I think I felt way more of my surgery than you're supposed to. First it took forever to get the spinal in then it didn't work very quickly. My dr did his pinch test 3 times and had to wait before he could start. Then I could feel more than just pressure while he was working. It wasn't a sharp pain but like someone grabbing your arm really roughly. It didn't sting or burn but did feel bad. I felt him pushing her out and stitching me up but it was just the pressure they tell you about. I know that's normal and it didn't hurt at all. I kept groaning when I felt something because I didn't think I could talk to really explain it. Finally the dr asked anesthesia if I was ok and he said he thought I was just feeling pressure based on when I groaned vs. what dr was doing. But OMG when the dr closed my uterus up and started cleaning me out, man that hurt. I yelped and I think at that point they realized that I was feeling what was going on. The dr apologized and said it was the worst part but he had to do the other side too.
So I'm wondering if this is just normal and I'm being whiney? Or was my anesthesia wearing off? I know by the time they were finished it was going fast. When they moved me from the operating table back to my bed they had to roll me on my side twice and it brought tears to my eyes it hurt so bad. I have friends who say their c-sections were easy and no one on tv (yeah I know I shouldn't base things on TV!) seems to feel much during theirs.
Re: Did you feel much?
Christian Alexander - 11/13/06
Amelia Rose & Owen Thomas - 3/29/11
I was really wondering! When he put my cerclages in I never felt the pinch tests then. I was so worried the meds wouldn't work I kept asking like a dork if he would make sure the meds were working first and finally they told me he'd already started LOL.
But this section, good grief. I thought about asking him about it at my appt this week but I forgot. With the pain and the meds for my BP they were pumping it was all I could do not to pass out. I would've asked to be knocked out! But they would've made DH leave the OR and I wouldn't have gotten to see/hear LO =(
I have read on here that ppl say once they do the spinal your feet/legs go numb really fast...did you feel that way? I would think that if it works that fast that you wouldnt feel the pain. I am having a c sec tomorrow and am now scared of experiencing what you did!
Also..does anyone know..do they give you more meds if you weigh more? I have gained 40 lbs being pregnant..190 lbs and Im only 5'4...will they take that into consideration?
Yes, your height and weight will absolutely be taken into consideration with your dosing.
To answer the original poster's question. I felt almost everything of my c/s to the point where they had to knock me out. It was awful. My OB called it a "failed spinal," and while I got to hear LOs first cries, if we do this again, I will be requesting general anesthesia.
I didn't feel a thing, so much so that I didn't even know they started til I heard my son's first cry.
You aren't alone. I think I felt more than I should have. They did the pinch test 3 times before I finally said that it wasn't too bad, so they could go ahead. I still felt it, but it was no longer hurting like it was the first 2 times. I had my epi almost 12 hours prior to my surgery and it had already worn off twice before they got me to the OR (when I got there, I felt completely normal). I can't say I felt pain during the surgery, but the pressure, tugging and pushing was quite intense and I was so distracted by it that I barely remember much of my son's birth. I felt as if I was fighting off a panic attack through most of the surgery because of what I was feeling.
I have a friend who had a c-section a month after I did, and she said she didn't feel a thing at all.
I hope that I don't have to go through that again with any future pregnancies, and if I do have to have another c/s, I don't know how I would handle it.
This. I didn't even feel the catheter being inserted.
  
Sorry you had a bad experience