January 2013 Moms
OhBaby+2013
member
C section moms
OhBaby+2013
member
Hey ladies, I am having a csection this time since DS pretty much destroyed me during his delivery. I'm a bit nervous about the c section, though I know it is absolutely the best choice for this delivery. Does anyone have any stories, tips, advice, anything to share to help me prepare?
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Re: C section moms
I had a really really good recovery, and ended up being discharged a day early. Be prepared for them to want you to get up and move fairly soon afterwards. That was pretty tough.
Sorry no advice or tips really. I did like however the whole process took 30 minutes.
I had to have a C-section with DS and the biggest thing I can tell you is to not be nervous! Like @chrissynena said, the pressure of them pulling everything is a really strange feeling but it really doesn't take that long. I think it took longer for them to put me back together, so to say, than it did for them to get DS out. I think the biggest thing that shocked me was how quickly I lost all feeling when they got the spinal injection in.
As far as the recovery, my surgery was at 9am and my nurses had me up and walking by late that afternoon. I did have to leave my catheter in for 24 hours (I think) because I wasn't steady enough on my own to walk to the bathroom until then. It wasn't a terrible recovery. I do remember feeling some discomfort at the incision site but nothing terrible. My incision is really low - as in, if I'm in a bikini, you can't see it - and it's really faint. It did take me a few days to get good with walking long distances or up and down stairs.
Good luck! Do you have any specific questions or things you're wondering about?
My labor was super fast... I arrived at the hospital at 6cm and got to 10cm in less than an hour, but DD was coming out face first so I was rushed to the OR for an emergency c under general anesthesia.
The first week for me was awful, I could barely move without help and often had turtle-stuck-on-it's-back moments where my DH had to literally pick me up. I imagine a planned c/s wouldn't be so bad though because you wouldn't have the muscle soreness from labor on top of the c/s recovery.
Despite such a rough first week I started to feel better going into the second week and was off my pain meds by week three. Going into week four now and I almost feel normal.... still stiff getting up when I've been sitting too long and my incision site is still tender. But when I'm up and about I feel pretty good, so much so that I overdid it a bit putting the stroller in the back of my car. Definitely take it easy, I regretted the stroller thing the rest of that day.
ETA: Saw your concern about meds. I wasn't allowed meds during labor because I was too far along. They knocked me out for the c/s, but I had a morphine drip when I woke back up and I took home Norco 5 and Motrin when I was discharged. They gave me Norco 10 at first but that made me very dizzy/sick, the lesser strength agreed with me much better.
Definitely see if your nurses will get you an abdominal binder. One of my nurses got one for me and it was wonderful. It offered much more support than the regular band. I wore it a lot while I was up and moving around for about 6 weeks.