October 2022 Moms

C-Section prep

Hello , i am not sure how many of you know if you will be having a csection , i will have to have one, I just thought to start a thread for recommendations on what to get to prep for recovery. My daughter was an emergency csection so i had nothing and the pain was rough- i do plan on beginning a regimen of mylanta and stool softeners a couple of weeks before delivery. I keep reading about compression underwear? I know ill need high waisted lose paints . What else ?

Re: C-Section prep

  • Just out of curiosity: why do you have to have one? 
    My sister ended up having three c sections instead of just one because her hospitals didn't allow VBACs. This isn't coming from a place of judgement BTW. I have to have them because of a pelvic bone deformity (my pelvic bone dips back so far it covers my cervix and it's quite literally impossible to push a baby out, use menstrual cups etc). This is my fourth c section. 
    The second c section is easier than the first but that doesn't mean it's easy. I assume it helps if you don't go through labor first. My first two were emergency C's. I hate wearing pants post c section. I wear loose dresses and nightgowns for a couple of weeks along with belly binders to keep everything from feeling like it's sloshing around in there. That's really a matter of preference. Some women like to have pants that hold everything in. I am absolutely buying high waisted post partum leggings to try and minimize my belly. They also have ice packs you can strap around your belly to go over your incision.
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  • I will add that I have never once started any sort of pre C stool softener regimen. I really didn't have any issues in that department the second time around. I did take them post c section but nothing in advance. The first time I couldn't go to the bathroom for 10 days PP. The second time it was the next day with little to no effort and the third time it was the same day.
  • My practice claims not to allow me to try for a VBA2C. I’ve never been able to go into labor on my own so I may be stuck with another one. First was a failed induction resulting in emergency c-section followed by a pretty bad postpartum hemorrhage. Second I tried everything (safe) to go into labor on my own but finally gave in and got a c section at 41 weeks. But I’m being stubborn and holding out hope I miraculously go into labor this time. 
  • I've always had to rely on membrane sweeps to go into labor, sometimes more than one. I've never actually gone into labor by myself. My doctor from before was super pro VBACs and she told me she wouldn't push me to a C and I could wait until I went into labor naturally and without any chemical inductions with my third. I opted for the C section that time. I sometimes fantasize about going into labor naturally this time and actually being able to push him out but in reality I'll have my c section as late as I can safely have it. The only thing she said for VBACs was no inducing/pitocin. That was her rule. 
  • @EmilyE13 I HATE that it's not "allowed" everywhere. With proper monitoring and a competent doctor it shouldn't be that big of a deal. 
  • krthousekrthouse member
    edited June 2022
    @EmilyE13 @krysnicole1022 Totally agree that saying a birthing method is not allowed is messed up. This is your body, your birth, your choice. Their job is to help provide you all the resources you need to make an informed choice. Glad you sound prepared to firmly advocate for yourself!
  • I switched doctors with my second because she insisted I get induced before my due date. Absolutely not. 
  • @krysnicole1022 I hate that! Glad you switched. Some doctors are so intimidated by the nature if birth and want to control it, but that's why North America has the highest C section rates in the world. They intervene when it isn't necessarily called for. Sometimes of course those interventions are necessary and I'm so grateful for modern medicine but it drives me nuts when I hear these stories of doctors being regimental in their practice when it comes to labour & delivery.
  • It's so ridiculous.
  • @krysnicole1022 my uterus tore when i was in labor with my daughter- the concern is that since it was already weakened that any type of labor will cause a rupture. Starting at 32 weeks I will be monitored for contractions  - hopefully we can make it to 39 weeks but Ill have to deliver early and via csection. I just remember having to go to the bathroom was miserable but i also was healing from the csection surgery and uterine repair so maybe it was worst to bear down ?? I really don’t know. Can you suggest belly bands that you use ? 
  • I ended up with an emergency C-section with DS after 30 hours of natural labor. I had a crazy long umbilical cord and he was wrapped multiple times. Every time I stood up, I was essentially suffocating him :/ Fast forward to now. The hospital I had DS won’t allow VBAC’s. I flat out told my dr that if I ended up having him here, I’d just refuse a C-section. They can’t terminate your care and they can’t FORCE you to have a C-section. I ended up getting lucky and found a midwife/birth center that encourages VBAC’s so I’d feel more supported at least. 

    Since mine was an emergency C-section, I was 100% not prepared, even down to the PP underwear I bought. Definitely recommend very high undies and that wrap that the hospital gives you. Also, don’t drive when you’re on the pain meds. I wasn’t thinking and drove to the dr’s with my newborn while taking the meds because I wasn’t thinking and I had to have my bf pick us up because the dr. Said that i was technically driving under the influence. Ooops! 😂🤣
  • @relizabethp That's unbelievably scary! I'm so glad that your doctor has a plan in place. That actually happened with a friend of mine. Everything worked out okay! 
    My old hospital gave a belly binder whole I was in the hospital. I used that for awhile before switching to a more structured contraption. I made a huge mistake with my last two by not wearing it basically all the time. I recommend compression leggings for a couple weeks post C.  Definitely high waisted undies. I had a bladder repair with my last c section and that was awful. I had a catheter for a full week. 😭 I'm hoping to avoid it this time. I'm also having a tubal done.  I'll look up what I used. There are so many new products that have popped up over the last four years that I'm intrigued by. There are undie/wraps all in one and I think I will definitely get those. I had the kindred bravely section underwear and those were great. I'll be getting more this time.
  • @kat_vegan87 i had a friend who did a vbac and she loved it, she also said the recovery was so much better! Im glad you found the birth center!

    @krysnicole1022 it is amazing what we go through to bring kids into this world. A bladder repair sounds very traumatic and painful! I was thinking of doing a tubal as well - but I didn’t factor that into the recovery so i do wonder how that might change things. I am going to look up the undies- also the ice pack you mentioned earlier seems like a great investment! 
  • @relizabethp They are already going to be in there and I don't want to have to go back in a couple months later to do it so I figured I would just go for it now since I will already be recovering from the c section I doubt I'll notice any extra discomfort. My OB said she does most of her tubals during the c section. I've had friends get tubals and the most painful part for them was gas from their stomach getting inflated during the procedure and dealing with that afterm the incisions hurt but it was jarring. 
  • @relizabethp @krysnicole1022 My provider brought up the tubal at my last appointment. It sounds like you’re already recovering from the C-section, so it’s not as noticeable and just an added part of the recovery. We had already planned on my husband getting a vasectomy. Now I’m trying to decide between the two. Doesn’t sound like there’s any benefits to either besides not getting pregnant, just that a vasectomy can be reversed.
  • @jen_third22 I can't take birth control and while we are very good at not getting pregnant I just think it's the best choice for me/our family because a fifth c section would just not be good for me. Plus I would have to wait a couple of years and I don't want to start again with a baby at 40. It's still really hard to say goodbye to my baby making years but I'm already premenopausal. I told my husband he can get a vasectomy if he wants to now but I'm planning a tubal for my own sanity. An unplanned pregnancy would 100% end in a loss for me and I don't want to experience anymore miscarriages in my life. 
  • Honestly I would do both. I've know too many women who got pregnant a couple years post vasectomy so I don't trust it. Haha. That's what I want to do. Really just double down on no more babies. 
  • mia80mia80 member
    My Dr said they don't want to induce me, and won't let me go past 39 weeks because of several risk factors and complications I had during my last pregnancy... so we're planning for c-section at 39 weeks unless I go into labour naturally before that. 

    I really wasn't prepared at all last time but I'm hoping this time not being in labour before will help with recovery! I bought the Frida mom c-section disposable underpants last time and LOVED them, so will definitely buy a box this Oct. I'm also thinking of getting a belly band of some sort. Otherwise, there's nothing I'm planning on prepping, other than making sure my parents are free that weekend to watch our son, making sure we've got some frozen meals in the freezer and planning to live in my nightgown for a week. 
  • @krysnicole1022 - definitely agree with you! Someone I used to work with had a friend who her husband had a vasectomy and she got pregnant a few years later. Then she got her tubes tied and got pregnant again a few years later! I want to say she got pregnant for a third time too, but I’m thinking that was when she had her IUD at first. 

    Can’t you get your tube tie reversed as well? I want to say you can get them burned closed (can’t reverse) or get them physically tied (can reverse). But honestly, I’ll be having babies till I can’t because I’m already 35 and I really never thought I’d be this “old” when having my kids! But life happens…
  • I'm having them cut and burned. I'll have four kids. I'm 36 and will be close to 37 when this baby is born. I have to be done. I would love to keep having babies. I would have 6 if I could but my body is done. It makes me so sad. I wish we hadn't waited so long between 3 and 4. 
    I'm the type of person who is pro condom unless you want to get pregnant so I'll still be taking precautions even after my tubal. I've known enough women who had an ectopic pregnancy rupture their tubes post tubal that I know not to trust it as 100%.
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