Tell it to me straight

amb04006 · February 2014

MamaLlama14 said:

JandACoffee said:

Its not that bad. Obviously would not have been my first choice, but DD was footling breech right up til EDD and had a cord around her neck and wasn't going anywhere, so that was that.

Good: I didn't have to worry about tearing, stitches down there, scar tissue forming, cracking my pelvis (my sister did that with her first- ouch!), labor pains, etc..., for me it had no effect on bfing. I didn't get skin-to-skin right afterwards but was able to breastfeed within the hour of her being born and we are still bfing at over 12 months and have never even had to consider supplementing. I didn't miss any of the stuff like her first bath, footprints, etc... cause I requested to be present ahead of time and they waited for me. I knew exactly when she was going to be born, so I had more control over telling people when to be at the hospital and giving us enough time to settle in before having to entertain visitors. I was also able to plan at home a little better for someone to watch our pets, have meals ready, etc... Obviously that could have gone out the window if she had decided to come early, but that didn't happen.

Bad (short-term) Depending on your hospital there are very different policies as to how they handle breastfeeding right after, skin-to-skin, etc..., you are forced to get some sort of anesthesia (for me it was a spinal with a tech that was just learning how to do them and it was actually the worst part of the whole experience - not true with most people!), recovery is a little different in that it is hard to get up afterwards, you have to have a catheter for a while, obvious abdominal soreness and need for meds (all I had was percocet for 3 days and then motrin for an additional 7 and I was fine with no sedation at all), longer hospital stay (we stayed 3 nights but could have left after 2), you will need help for at least a week or so afterwards, but really I was mostly back to normal within a couple weeks with a great excuse to avoid heavy lifting/vacuuming for an additional couple weeks.

Bad (long-term) This varies a lot from person to person. Some people have long term numbness at the incision site. I am one of the lucky ones that has long-term sunburn like feeling of nerves reconnecting. Wearing lowrise jeans hurts and probably will for a long time (I'm 12 months PP). There is a scar. Some people's fades away, mine is still pretty ropey looking and probably 3mm in thickness though it is below bikini line so it isn't visible. Some people have issues losing weight around the incision. I got lucky with this one and my stomach actually is just as flat is it was before though my belly button is not an outie instead of an innie (pregnancy-related not c-section related), doing abdominal exercises is scary afterwards. Honestly, I still haven't gotten up the nerve to do a sit up. I'm sure it would be fine, but my stomach went back to normal without them and it freaks me out a little.

Honestly though, everyone's experience is different, just like everyone's experience with vaginal delivery is different. You just have to keep your focus on having a healthy baby in the safest way possible. We are looking at trying for our second probably end of next year, and while I'm not really looking forward to an RCS, I'm not dreading it either. Try to focus on the good stuff, and everything else will take care of itself!

I'm glad to hear you were able to BF quickly! That's a huge concern for me. I don't want to miss out on that.

I was BF both of mine as soon as we got into recovery- which was about 20 min after birth. DS ended up with breathing issues and had to go to NICU but DD was perfectly fine.

Honestly, I think attitude is everything when it comes to any kind of major surgery... I didn't think it was that bad and just focused on the positive and let go of all the rest. My best advice is to take your pain meds on time b/c it can get much harder to get it under control if you wait too long. Get up and walk even though it hurts like hell at first- it really does help you heal faster. Take colace before you go in and everyday until you go. Oh and stay in the hospital as long as they will allow. I know everyone wants to hurry home but for me, staying in the hospital forced me to rest and that helps me recover. I'm not good about staying in bed at home and will over do it!

I thought I was the only one thinking this! Last time I went home in less than 24 hours after surgery. Next time, I will stay for a day or so and take the help.

aintnoyuppiemom · February 2014

My C section was a great experience for me personally, but I had planned originally doing it natural (or as natural as I could whatever I could handle). I had Pre-e and the magnesium with an induction is some form of torture. So after around 8 hours of having 8 min long contraction at a time when given the option to try cervidel and be induced again or have a csection I opted for the surgery. The good- I am a huge baby when it comes to pain and having those 8 min contractions were horrible but csection pain after is mostly just uncomfortable. You wont be sitting up and walking around hours later like with natural births. And I think someone mentioned the catheter ya that was my first and I wasn't impressed. I think my biggest complaint was the ride home, I lived a half hour from the hospital in a rural area and the bumps were torture. So remember to pack something comfortable for the car ride home. I would also suggest accepting as much help as you are offered at least 6 weeks after, My family made sure I didn't do anything wrong and I don't have any recovery problems now (9 months out.)

Just remember to make whatever choice is the healthiest for you and baby. My health plan was get the baby out happy and healthy and I think as moms that is all we can hope for. Good luck and I hope you have a healthy delivery.

HopeNotLost · February 2014

I just wanted to let you know I had placenta previa with my second daughter, and the placenta did move out of the way and I was able to have a vaginal birth. I had placenta previa with my third daughter and it didn't move, and I ended up having a c-section. My c-section went great though. I was up and moving around within 4 hours of my c-section, I was tender, but it wasn't horrible. Recovery took longer than my vaginal births, but it wasn't horrendous.

GL!!

MamaLlama14 · February 2014

Thanks again everyone for the feedback. I am 30w now and at my last check the placenta had moved just a smidge but not significantly enough yet. My next appointment is in about 10 days; at that time, if I don't have at least 2cm of clearance from the placenta to the cervix, we'll schedule a date for the c/s. The good news is that my doctor said he'd never rule out the possibility of late movement, and even after scheduling it, we'll continue to monitor movement in my weekly appointments and make a decision as the time draws near. I'm getting more adjusted to the possibility now since I haven't had any real movement until last week, and it wasn't significant movement, so I'm prepared for the reality of next week's conversation. You've also given me a lot of great tips and added to my list of questions for the doctor.

yellowjellybeans · February 2014

Just found out my baby is breech at 33 weeks and I will most likely have to deliver via c-section so thank you all for also answering my questions. As someone previously mentioned, there is the psychological devastation of not being able to deliver naturally. But I think at the end, a healthy baby and mom matter most. Last question I had- I was planning on wearing a Bellefit corset post partum- is this recommended for c section mamas? I feel like the tightness of it may cause additional pain? The company makes them for both types of deliveries I just wasn't sure how soon I could put it on.

rach1285 · March 2014

Thank you for this post, I'm in the same boat. Currently diagnosed with complete previa at 21 weeks with the same prognosis. This post really helped to calm my fears!

PrincessBritt17 · March 2014

I had an emergency c-section with my first and actually needed the vertical incision from belly-button to bikini line. I have a great picture of all 20+ of my staples that I can't wait to show DD when she is a teenager! I have to say that even with the extreme incision I did fine. I stopped taking the pain meds and switched to ibuprofen the day after and was just fine. I agree with the stool softeners and the passing gas advice, both very important. Also, funny story, I went to a water park about 3 months after DD was born and wore my bikini with pride. I had one woman look at me and whisper 'whoa, that's a big scar'. I figure anything that can give my something as wonderful as my daughter is something to be proud of! Good luck and don't be afraid!

wildbutterfli2001 · March 2014

I had a failed induction that ended with c-section. If I knew then what I know now, I would have never agreed to be induced. With that being said the c-section was my biggest fear and I was terrified up to the point that I heard that first cry from my LO. Things were happening so fast once we determined I needed a c-section that I was super nervous and scared. I'd never had any kind of surgery and had this whole birth plan in my head and nothing went the way I planned. The surgery went great, my recovery was great, and will do RCS when we have another LO. I was pretty much back to normal and healed within 2 weeks. I didn't get staples, I was glued and my incision looks great. You can barely tell it's there and I will be able to wear a bikini without having a visible scar. I deft took advantage of all the pain meds I could while in the hospital so I barely felt a thing pain wise. I had like 5 days worth for after the hospital and have to say that I really didn't feel any pain considering what my body had been through. I had it all hyped up in my head that a c-section was just worst case scenario and I was wrong. I had no problems nursing and we are 4 months and going strong. Good luck momma!! You have nothing to be afraid of, it's really not scary

wildbutterfli2001 · March 2014

annelou81 said:

I had an unplanned C-section in November and everyone above has given good advice. My #1 advice is take the pain meds right away and continue throughout your hospital stay. I didn't take them my first day (I was naive as a first time mom!) and I thought I was going to die from the pain.

Second- I'm not sure anyone has mentioned this but during the surgery you may feel chest pains because your abdomen is open and gas has entered your body. I thought I was having a heart attack until the doctor said "You may be feeling chest pains right now, don't worry". Crazy!

Good luck! I hope everything goes well for you!

In addition to this, I didn't think I was breathing (which I was but in panic attack mode) I was so very nervous and I was shaking profusely (my hands and arms) and kept wondering how they were going to be able to do the surgery with me shaking like that (prolly why I had the breathing/panic issue) but according to my DH it was just my arms flapping like a bird, the rest of my body was motionless...

RDK24 · March 2014

MamaLlama14 said:

I just thought of something else as I read all of your responses: I am a HUGE lover of baby-wearing and it's one of the things I'm most looking forward to doing again with LO#2. Will this be possible in a relatively reasonable amount of time after a c/s? I mean I don't expect to leave the hospital with my Ergo on, but for those who were also baby-wearers: how long did you have to wait?

I had LO in a sling around 4 weeks after my c-section, and the Boba/Beco carrier by 7-8 weeks.

crystal8503 · March 2014

Honestly? Mine was a nightmare. My water broke the morning I was scheduled to be induced and I was in active labor for 26 hours before my section. I credit my terrible experience to how tired I was physically because my recovery was HARD. My contractions were every 10 minutes and lasted at least 5 minutes for the script duration of my labor. Ouch! They left my epidural in libber than they should have in hopes of keeping my pain in check, but this caused me to be delayed in getting out of bed and I was extremely swollen from all of the fluids. I was seeping fluid from my epidural site and they had it checked to be sure it wasn't spinal fluid, which it wasn't. All that said, I know my negative experience is because of my labor and I'm thankful for my son because my son wasn't in a good situation. I'm in the process of coming to teems with the fact that I am not a good candidate for a VBAC and will be having a scheduled section with my current pregnancy. From what I understand, planned sections are much easier to bounce back from because your body hasn't already been through hell for multiple hours. My sister went for ice cream after her second daughter's one week follow up visit. I had only accomplished getting back and forth between my sofa and bed at a week post-op. Needless to say, I was jealous and I am looking forward to a positive experience this time around. (Sorry for the lack of paragraphs, my nexus won't let me use them for some reason)

novilise · March 2014

I had an unplanned c-section and then a RCS and now I am planning on a 2nd RCS.

Neither of my c-sections were bad, but I learned some things through the first that helped me the second time.

One big, huge thing for me: Using a recliner to sleep in! It saved my stomach muscles from the agonizing ripping feeling of getting out of bed.

I was feeling back to normal by day 4 or 5 after my 2nd c-section. I stayed in the hospital 2 days for each one.

krazyinsane · March 2014

RDK24 said:

MamaLlama14 said:

I just thought of something else as I read all of your responses: I am a HUGE lover of baby-wearing and it's one of the things I'm most looking forward to doing again with LO#2. Will this be possible in a relatively reasonable amount of time after a c/s? I mean I don't expect to leave the hospital with my Ergo on, but for those who were also baby-wearers: how long did you have to wait?

I had LO in a sling around 4 weeks after my c-section, and the Boba/Beco carrier by 7-8 weeks.

I had DD#3 in a moby 24 hours PP. I felt more comfortable with her tied to me while walking (so I could put pressure on the incision!)

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