husbands passing out

chelseaepley

Yesterday at my 39 week appt my OB told me she would pull the curtain down during my section so I could watch her pull baby out. Of course, I'm all for it. But DH is freaking out about it. He has a relatively strong stomach and isn't squeamish but he's convinced hes going to just die if he sees anything. My question is, has anyone's SO actually passed out while you were in labor or during section?! How did you handle it? And how did the doctors handle it?

MargaretC5

DH did not pass out, but the nursed warned us it is not uncommon for the H to pass out. My CS was at noon and the nurse insisted that DH go eat lunch before, so he would not pass out.
If your H does not want to see, the nurse would probably be willing to give him warning when to look away. The baby is out really quickly, so if they are putting the curtain back up he should not need to look away for long.

chelseaepley

He wants to be a part of it. He wants to look. I'm sure if he starts feeling weird he will speak up or look away. They also told him to request a chair instead of a stool so if he does pass out he wont fall on the floor! I think hell be okay. He's the one going back and forth about it. He's stressing me out!

itstheblackwidowbaby

BWAHAHAHA. I think I'd probably pee myself laughing if my SO fainted. Oh yeah, and never let him live it down! I think the best thing if he's really worried about that is focusing on you while the curtain is down - maybe asking if the doctor or a nurse can give him a code word for when it's safe to look.

I'm personally more like your hubs - pull it down some please so I can see my LO being pulled out but I want an absolute zero percent chance of seeing my organs displaced. That's actually probably more of what they're doing so maybe he can just put his head next to yours as well so he'll be at your eye level?

katiedhunter

My DH watched my entire csection. He did great, but he's also not squeamish or anything like that. Actually I kind of watched it too, the big overhead lights they used were pretty reflective so I actually saw a lot of what they were doing.

chelseaepley

Oh, he would NEVER live it down if he passed out. Ever! I've made many suggestions to him to make it easier on his poor little baby eyes by he says hes a man and he can handle it. We shall see. Csection in the morning!

MargaretC5

Good luck tomorrow. Let us know how your H does.

WeirdAlice

During our hospital tour they told my BF if he knew ahead of time that he couldn't handle it and thought he might pass out not to bother going back and to have me find someone (if I wanted anyone else) who could handle it to be there with me. I said it's him or no one. They said it's just a precaution to tell him beforehand so he doesn't "get in the way".

rubirubi89

A friend of mine gave birth at the same hospital I'm going to and she says her SO had to sign a waiver stating that if he did pass out he would be scooped to the side 'till they were done with mom and baby. My husband is not squeamish so I think he'd be fine.

chelseaepley

He's stressing over the littlest things. I honestly think he's majorly over reacting! They said they'll roll up a sterile towel and lay it across my abdomen to sort of cover the incision so he can't see organs or anything. And as soon as baby is out the curtain goes right back up! I told him if he passes out, I'm telling the nurse to give him a gentle kick to the side and do their thing with me and baby.

RaisingJulian

When I was in labor at first they checked me to see how dilated I was and they said "either that is a really bald baby or he's breech. You may need a c section" my fiancé threw up after that because he had drank 3 energy drinks on an empty stomach. Let's just say that was nasty.

AmoLovesAud

I'm more concerned that I'm going to pass out!  I've fainted just getting my blood drawn before.  DH doesn't want to see anything but the baby, his job is to focus on me and distract me so I don't hear anything or think about what's going on.

cdepperschmidt

AmoLovesAud said:

I'm more concerned that I'm going to pass out!  I've fainted just getting my blood drawn before.  DH doesn't want to see anything but the baby, his job is to focus on me and distract me so I don't hear anything or think about what's going on.

I'm with you. I told my husband that if I have a C section they'll have to put me out or I'll pass out.

chelseaepley

Today is the big day. Scheduled for noon. Please say a prayer that he doesn't pass out!!! But gosh, it'll be funny if he does.

MargaretC5

AmoLovesAud said:

I'm more concerned that I'm going to pass out!  I've fainted just getting my blood drawn before.  DH doesn't want to see anything but the baby, his job is to focus on me and distract me so I don't hear anything or think about what's going on.

Talk to your anesthesiologist about your concerns. Once the baby is out there are some options they can give you thru the iv to help you relax. It can make you forget the CS after administered, I thought this was a bonus, but I can see how others may not like that. I forget the name of the drug, but I had it with both my CS. For my first I remember seeing DS, then nothing else until I was in recovery. My second I remember the whole CS, but I had no anxiety.

AmoLovesAud

MargaretC5 said:

I'm more concerned that I'm going to pass out!  I've fainted just getting my blood drawn before.  DH doesn't want to see anything but the baby, his job is to focus on me and distract me so I don't hear anything or think about what's going on.

Talk to your anesthesiologist about your concerns. Once the baby is out there are some options they can give you thru the iv to help you relax. It can make you forget the CS after administered, I thought this was a bonus, but I can see how others may not like that. I forget the name of the drug, but I had it with both my CS. For my first I remember seeing DS, then nothing else until I was in recovery. My second I remember the whole CS, but I had no anxiety.

I have a meeting next Thursday with the OB doing the c/s, and I am planning to let her know my concerns.  Good to know there are options; I was worried that after baby was out, I was stuck just laying there awake listening to them sew me up for a good 20-30 minutes.

chelseaepley

Update: Hubs did wonderfully. He watched the entire thing and told me what they were doing which kept me pretty calm. I was very sick th whole time though. Lots of vomiting. But he DID NOT PASS OUT!!!! YAY!!! and I've never seen him cry as much as he did when they pulled baby boy out. I love my husband!

mom4liak

My DH did pass out. This was our 5th c section and he has never had an issue before. He is an avid hunter and always processes his own kills.
I had an emergency CS this time and DH had been working when I call him and let him know it was go time. He had been at work (physical outdoors job) since 5am. I called him just before 7pm and he was nearly 2 hours away. He made it to the hospital in 1 hr and quickly changed and off to the OR we went. Because of all my previous CS, it was a very long process to get baby out. He sat on the stool next to my head for over an hour until DD was born. He saw her, stated he looked just like him, then said he needed to step into the hall. He stood, told the nurse he was going to the hallway, turned towards the door and down he went.
Apparently he hadn't eaten since around 11am and obviously had an adrenaline surge when he found out we would be meeting DD a month early. Once she was born his body kind of relaxed and that was all they wrote. He was given some juice and crackers me was back and 100% within minutes. He was even able to go to the NICU with her while I remained in the OR for another couple of hours.

HopefulMNMom

My husband is very squeamish and has a hard time with anything medical so I was worried about this scenario. I gave birth on Tuesday and he was an absolute champ! He talked me through my painful contractions, massaged my back/hips, held my leg while pushing and encouraged me to push harder. I honestly couldn't have done it without him! I hope your husbands/SOs are the same and you all have great deliveries!

beckyrus

My 16 year old daughter nearly passed out watching her brother be born vaginally. I had no idea ... Pushing a baby out here and all of a sudden a bunch of people rush in to tend to her!! Luckily my mom could worry about her. I told her this time she has to stay up by my head so it doesn't happen again!! But I like to tease her that the nurses will remember her and not let her stay!!

NovemberSno

beckyrus said:

My 16 year old daughter nearly passed out watching her brother be born vaginally. I had no idea ... Pushing a baby out here and all of a sudden a bunch of people rush in to tend to her!! Luckily my mom could worry about her. I told her this time she has to stay up by my head so it doesn't happen again!! But I like to tease her that the nurses will remember her and not let her stay!!

Wow talk about good birth control method lol! Yikes.
That's good, I had a 16yo 7month pregnant patient one time who thought the baby came out from the same place pee did. She didn't know there are more than 2 holes down there. Had to explain her anatomy to her and she was so shocked.