C section because head too large to exit pelvis - a few questions

[Claire98909]

This is for you ladies out there who attempted a vaginal delivery but wound up having a c section because the baby's head was too large to exit your pelvis. I know these questions probably sound very bizarre, but just bear with me; I'm a very curious person.

1. How far along in your vaginal canal was the top of the head before the doc made the call for a c section? Was the head visible on its own (i.e. was it beginning to spread your vulva) or was it only visible if the doctor spread your labia him/herself and took a peek up there? Was it down far enough that it was causing your entire vagina to "bulge"?

2. If your vagina was "bulging" did you feel "loose" or did you feel normal after it was all over even though the head didn't crown? I've been told by many people that their vaginas felt no different once the baby was out because even though their internal canal was stretched, the elastic "ring" of flesh of the vulva was not stretched. Is this true? What are your experiences with this?

 

[megangrohl]

I had this issue, I was in labor for 19 hours and stalled at 6cm - was there (at 6cm) for 7 hours before they decided to do the section. The tip of her head was at the brim of my pelvis, maybe a an inch or two in. Her head circumference was 35 cm and she weighed 10 lbs 7 oz so no wonder she wouldn't go any further! The head was not visible but could be felt when my OB did an internal when I was laboring.

After the surgery was complete I didn't feel much due to my epidural. Once it wore off it did look and feel very swollen. But that died down about 4-5 days later. The reason it swells is from a combination of actual labor (if the c-section is unplanned) and from all the extra fluid given through the IV during the c-section. I didn't feel stretched inside, just the outer labia LOOKED really swollen which, again, died down. It did not feel loose at all

HTH

 

[cassarita]

My son's head was stuck sideways in my pelvis. He couldn't even engage

 

[the why bird]

My baby got stuck after 4 hours of pushing because her head was at an odd angle. I have no idea about 'bulging' (I wasn't aware of anything but desperately trying to push by that point) but I do remember the midwife saying 'oh I can see lots of dark hair' and she wasn't touching me at the time so I'm guessing it must have been visible. My husband was too wussy to look so I can't say for sure.

I noticed no difference to my lady parts afterwards. We had sex about 4 weeks after the birth (would have been sooner if the bleeding had stopped) and neither of us noticed any difference. I was warned sex might still be painful because your muscles down there still take a pounding during labour and get tugged during the c section, but honestly it was fine for us.