The C-Section Thread

hestia-is-wearie

Since we have a natural/epidural thread and a VBAC thread, it's only fair we have a c-section thread, too. 

Are you planning for a c-section? Have you and your provider decided it's in your best interests to have one? Just want to learn about them in case your birth goes that route? Talk about them and ask all your questions here!

hestia-is-wearie

My reply got much longer than I thought it would Keep reading if you want to hear about my CS saga...

With my first pregnancy, I knew right from the start that it would be a CS: I had a myomectomy (fibroid removal) a few years before, and at the time I was told there would be a 90% chance I'd have a CS because the risk of uterine rupture was too great. Even going into labor was seen as too risky for me. My CS was scheduled for 39W1D; I was not in labor, although based on how things were progressing I believe I would have been a day or two away from labor starting.
A huge upside to a scheduled CS is that the environment going into one feels very relaxed. I think this is where people get the idea that a CS is "the easy way out" (which it definitely isn't--more on that later). My nurses intentionally took their time in prepping me, which included an IV placement, blood draw, taking a liquid antacid, and pubic shave (which tickled a lot ). I got a spinal block, which took effect almost right away. I was able to feel all the pressure but no pain. (And fortunately, I did not feel the catheter go in at all.) DH sat next to my head; we were behind a tall blue drape that was impossible to see around. I did not feel my OB cut me open, but right after I felt the most unsettling sensation of a pair of hands rummaging inside my belly. For the last couple seconds, my lungs were so squashed I couldn't breathe, but then...BABY!! My OB held DD over the drape for a few seconds and I immediately fell in love with this purplish, waxy alien 
DH was the first to hold her since my right arm was restrained. I said I wanted skin-to-skin in the OR, but my providers said all they could really do was place DD against my cheek. Not what I had in mind, but at that point I couldn't argue. (There are some places that allow chest skin-to-skin after a CS. My hospital had told me that was possible then was like "sorry, no" when it was time to deliver. ) It took me about two hours to be able to properly hold DD because of how long it took to put me back together and wheel me back to pre-op. Breastfeeding was not easy, at first because I was still numb, then because my abdomen was in so much pain that I didn't have full range of movement. I finally got out of bed 8 hours postpartum and my immediate thought was, "I feel like I'm 90 years old." And that's exactly how slow I walked. It was too painful to move any faster. Sitting down took me ten whole seconds. 1 day postpartum, my nurse set a goal for me to walk a lap around the maternity ward: I made it but was so exhausted and sore that I couldn't fathom going any further. It was a sobering contrast to my friend who delivered vaginally a month before: she was walking, practically bouncing around her hospital room like it was nothing. It took me about two weeks to be able to comfortably walk around my neighborhood. And it also took me about a week to be able to brush my teeth without it hurting my abs.
CS moms still receive fundal rubs (ouch), have postpartum vaginal bleeding, and experience painful constipation. I also have a weakened pelvic floor despite never experiencing labor, much less pushing. Sure, the leadup to a scheduled CS is generally painless, but there is so much pain after the baby is born, and it lingers for a long time. Even when DD turned 1, I still felt a little tension if I did a backbend in yoga. I'm lucky that my scar healed well (to the point where it's invisible on an ultrasound) and that I eventually regained a full range of motion. I did quite a few scar mobility exercises and I think that helped me a lot. 
I'm planning on a VBAC this time around, but I'm happy to answer any more questions about a c-section!