Let me start by saying that I am a HUGE big baby with horrible anxiety about hospitals, doc offices, and pain. I am scheduled to have a C-section with my twins in December, and I'm just looking to find out what kind of pain medication you're given during the procedure, immediately after, days later, etc.
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Re: Walk me through a C-Section...
I had an epidural for the procedure, after they gave me toridol(sp.) which is basically strong IV ibuprofen, before the epidural wore off. They gave me that every few hours for the first 24, then I just took regular ibuprofen as needed. I had the option of vicodin, but I honestly didn't think the paid was that bad, except when sitting up/lying down.
I think the best advice I have is to get up and get moving as soon as you can, that really helped me to not need heavier pain meds. I also think rooming in helped because I had to get up out of bed and take care of DS, a crying newborn is very motivating. I know I have a high pain tolerance, and I see you might not, so take the vicodin if you need it, and do your best to get up and move around as much as possible.
Good Luck!
I had an unplanned c-section, so mine is a little a different than yours will probably be, but anyways.
I started off my labor after pitocin, I stalled at 4cm. I had an IV narcotic at 9 am, and then got my epidural at noon. I was wheeled into the OR at 6:50pm. They pushed some more meds into my epidural, but I still felt them start to cut, so they pushed more in, and waited 10 minutes. She was out pretty quickly, but I passed out right after she was pulled out, and it took a little longer to finish though, I had some very minor bleeding problems. I was wheeled to recovery at about 8:15 pm, DD was out at 7:38pm I was given vicodin by IV for the first 24 hours. Than given Ibuprofen and Percoset by mouth until I left. (That's also what I was sent home with)
I also agree to get up and move as much as possible. I felt 10 times better as soon as they let me up to shower and moved around. They made me take as many laps as I could around the floor, 3 times a day. It helped so much.
Good Luck!
I was induced and after 14 hours with NO progress and a huge baby, my Dr thought it was best to do the c/s.
I was given something orally to neutralize my stomach acid. Then they shaved my lower abdomen where the cut was going to be made.
I walked to the OR (which annoyed me bc I was in labor and leaking fluids everywhere). In the OR I got the spinal, which was not painful at all. It was fast and I was numb very quickly. They usually strap your arms to the table (out to the side), but that freaked me out so they agreed to let me just hold my arms out. DH held my hands to keep me from moving them out of that position.
I heard my OB say "scalpel" and I then I stopped paying attention. DD was out about 10 min after they started and it took about 40 min to finish me up after that. You feel immense pressure when they lift the baby out, and then once he/she is out, you feel like a weight was taken off you. It's an odd sensation.
DH went with DD and took pictures of her and kept bringing the camera over to me to show me.
I got IV meds for 24 hours, then I took Percoset for 12 hours and then switched to just motrin. Overall the pain wasn't bad at all.
BLOG: The Quinntessential Mommy
My LO was breech the whole pregnancy and we did schedule my C-section at 36 weeks. We figured that if she did flip we could always cancel the section. I tried all of the exercises and they did not work. I opted not to have an external version done. So I was scheduled for a C-section 1 week before my due date. Here is my story and I hope it answers some of your questions you may have. I ended up going into labor the night before my scheduled C-section. We got to the hospital at 4am and when they checked me they told me I was 6cm dilated. They did not give me anything to stop the contractions. All they did was prep me and get me ready for surgery. They did do a quick u/s just to make sure that my LO had not turned but she did not so it was off to the OR I went.
Once they hooked me up and got me prepped I walked down to the OR with the doc. When I got in they sat me on the table and gave me my spinal. It did not hurt at all. I think the key is to relax and breathe deep. Keep your chin down against your chest and don't tighten up. It kicks in right away in that they had to lift my legs up onto the table. They then put in my catheter and cleaned off my tummy. Keep in mind I saw none of this and felt none of this. My husband then came in and joined me sitting up next to my head. They began the surgery and within minutes my baby girl came out screaming and crying which then both my husband and I were crying as well. The doctor had to dry my eyes for me. They cleaned her off and then brought her around for my husband to hold and I got to kiss her and touch her hands and face. They then took her to my recovery room and they sewed me back up. I did not get staples. All in all that all took about 40 minutes. As soon as they wheeled me into recovery my LO was right there next to my bed. Since nothing was wrong with my arms or hands I was able to hold her right away and nurse her. I was in recovery for about 5 hours and during that time we took pictures, videos, I was texting and talking on the phone. They took her to give her the first bath. Once all of the feeling was back in my legs they moved me into my room. When I got there I nursed her again and we did skin to skin contact. They we started to have visitors. The first day I really felt nothing. They left the catheter in the entire day and over night because I was having issues with my BP so they did not want me out of bed at all that first day. Also I was on a liquid diet the entire first day which was fine because when I did try to drink something I felt really sick to my stomach. This was all on a Thursday.
Now the 2nd day kind of sucked. I was really tired because I did not get much sleep the past two nights. I was also bleeding pretty badly which is totally normal. At one point I had to have one of the nurses clean me up. This sucked because I had to lift myself up and turn side to side. Also they check your uterus by pressing on your belly button. That was seriously painful. Like this was probably the worst part about having a C-section. I decided against wearing my own pjs and underwear because of how much I was bleeding. Around 2:00pm that day they finally went to take out my catheter out since my BP was back to normal. Also they wanted to move me to my permanent room. Here I thought they were going to just wheel me into my new room. Oh no I had to get out of bed and into a wheelchair. That was horrible. The best advice I can give to you is to get one of those stomach binders. This was a lifesaver for me. It sort of keeps everything in place and makes it much easier to move around. Also when getting up do it in one quick motion cause doing it slow just prolongs the pain. For me it felt like a burning and like as if my incision was going to tear open. As much as getting up and moving around sucked you have to do it because it makes your recovery faster and easier. Not only did I get in and out of bed I ate dinner that night in a chair and took a lap around the floor of the hospital. I also was able to eat my first real meal. They suggested not to eat anything really heavy so I had a turkey sandwich and chicken noodle soup and ginger ale. Also all during this day I was having awful pains in the bones of my neck. At first I thought it was due to how I was sitting during nursing. When I mentioned it to the doctor she told me it was gas pains. I found out that when they open you up air gets up inside of you and it all has to work its way back down. It was pretty annoying but they do have pills for you to take for this. They told me that they were called gas pills.
Saturday was much better. Of course it still hurt to get up and around but not as much. In fact I was able to take a shower that morning which felt fantastic. However, it took so much of my energy out of me. The bleeding was not as bad and I could finally get out of bed to tend to my baby if she was crying.
Sunday morning my doc came in and checked me and asked if we wanted to go home. We said yes so she said that we could check out. We could have stayed 1 more night but, we really wanted to be home. So I showered up, filled out papers, got our things together and checked out at about 2pm that day. Also if you have a SUV bring a step stool with you so that it is easier and less painful getting in and out of your car.
Overall I had a good experience with my C-section. It was not something I had planned or wanted at first but know that it was the best thing to do. I would say that about a week after she was born I stopped wearing the binder and could move around a lot easier. I would take about 1 percocet a day and that was for about a week only. Then I just took motrin. And 2 weeks after she was born we were out getting our Christmas tree. Just try to take it easy because you will have just had major surgery. Even though there is pain involved more so with recovery than anything else just keep telling yourself that then end result is all worth it. I wish you the best of luck and I hope I was able to answer some of the questions you may have had about all of this. Please feel free to ask me anything else about this. Good luck:)Court
DH 40 ME 40
GD, Myasthenia Gravis, Factor V Leiden
DS #1 born via emergancy c-section 01/23/06 at 37w
DS#2 born via c-section 10/27/2007 at 36w due to PROM
DS #3 born via repeat c-section 04/13/2012 at 39w
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,but by the moments that take our breath away." - George Carlin
Here is my twin c-section.
I was scheduled for 38 weeks but at 36w5d they decided to go ahead and do the surgery due to my increasing blood pressure. A growth u/s a few days before showed one as an almost 8 lb baby and the other at 7.
I went in for a bp check at L&D at 3:00. At 6:00 they decided we would deliver that day. Around 7:30 the nurse did some initial prep (IV, shaved the incision area, soaped up and cleaned the incision area, etc). My husband was also given a gown, shoe covers and a cap.
At 8:00 the anesthesiologist and nurse anesthetist came by to talk to me and, along with 2 other nurses, helped me walk to the OR. My husband had to stay behind during this time.They explained the spinal procedure to me.
The spinal was easy. In the OR, I had to sit down and sort of bend over (as much as I could). He numbed the area on my spine (was supposed to be a bee sting but really didn't hurt), then put in the spinal, which I didn't really feel at all. They lifted my legs and had me lie down immediately and I went completely numb from chest down within minutes. The nurse tested different spots on my body with a cold wipe to see if I could feel anything.
During this time, the nurses were prepping me and my OB had arrived. They had already put up the curtain and I could feel them messing around but I don't know what they were doing. I assume putting in the catheter and prepping the area. I did have a little bit of trouble with my bp plummeting very low and my heart rate speeding up too fast, but they pushed meds to control it. The nurse was great and constantly asked how I was feeling. If I told him dizzy, nauseous, etc he would adjust my meds accordingly.
Once they had my bp stable, DH came in and sat by my head. I did not have my arms strapped down, in case you wondered about that. My OB was speaking out loud during the procedure. She told me I would feel pressure as they pulled out the first baby and I did. It felt like they were pushing down on my upper abdomen but was only uncomfortable, not painful. She said the water was clear, said WHOA when she saw his size (he was 8lb 7oz) and I heard him cry immediately. I couldn't see him, but she must have handed him off to the baby nurse team because she started working on Baby B.
I could hear him crying as they cleaned him up and the NICU team evaluated him (I don't know if NICU is always on standby for a twin delivery, but since mine were slightly preterm they were there to evaluate). He was wrapped up, handed to DH and I was able to kiss him and touch him as they delivered my second son. The process was the same for him, and he weighed 7lb 1oz. Baby A was born at 8:28, Baby B at 8:29.
After a little while of meeting and greeting with the boys (while I was getting stitched up) DH went with them to the nursery (no NICU needed) and my took a while longer to push extra pitocin since my uterus was so huge. It did take about 30 minutes for them to finish me up, but I was drowsy at that time and just tried to relax.
I was wheeled to recovery and was there alone with a nurse for about 20 minutes before DH came in. The boys stayed in the nursery to regulate temp and because their blood sugar was slightly low. I was allowed to eat ice chips at this time. It took less than an hour for the feeling to come back to my lower body, but my spinal contained a strong painkiller called Duramorph so it really didn't hurt that badly at this time.
After I was sent to my room, they brought in the boys to try to nurse. I did have to leave my catheter in until the next morning, though they did try to get me to walk around with it still in. It hurt to walk, and once the duramorph wore off I did need vicodin for the pain. I only took vicodin for a couple of days, then was on ibuprofen for a week.
My main complication was blood pressure related. It spiked after delivery and took 10 weeks and medication to bring back down, but that was unrelated to my csection.
Probably more detail than you wanted, but PM me if you want more info about a twin csection or related.
Mine went like this:
check in
get the gown on, IVs in, baby moniters on my belly
Hair net and a ride to the OR
Epidural
Light headed for about 20 min, baby out, stitched up and on my way to recovery with baby in hand.
home after 3 days
From what I recall:
Anesthesia resident comes in to talk to me in L & D room
Nurse gives me that stomach acid neutralizer drink
Walk to OR with anesthesia resident, husband, and nurse.
(I had asked that my husband be allowed in the OR when I got my spinal and they let him stay there because he's a doctor)
Get prepped, get spinal ( This wasn't bad at all. Mostly because I was too p*ssed off about having a c-section to care)
Laid back, felt completely exposed and naked like a slab of meat while people seemed to mess around and get a catheter in
pinched to make sure spinal is working
OB on call pats my stomach and tells me that he thinks my doctor guessed right and the baby is about 6.5 lbs; I'm still too p*ssed at him to respond
shaking violently, told by anesthesia to just go with it
talking by surgeons and anesthesia, can't remember anything else
Still can't remember anything that happened for next few minutes
No memory
The next thing I remember is that the anesthesia resident exclaims, "wow, you don't even look like you had a baby"
Can't remember; suddenly in recovery room
Totally delirious, want baby, nurse is annoying me for some reason (probably because I can't have baby)
A few hours pass, wheeled up to post partum mom & baby floor, *finally* get to hold baby
Recovery:
All I wanted was the IV and catheter out ASAP
got them out like 10-12 hours later
couldn't pee very well (I ended up with a UTI)
too stuborn to take narcotics; took ibuprofen in hospital
incision hurt tremendously in hospital; it felt like I was about to split open if I moved -- a nurse assured me this was a normal feeling
home 2 days post op; still in tons of pain; started taking walks
felt decent about 2 weeks post op
running 5 weeks post op
We arrived 3 hours before scheduled c-section to complete paperwork and also because doc wanted to confirm that baby was still breech (she had originally started off transverse and later moved to breech). Once ultrasound was completed, we were moved to temp. room to wait. Nurse asked if I wanted to have catheter inserted then or wait til spinal. I waited til spinal
She also checked the incision area to see if she needed to shave it - I had waxed, so I didn't need any additional hair removal.
We were both put in to our gowns - all of jewellery was removed. And we waited for just over an hour and a half. There was an emerg csection just before us so we waited a little longer than our scheduled start time.
I walked down to OR with the nurse. DH was told he had to wait outside until advised he could come in. The OR was very cold. You could feel it as soon as you were approaching. There was approx. 8-10 nurses/doctors in the room. They all introduced themselves and what their role was. During the time DH was waiting they did the spinal. I didn't feel anything at all. It was the coolest feeling to feel it taking affect. You could feel your legs start to get tingly and warm. Within seconds, you can't move them or feel them.
Then catheter was inserted (it's not a nice feeling having so many people walking around while you're having this done but I suppose it's no different than having a vaginal birth) and monitors etc. hooked up. The 2 things I was dreading was the curtain going up and being strapped down (I'm a bit claustrophobic) and was hoping it wasn't going to happen. After they inserted the oxygen - I felt sick to my stomach because of the curtain, the strapping down and the oxygen stuck up my nose. It eventually passed.
DH was let in
he said the worst part was seeing me strapped down, he wasn't prepared for that.
I didn't feel any pressure, pulling or tugging. The baby was out within 10 minutes. They cleaned baby up and passed her off to DH who had since been asked to step outside again as they began to put me back together. I was probably in the OR another 45-60 minutes. The only time I saw baby was just as they flashed her to us right after she was delivered.
After surgery I was taken to a recovery unit, with DH and LO. There was 2 nurses who monitor you. During this time, if you are breastfeeding, they will likely encourage you to have LO feed. They say it's important to do this as quickly as possible so that they can develop their latch (and to try to feed, to encourage your milk to come in if it hasn't yet). It took about 2 hours before any of the spinal started to wear off. Once this happened they took us to our room.
I was on IV for hydration - Some women who have csections do not bleed (vaginally) right after. They kept me on IV until this happened as you typically will have a major "gush" once you start bleeding. I didn't start bleeding until 2 days after surgery. I had to cart the damn IV around with me for 2 days and as you can imagine I was quite swollen from all the fluids.
They gave me a series of medications on a regular basis - stomach neutralizer, stool softener, percocet, iron pill, tylenol 3 are the ones I can remember. I tried to avoid taking percocet but I often made my pain worse by doing so, so I just tried to take less than what they were suggesting.
They have you up and walking within a few hours to prevent the possibility of developing blot clots. Getting your blood circulating also will encourage you healing. I was in tears for the first couple of times I got up- the pain wasn't intense (because I was on meds) but I was just scared of the feeling. I didn't know how easy it was to "split " open. They kept assuring me it was unlikely but it just took some time getting use to. It would take me 20 minutes to get out of bed, just trying to find the right position
On the 3rd day, the nurse removed my staples and placed several strips of tape. We were discharged as scheduled. Try to do as little as possible. That was my mistake - doing too much and being on my feet. You may feel ok but by the end of the day, the pain is pretty bad. I was given a prescription of percocet, of which I continued to take for about a week.
By 2 weeks I felt well enough to go for small (slow) walks. We did have to take our bed off the frame because it was too hard for me to get out of at night to get LO.
8 weeks given clearance for return to regular activities
Good luck ...and an early congrats