FTM Having a C-Section

Bizbitty

Hi all,

I recently found out I'm pregnant and know that I will have to schedule a C-Section.  I am nervous about not being able to hold baby after the procedure.  I have heard stories of being completely drugged up and want to know about how long until you are actually able to hold baby?  

 

Also, I am absolutely going to breast feed and know that skin to skin contact is important for baby to get connected and what not.  Will not holding baby right away affect this?  

 

It makes me really sad to think I can't hold him/her right away. 

thepretzelchick

I had a c-section and got to hold him for a few minutes after they cleaned him up.

lovebug33

I wasn't given my baby for five hours. Still bitter.

mben1119

It totally depends on how your surgery goes, and how LO is doing after delivery. I couldn't hold DS for about an hour, then we got bonding/nursing time right away. Not ideal, but it was what it was.

newly_naugler

If yours is scheduled, then you may get to hold him/her sooner. My 1st was an emerg and I was so wiped/drugged after 40 hours of labor that it was a few hours after that I was well enough to hold him. But yours should be smooth. Check hospital policy too. I think more hospitals are opening up to the idea of a more natural c-section.

maganh91

i had my dauhter via csection less than two weeks ago. i asked my doctor all of the same questions too. good news is that the csection itself is a fairly short procedure. so, by the time that they get the baby out and cleaned up and what not, they will bring him/her to you so you can see and then before you know it they will be done closing you up and you will follow the baby to recovery!

mine took a bit longer because i was also having a cyst removed from my ovary during surgery, so that added about an hour to my time. but i did get to see her and they un-tied my arms so i could touch her tiny face and it was just as perfect as you could have imagined it to be. my husband then got to take her into the recovery room where they watied for me.

but under normal circumstances it shouldnt be long before you are reunited with baby. and you will be able to breast feed right when you get into the recovey room. but i would talk to your doctor and make sure he/she knows how important immediate skin to skin and breastfeeding is to you. they may be able to work with you somehow or offer you some solutions.

either way, its going to be SO GREAT!

kpearse99

thepretzelchick:

I had a c-section and got to hold him for a few minutes after they cleaned him up.

This!  I got to hold him while they stitched me back up.  It was wonderful!

And no, not being able to have "skin to skin contact" won't ruin any bonding with your baby.  I did get to hold him, but I didn't breast feed and my connection with him is amazing.  It wasn't saccraficed one bit.

Bizbitty

Thank you all so much for your stories, this does help me to feel more relaxed and reassured about the situation.  I meet with my doctor in the next few weeks and I'll be able to ask her all these things as well!  

hopefulmom81

Right as she is born they will bring her up so you can see her and touch her. 

I was able to hold DD about an hour after my C-Section (not scheduled, after 30 hours of stalled labor) and BF her a few hours after that.  

I really feel like our bond was not affected by this in the slightest.  She has always been a total "mamma's girl"   

It does suck that you don't get to hold them initially, I won't lie, but it isn't EVERYTHING, know what I mean? 

Neener73

DH held DS right after he was cleaned up, weighed, measured, footprinted, etc.  He brought him over to show me and then went to hang out with DS in the recovery room while my OB finished stitching me up.

It probably was 20-30 minutes after DS was born before I was wheeled into recovery.  As soon as the nurse got me settled, she had DH hand DS to me so I could start breastfeeding.  She also had me do skin-to-skin contact.  DS hasn't had any problems connecting/bonding with me.  He was/still is a champ at breastfeeding.

I was completely aware of what was going on during the c-section.  I still think it is odd that I could feel the pushing/pulling during the surgery but didn't have any pain.  Modern medicine amazes me.

 

Potatertot

With my c-section, I was able to hold her briefly after they cleaned her up. Her oxygen levels were a little low though, so after that they took her to the NICU, but she was back with us in an hour. DH was able to go and visit her in the NICU right away though.

If she hadn't had to go to the NICU, we probably would have been ready to go to recovery around the same time. They finished up with me within 10 minutes of being finished cleaning my DD up. I'm assuming had she not gone, I would have just kept holding her/petting her until I got moved to recovery. So while you may not get to do skin to skin, you can definitely still have contact with your LO shortly after. 

I'm breastfeeding as well, and I do regret that I couldn't do the skin to skin right away. As soon as she was back in the room with me though, we started nursing and she has been a champ ever since. This is my first though, so I don't have anything else to compare to, so your results may vary. 

thehauffamily

Our first was an emergency c/s and as soon as our son was cleaned up he was all ours  As soon as he came out, hubby was up, watching them clean him up and snapping pics away  Hubby held him up to me and I got to kiss and rub his face until I was finished being stitched up.  As soon as I was stitched up and put into a slight recline before leaving the OR I was able to hold him into recovery.  Once in recovery they took him to the nursery for an hour where hubby got to go and be with him.  Then he was brought back to me and he stayed with us.

Our second was a scheduled c/s and the same thing happened except much more pleasant b/c I was much more alert!  

This time, we are delivering at a different hospital and they said as soon as baby is born and cleaned up baby will be skin to skin.  I'm not sure how that will work while I'm being stitched up, but they said if not daddy will do it.  

This hospital does "bed side" check ins so baby will never leave our side unless baby has to be taken to NICU.   Which I'm so excited about!  B/c we've always had that separation for an hour and everyone got to oooo and ahhh over her for the hour she was in the nursery getting cleaned up while I was stuck in recovery.  

I think that scheduled c/s are much easier, so be thankful if you know you need one that it will be planned and not an emergency which can be worse recovery and emotional wise (I was pumped with ALOT of drugs with my emergency c/s, and don't remember alot of it, thankfully daddy and the nurses took LOTS of pics so even tho I don't "remember" it I have lots of memories from it)!  

discohiker

our hospital immediately put our son on my husbands bare chest right next to me in the chair that he sat in during the surgery.  As soon as I was cleaned up and able to, I got to hold him and he latched right away. 

MamaKitty3

I didn't get to hold the baby for either one of my C-sections but I don't think I missed out on bonding.  I breastfed with minimal problems and if my youngest was anymore bonded to me, I would have a Siamese twin.  (She's a good girl and very independent but sometimes needs too many hugs if there is such a thing) You might want to look into something called a natural cesarean.  You get to watch as the baby is pulled from your tummy (nothing gross) and the baby is put on your chest, cord intact while the baby is cleaned and measured.  They do a delayed cutting of the cord as well.  It is almost like natural childbirth but not.  I thought it was awesome and might talk to my doctor about it.

giraffe54

lovebug33:

I wasn't given my baby for five hours. Still bitter.

^^ This. Everyone held my baby before me! Grandparents, uncles, nurses, doctors, ugh. I rage inside just thinking about it.

However, breastfeeding went great and I was lucky to have an instant bond with my LO. Talk to your hospital ahead of time if possible to make the best arrangements you can in terms of breastfeeding support (if that's your choice), who can give LO it's first bath, skin to skin, etc. 

FWIW, aside from being passed around the family, my LO was doing skin to skin with my husband for most of the hours I spent trying desperately to be released from surgical recovery. It hurts me emotionally, but I feel my LO got the next best thing. 

anvloveskme

I had an unplanned c section after my water had been broken for over 18 hrs and started running a fever so there was a fear of infection.  DH was able to hold DD near me in the OR and we had skin to skin and breast fed within 2 hrs of my c section.

byrne15

with ds#1, I had an emergency c-section and was under general anesthesia.  I didn't wake up until 2 hours after he was born and didn't hold him for another hour after that (and I didn't care because I didn't even know I had just had a baby).

with ds#2, I had a scheduled c-section and it was totally different.  I didn't feel drugged at all, I watched him get pulled out over the curtain and cleaned up right next to me.  By the time he was cleand up, my c-section was done and I was able to hold him while they pushed me back to my room.  I BFed him for the 1st time about 25 minutes after he was born.

Jenny952

No you can absolutely still bf!  My DD was born by c-section and was transported to the NICU right away.  On her birthday I got about 10 minutes of skin-to-skin contact with her.  I didn't start nursing until the next evening, about 36 hours later, and we've now been bf for 1 year!