovered his collapsed lung.  It's fuzzy but I definitely remember being in a nice BIG room after that c/s.  With Sophie being a scheduled c/s, they get you ready in a pre-op curtained area.  We were alone at first and then someone else came in right before they wheeled me to the OR.  They brought me back to that room and I distinctly remember feeling jipped b/c I had such a big private recovery room the first time!  Anyway, we were only in that curtained recovery area for about 15 min- long enough to try nursing and then they took us up to our private room.

And Daisy- I'm also wondering about scar tissue this time as well.  This will be my 3rd but honestly, my second c/s was faster than the first.  I think because it was scheduled and the OR team just had it down.  It was like a a well oiled machine.  Bryan timed it and it was only about 45 min from the time we left the curtained area to the time we were back in there and nursing.

Daisy22

My 2nd c/s was about 45 minutes from start to when I got to recovery. I had a lot of contractions with all my pregnancies but with Preston I had even more and since it was my 3rd my uterus was extremely thin when they did the c/s. My OB actually told me she was so glad I was getting my tubes tied b/c she wouldn't recommend me having anymore. 

My recovery with the 3rd c/s and tubal was actually my easiest recovery. I was up walking around my room that night (had the c/s at 7am) and the next morning I walked down to get water/ice for my cup. I could have left a day early but I liked the peace and quiet. I knew the big boys were having fun so we stayed. I never experienced any side effects from the tubal at all. And actually I have very few cramps now which is HUGE difference for me. I am having some other bleeding issues but I'm having an ablation at the end of the month to help that.