? for those who had a scheduled c-section

ke19 · May 2012

Since DS is breech, my c-section will either be the 22nd or 24th (next week - we will find out tomorrow at our 38 week appt the exact date and time). I've known since 36 weeks that he's breech and have been doing everything in my power to flip him, but I'm not too confident, as he's really wedged up under my ribs and seems very happy there.

I'm just having a really hard time dealing with the c-section/surgery. I cry probably 15-20 times a day. Frankly, it's ruined the end of this entire pregnancy (I've had a perfect, easy pregnancy until this) and it makes me really upset to have this black cloud over me. I want to be able to "get over it" and feel at peace with this, but I just can't seem to do that.

The worst part is that when I think about giving birth, I can't even really get excited about the fact that I'm meeting my baby next week - all I can think of is how scary and horrible the surgery and recovery will be. I seriously am dreading it and I'm borderline depressed about it. My DH is SO excited to meet the baby and I'm just like "yeah, it will be great". It seriously sucks that I have this attitude.

I think my biggest fear is that during the surgery, after the take the baby out, I won't feel that "new mom high" and I'll just feel numb and not excited that he's here because I'll be in surgery getting stitched up and I'll be drugged up for his first day (and days after that).

Will I ever get to a point where I start to actually feel excited? Will I still feel that new mom excitement once he's born? Will I have any adrenalin after he's born to help me get over these feelings - I'm so worried the pain medicine is just going to numb me? I feel like a huge baby acting like this, but my hormones are crazy and I just can't control how I'm feeling. It's like I already have PPD and he's not even born yet. Sorry this is so long and rambling.

Monicagail1 · May 2012

I had almost the exact same situation. DD2 was head down at 32 weeks, and flipped to breech by 34 weeks. I tried exercises from spinningbabies, chiropractic, etc to get her to flip, but she was not moving, and she was estimated to be too big for my doctor to try a version. The day they brought up actually scheduling a c/s I broke down sobbing in the appointment. My doctor thought I was nuts. I was totally depressed about having to have a c/s, and like you I felt it really put a damper on the end of my pregnancy. It never occurred to me that I'd have anything but a vaginal delivery, especially since I had one with no problem with DD1.

I don't know if you'll ever be "excited" about the prospect of major surgery. For me I think it helped that I ended up going into labor on my own before the scheduled c/s, so I had to have an emergency c/s. At least I got to experience some part of the process naturally, and at that point there wasn't time to worry about stuff. It was happening and I just went with the flow.

I think that ultimately it doesn't matter how your baby arrives-once they're out you'll feel that "new mom high". I actually felt it more this time than with my vag birth with DD1. Maybe it helped that I wasn't exhausted from an induction, or maybe it was a culmination of all the stress and fear of having a c/s, but it was amazing hearing her cry for the first time. Recovery was hard, especially in the first few days, but I never felt overly drugged. You have a say in how many meds you take, so you can balance your pain control with how the meds make you feel.

I hope this helps. At the end of the day it's all in what you make of it. Try not to stress too much, and take heart in the knowledge that at the end you and baby will be healthy.

Daisy22 · May 2012

DS2 and this baby are planned c/s. DS1 was a c/s but after my water broke and never went into labor/past 1cm. I was never drugged enough to be numb emotionally. I wasn't even foggy during any of my c/s. As soon as dh showed my my sons everythign in the world just stood still. It was such an awesome feeling seeing them for the first time. It was great. I will never forget those moments. Even through it was in an OR I never felt like I missed out on anything. I have 2 healthy boys and about to have a 3rd, that's all I can ask for.

I would advise you to ask your OB what your hospital procotol is for after the baby is here and what type of meds they will give you so you know exactly what will. My hospital keeps you with the baby as much as possible. Dh took the baby to the recovery room but I was in recovery within 30mins of ds1 being born and 45 mins of ds2 being born. I was doing skin-to-skin/nursing within an hour of them coming. For pain meds, my hospital puts a pain pump into the epi spot. It didn't make me feel drugged at all but kept the pain at a minimal. After 24 hours I went on precoset and prescription mortin. I only took 1 precoset at a time and alternated that with the mortin.

AwkwardBaby · May 2012

I had to have a scheduled c/s on March 25, and it was great! I did mourn the fact that I didn't get to have a "normal" delivery. I really don't think I missed out on anything. I fully remember everything that happened - I just made it clear to the anethesiologist that I wanted to be able to remember everything. I ended up getting some type of morphine block/drip in my spinal that lasted 20 hours, so my pain was managed pretty good. I was on Vicodin and ibuprofen orally after that ( the exact dosage I came home on).

Really, once the baby is there you really wont care. I was able to nurse within an hOur after delivery, and I really feel like I didn't miss anything. I will be having a rc/s with my next pregnancy without a doubt.

Oh- and one more thing. Make sure your husband or some other person brushes your hair after surgery or at least before pictures. I was so mad that no one told me I was a hot mess! (You won't be able to get out of bed for a few hours, and I didn't think to have someone bring me a mirror - everyone has been prepped for any future c/s that my hair be brushed BEFORE pictures!)

pinkmoonlight · May 2012

I cannot say I am in the exact situation as I had an emergency c-section with DD after 27 hours of labor. I am having a scheduled c-section this time around. What you are feeling it pretty up to par with what I am feeling with my scheduled c-section.

I worry that I will never feel that instant connection with my children due to having to deliver via c-section. It's not like with DD it was never there, it was I was just so drugged up from the General that I was to tired to even realize what was going on or come to any terms with what had happened. By the next day I was so over the moon that she was there but it was different from what I expected it to be. Over the last few weeks I have finally come to terms with everything and feel better about it but I am still nervous about it.

My suggestion is to talk to your doctor about these feelings, it has really helped me. My doctor went over every little detail about the surgery with me at my last appointment and answered all of my questions such as when will I get to hold and BF my baby?

It really helped me get over some of my feelings about it, although I am still nervous because no matter what there is still some scariness to having major surgery.

stemms8810 · May 2012

I just had my 2nd c/s and I had a great experience. Part of your recovery is mental I think. It doesn't have to be horrible and I wasn't drugged up so that I couldn't enjoy my baby. I was so excited when he was born and so emotional, it was wonderful.

The surgery isn't that scary. I had an amazing nurse and doctor who talked me through the whole thing and made me feel comfortable. I am sure the same will be done for you.

Your experience is what you make it, so take it all in, enjoy the anticipation of meeting your baby, and focus on your LO when he or she comes out. Everything will work out great!

sjuncfan · May 2012

My c-section and recovery were really easy. I realize now I was kind of out of it the first couple days, but I honestly think that has more to do with exhaustion and might not have been different with a vaginal birth. I'm sure it varies from person to person but I took motrin regularly and maybe like 2 percoset total. So I don't think I was much more drugged than I would have been with a vaginal birth. FWIW I breastfed the first day (I think in the recovery room... see foggy brain mentioned above), and we've been successfully nursing for 8 months now.

Just try to focus on the end result and not how he's arriving. It never really bothered me to have a c-section since I knew it was safest for both of us (placenta previa). After he was born, when I watched A Baby Story and Babies First Day during my maternity leave, I was actually glad I'd had the c-section. I have no desire to give birth vaginally, haha. Maybe I'm weird.

michaels_girl · May 2012

Take this as kindly as possible, but chill the eff out.. You need a better mindset, stat. If you are convinced that the c section is so horrible that you feel you have PPD, then you need to talk to your OB about that. IME, a scheduled c section was a thing of beauty. It was calm, I got to bond with kiddo and breastfeed within the hour, was not drugged out at all, and had a fairly easy recovery (the first 5 days are a b!tchs, i will not blow rainbows up your ass, but i was in a fog of new baby so it was muted).

kimmyg000 · May 2012

Honestly as soon as I heard DD cry and saw her, which was immediately after she was out I didn't care about anything that was going one. She was brought right to me and I got to hold her and kiss on her. Some things are still fuzzy but maybe because it was an emergency everything happened so fast and was such a blur. Believe me once your little one is here you won't care how it happened, just that it did.

This time around I am having a scheduled c/s and believe me I'm still scared and worried a little bit but as long as I can get to that point where my baby is born I know it will be the second greatest day of my life. I just keep trying to focus on the positives. For one, no contractions!! And it's the drs that will be doing all the work, not me. No tearing or vaccums or forceps in my future. And the best positive of them all, I will have my baby in my arms!!!

juliane2004 · May 2012

Don't worry about not feeling that new-mom high. My mom told me that when I was in recovery after the c/s with DD, that I was non-stop smiling! I couldn't hold her for a day (she had severe low blood sugar and was in the NICU) but I was still so excited she was here!

If you have any specific questions about the surgery, please ask! I loved my c/s and can't wait for my next one. There are things you can do to make it a great recovery!

oohgrrl11 · May 2012

I had a C with DS after my water broke with no contractions. I was then induced with little to no progress, after 40 hours. When they took DS out, I felt this huge sigh of relief. I'm not sure if it was because I could finally breathe or what. Then they brought him to us (behind the curtain). We both felt this HUGE wave of emotions that we didn't know were even possible. I had felt a bit detached from DS through my pregnancy and had been worried I wouldn't love him. It just felt unreal for some reason. Well, there was no need to worry about that! I know I still got the adrenaline rush. I had been awake for 50 hours and had not eaten for 60 hours besides a shot glass of juice and a quarter of a graham cracker and still had so much energy that I could not sleep afterwards.

Even though I ended up with a C, I loved the entire experience. It got DS here safely and we have been loving each other ever since. I recently scheduled DD's C for 39.5 weeks because she was almost 9 lbs at 36 weeks. I do admit that knowing about it ahead of time feels different. Time is going slower because counting down. I am not scared of the pain though. IMO, the contractions were worse than the C recovery. You control how much pain meds you swallow. And they make you happy

lorist202 · May 2012

My baby was also breech. My OB gave me the option of manually turning the baby, or having the section. I chose c/s because despite my own desires/ visions, or original birth plans, my goal was to get this baby out with the utmost safety to both him and me. The rest didn't matter.

I was a nervous wreck (I've never had surgery), but took it as my first parental sacrifice to suck it up and do whatever must be done for his safe entry into the world. Then I did everything in my power to recover quickly so I could be a mother to him.

No flames, but your glory is over. It's time for you to decide on your new priorities. Once your priority is your child, you WILL be excited! The new mom high will kick in immediately. Good luck!

nikki2246 · May 2012

I found out 3 days before my due date that I had to have a C section. the baby was transverse/oblique and even though she appeared to be head down her head was stuck behind my hip. The only way she was coming out was via c section. I was a bit freaked out about the surgery and as I was walking into the operating room I said to myself that I had to man up. This is the ONLY way for her to get into this world and the only thing that mattered was her arrival in a safe manner. Once I changed my mind set I just went with it. The dr's were great and the whole surgery is easy and quick. I remember every second of the day. Once you hear the baby cry you don't even pay attention to what the dr's are doing to you. The baby never left my side and I was able to hold her as soon as I was moved to recovery. She went with me to mom and baby and was in my room the whole time. I did have a clotting issue and my spinal took a long time to wear off so I had to stay in bed for a full 24 hours. I was a bit frustrated early the next morning as I wanted to take care of the baby but couldn't until I was able to get out of bed..but once they let me get out of bed I could not be stopped.

You will bond with that baby the second you lay eyes on it..you will be so fueled with adrenaline .Let go of what you wanted to happen and just try and go with what is going to happen. Good Luck !!!!!!!

capulet · May 2012

Talk to your OB about the drugs you'll be on and the side effects. I did not feel drugged up after my c-sections. I was kind of out of it after the first one, but that was because it was an emergency c/s and labor was awful, so I was really wigged out and shaky afterwards. My planned c/s was a dream in comparison (I did go into labor early, but even so, it was much more relaxing not having fetal distress and contractions literally in my butt). I was nursing DS in recovery an hour after he was born (check with your hospital for their policies, but they should be able to facilitate this). To be honest, I'm jealous of moms who have planned c-sections for their first babies and can at least know they're skipping the hell that labor was for me. Recovery can be rough for the first few days, but I can say with complete honesty that the way I gave birth had zero impact on my ability to bond with my babies.

mieuxmieux · May 2012

I had an emergency c/s the first time and a scheduled this time. I have to say, this time I totally felt the excitement during the birth that I didn't feel the first time around. He cried right away when the the OB pulled him out, they wheeled the warmer around so I could watch them clean him off and get him ready. It is scary going into a major surgery, but once you see your baby you will probably get over that quickly

denise_m · May 2012

My first cesarean was a planned emergency cesarean if that makes sense. My water broke 10 weeks before delivery, we knew that he was breech and tangled in the cords. Unless I delivered by 26 weeks (which we prayed against), I knew as soon as labor was confirmed I would have a cesarean.

I was sad about it, but I also knew it was the only way he could be born safely. And that is what mattered most.

Here is a great blog by a Doula regarding the courage of having a cesarean:

https://avital.blogspot.com/2011/01/cesarean-courage.html#axzz1qcI3r1zi

Jessicateal · May 2012

Rest assured you will feel that new mom high once you see your little one, I had c-sections with both my boys. The first was after hours and hours of labor that didn't progress and the second was planned. I had that high after I saw my boys and as soon as I was in the recovery room I was able to breastfeed right away which also helped - so if you plan to bf just make sure to tell the nurse that's what you want to do so they don't give the baby a bottle.

Good luck

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