STMs+ c-section question

katykatykaty

For those who had a c-section last time, did you get immediate skin-to-skin/breastfeeding time with LO right after the birth?  At the last hospital I delivered at, Caroline got measured and cleaned up while they were sewing me up, and then about 30 minutes after she was born, we were taken to recovery and could breastfeed. 

The hospital where I'm delivering this time says that unless there are any complications, I'll get LO immediately after he's born... like while they're sewing me up.  In theory this sounds great, but I'm pretty sure my arms were numb during my c/s last time.  I'm going to ask my doctor about it at my next appointment, but I wondered what your experiences were like. 

If you had a c/s, were your arms numb during the procedure?  Did you get LO right away after they took him out?  I'm worried I won't physically be able to hold him even though I'll want to. 

codec

The first two times, they took them away and sent me to recovery. But, I never requested for baby to stay with me for skin to skin. They had my arms pinned down during but I didn't have any numbness.

At this new hospital they say immediate skin to skin is procedural.

TradeMama

They held him up to my face, and I gave him a kiss. It was maybe 3 hours before I saw him. The medicine made me really sick and he was under warming lamps.

jazzyexpo

My arms weren't numb. The nurse did give dd to me and we took a few pictures, but the position was so awkward that I wouldn't want to hold her for long laying there.

We were the same as you, BF not long after I was in recovery.

katykatykaty

@codec Maybe my arms were just pinned down and not actually numb.  By that point I was so exhausted that everything is a blur, so maybe I'm remembering wrong. 

@trademama If you tell them that it made you sick last time, I think they can give you something this time so that you won't get sick.  I always get sick from anesthesia, so I told them that before, and they have me anti-nausea meds that made it so I felt fine during and after. 

TradeMama

@katykatykaty I've spoken with my OB and we will speak with the anesthesiologist when I'm admitted. I think they will max me out on anti-nausea meds this time... But I'm just recently considering a vbac so that may change things.

Kristen61607

Yeah it was like 30 minutes I think before I got to see and BF them. My hospital is pro BFing so they had me try as soon as I could. Honestly I can't imagine holding them while I was being stitched up, because I truly don't even remember what was going on. I think the spinal made me loopy. I have had to ask DH to fill in a lot of "holes" in my memory of the experience!

clo1982

I did not get immediate skin-to-skin. Once they got her out, the pediatrician that was in the room brought her around the curtain so I could see her; however, I had to keep my arms straight out to the side so I was unable to touch her while they sewed me up. I only saw her for a second (I think) and then they took her to the other side of the room to get cleaned up/measured/all that stuff which took maybe 5-10 minutes...Dh did go with her at that point to see them do all of that..and got a nice glimpse of my wide open stomach. Once I was back in one piece they did give her to me so they could wheel us from the O/R to our room and I remember being really scared because, similar to you, my arms were not steady. I don't remember them being totally numb, but I know I kept saying I shouldn't hold her because I was scared my arms weren't working. I was also shaking like a leaf...like violent shaking which added to my anxiety. They kind of laid her next to me then they took her again once we got to the room. I don't know what they did but it was before I fed her. Maybe for about 20 minutes? After that they brought her in for me to feed her and then I don't remember a whole lot since I started to get sick while I was feeding her and was out of it for the remainder of the day.

 

 

Did you have to have your arms straight out to the side during the whole procedure? I found that to be very awkward and kind of disconcerting. I don't know exactly what I would have done with my hands but having them straight out to the side kind of reminded me of like a psychiatric ward from a movie where the patient is strapped down! They did even tell me that if I moved them they would strap them down! I was like ummmm OK I will be still! I didn't know if that was standard or not though!

katykatykaty

@clo1982 I honestly have no memory of what my arms were doing during the surgery... I just don't think I could move them.  I also remember being cold, and they put a blanket on my chest/neck and for some reason the pressure of it made me feel like I was choking and couldn't breathe.  I'm going to ask my husband about it tonight to see what he remembers. 

CMheart1011

I didn't get to touch or hold DD until about 2 hours after the c/s.  My blood pressure was really low (I assume from the epi or the spinal) and I was a little out of it.  I could barely keep my eyes open and honestly didn't even think about not getting to hold her.  I was in recovery for quite awhile getting my bp back up.  I'm hoping for a better experience this time around and will talk to my OB about it soon.  I really want to have skin to skin with this baby as soon as possible.  I'm hoping having a planned c/s I'll be feeling a little better afterward.

ETA-I don't think my arms were numb, but it's hard to remember.

clo1982

@katykatykaty, in regards to the choking/not breathing, I specifically remember the nurse anesthetist (sp?), who was incredibly awesome, saying that I may feel as though I am not able to breathe because of the spinal and if that happens to look at my chest. That way I will see that it is still moving up and down and mentally that should help me make the connection that I am actually able to continue breathing. I remember it because seriously like 2 seconds after I was like OMG I CAN"T BREATHE!!!!!! And I'm staring at my chest watching it move but completely not convinced that I wasn't just going to suffocate. So maybe it wasn't the blanket!

megs68

My experiences were like yours. Th 2nd time I was very reluctantly getting a c/s so I told th doctor I wanted DD and DH to stay with me in the operating room, to hold her ASAP, etc. the truth was, I felt so nauseous, I was afraid I was going to vomit on her and didn't really care that they were there, I was concentrating on just not throwing up. Plus, laying flat like that, imd not sure how it would have been possible to hold her w/o help.

katykatykaty

clo1982 said:

@katykatykaty, in regards to the choking/not breathing, I specifically remember the nurse anesthetist (sp?), who was incredibly awesome, saying that I may feel as though I am not able to breathe because of the spinal and if that happens to look at my chest. That way I will see that it is still moving up and down and mentally that should help me make the connection that I am actually able to continue breathing. I remember it because seriously like 2 seconds after I was like OMG I CAN"T BREATHE!!!!!! And I'm staring at my chest watching it move but completely not convinced that I wasn't just going to suffocate. So maybe it wasn't the blanket!

So scary, but good to know so I don't freak out if it happens again!  While I was feeling like that, my husband apparently tried to put his hand on my arm (or head or somewhere?) to comfort me, and I told him not to touch me because I couldn't breathe.  He still laughs about how forcefully I told him not to touch me, but I have no recollection of it. 

babylimas

I had a very similar experience @katykatykaty. I had a spinal and my arms were numb. I also felt like I couldn't breathe and started to throw up during the c-section, which was horrible because I couldn't feel the muscles to do it and thought I was choking. I was later told that the spinal may have gone a bit high if I couldn't move my arms. 

They showed my daughter to me and then immediately took her away to the NICU to put under a heating lamp. I never touched her or saw her unswaddled. I was then taken to recovery for a couple of hours. The spinal wouldn't wear off and they wouldn't let me go until I could wiggle my toes. So I didn't see her until I was finally transferred to my room. 

I wasn't upset at all at the time. They gave me zofran and morphine so I was really out of it for a little while and just slept in recovery. I wasn't really lucid enough to be upset about not seeing her. It's such a surreal time and it doesn't seem like the baby is real. 

katykatykaty

@babylimas Surreal is a very good way of describing it.  I was actually surprised to be getting to hold her and breastfeed so quickly (30 minutes to an hour) afterwards last time, so doing it immediately this time seems crazy.  But I'll definitely try, I guess.  Hopefully my husband will catch her when she falls off...  Just kidding.  Hopefully. 

@babycaps I'm delivering at a major university hospital, so they must be one of the few trying out the new initiative.  They also don't have a nursery, so LO will be with me the whole time. 

BoogieMonster629

We didn't do skin to skin in the OR. She was wrapped up and brought over to me right away so I could see her. My arms weren't numb but pretty sure they were held down. Then MH left with her to go do nb tests. As soon as I was wheeled out of the OR and into a room she was brought to me though, so not long 20-30 min?

clo1982

Ugh this is just reminding me of how crappy that whole day was! @babylimas I totally agree with your description of it just being very surreal. I wonder this time if it will be a little different for me since it's planned. Last time it was not planned, 3 weeks early, and was just a complete whirlwind. I assumed I had hours and hours of labor followed by the birth...not an hour of getting checked in, a little pitocin, then boom! You will meet your baby in 20 minutes, get her ready for surgery! I have read some posts of people saying how they were so focused on holding the baby and it makes me jealous that they had such a different experience, as I honestly don't even remember it crossing my mind...except in a negative way because I was scared to hold her in case I dropped her.

 

 

hopefully no FTM's that are going to be getting a c/s have read this thread!!

woeh0017

My OB said I could have baby on chest right away as long as baby and I were both doing well. I didn't have that first time but did get to nurse right away in recovery. I will never forget the feeling of not being able to breathe and feeling alone as DH was with LO and the nurse telling me it was bc my uterus was laying on my chest....ugh, yuck!!!

katykatykaty

@clo1982 Totally agree about being reminded about the bad stuff.  Sorry!   

katieg314

My hospital said that if I was stable they encourage moms to hold the babies immediately, and if I felt a little unsure or weak they encourage dad to help mom hold the baby or even provide skin to skin himself. I am a FTM, so I haven't actually done any of this, but if mom and babies are stable they seem to want as much skin to skin as possible, and as quickly as possible. 

clo1982

woeh0017 said:

My OB said I could have baby on chest right away as long as baby and I were both doing well. I didn't have that first time but did get to nurse right away in recovery. I will never forget the feeling of not being able to breathe and feeling alone as DH was with LO and the nurse telling me it was bc my uterus was laying on my chest....ugh, yuck!!!

OMG!!! I think there are some things that dr's should just leave unsaid! When they put up the sheet I YELLED to my dr that I didn't want to know what they were doing, I didn't want to hear anything that was going on. I can't handle medical stuff like that and would do better if I just had no clue what was going on behind that sheet. He said something about cutting and I was like STOP IT!!!!STOP TALKING ABOUT IT!!!  He was laughing, as were the nurses.

 

@katykatykaty, it's no big deal. It's happening whether I want to remind myself of it or not! And plus this time I know there is an end in sight, which I think helps a bit. Got through it once, so I figure I can do it again!

VineyardMel

I specifically requested that my arms not be restrained and that I could hold her or at least see her before they cleaned her. They put her immediately on my chest to clean her--but it wasn't skin to skin (blankets/my gown between us). I really appreciated my experience and want to do it the same way this time. I didn't do skin to skin /nurse until they brought her to me in recovery. I'm not sure I could have on the table in the OR laying so flat and there was almost no room between the drape and my face.

babylimas

clo1982 said:

woeh0017 said:

My OB said I could have baby on chest right away as long as baby and I were both doing well. I didn't have that first time but did get to nurse right away in recovery. I will never forget the feeling of not being able to breathe and feeling alone as DH was with LO and the nurse telling me it was bc my uterus was laying on my chest....ugh, yuck!!!

OMG!!! I think there are some things that dr's should just leave unsaid! When they put up the sheet I YELLED to my dr that I didn't want to know what they were doing, I didn't want to hear anything that was going on. I can't handle medical stuff like that and would do better if I just had no clue what was going on behind that sheet. He said something about cutting and I was like STOP IT!!!!STOP TALKING ABOUT IT!!!  He was laughing, as were the nurses.

 

@katykatykaty, it's no big deal. It's happening whether I want to remind myself of it or not! And plus this time I know there is an end in sight, which I think helps a bit. Got through it once, so I figure I can do it again!

My sister said she was lying there and looked up at the light. She then realized it had a reflection of what was going on on the other side of the sheet and saw her insides all pulled out. Luckily she's not squeamish, but she said it was really shocking. 

clo1982

babylimas said:

 

My sister said she was lying there and looked up at the light. She then realized it had a reflection of what was going on on the other side of the sheet and saw her insides all pulled out. Luckily she's not squeamish, but she said it was really shocking. 

That would be it for me. I'd be done. They may as well just club me over the head because no amount of talking to me could calm me down! I get terribly squeamish if someone has a cut that is bleeding a lot. Seriously I'm sitting at my desk right now doing the squirm dance because I'm grossed out thinking about it!

BoogieMonster629

@clo1982 We must be the same person, I can't handle that stuff either. Thank god my anesthesiologist distracted me by talking about random tv shows haha!

VineyardMel

Haha--I was having trapped gas pain and I asked the anesthesiologist about it and she said, 'oh, it should get better in a minute--she's about to put your uterus back in.' O_O

Well then. Alrighty. Please don't drop it.

bingbongsmama

My DD was taken straight to the NICU, I didn't even get a good look at her
This time I will request skin to skin but if the baby needs to go to the nicu I won't have a choice. Baby's health has to come first