C-Section experiences please

[Dani_Ldn]

So after an unsuccessful ecv, I have finally resigned myself to the fact that unless baby turns himself, that I will have him by c-section in 2 weeks time.

I was wondering if you ladies could please share your honest experiences with having a c-section done.

* How long before you were able to be up & moving about
* How long was your recovery time (before you could lift baby, do housework, go out walking etc..)
* What is your scar like, how low down is it & is it very big? Does it ever fade?
* Did you feel like you weren't able to bond with baby as well?
* Did you find that you had any issues with your milk coming in?
* How long were you in hospital for (UK)?

I have an appointment on the 20th with the consultant, so I can ask questions there, but am more after people's first hand experiences.

Thanks in advance! x

 

[Zfbaby]

Mine is booked for a week today so I can't give you any advice but the ladies on the c-section forum have been really great and answering my questions. Maybe have a poke around there?

 

[Dani_Ldn]

Thank you, I will take a look Didn't realise there was a c-sec area on the forum!

 

[iwantabub]

Hey Hun I asked all these questions to two of my friends and my doc this morning here goes...

Both my friends were up and about within 24 hours ... Went home within 3 days and had no pain once home and returned to normal duties pretty much immediately the only thing was not being able to drive... Not co they couldn't coz doc said not to.

Scar is quite low and about 10cm long and depends totally on your body whether it heals without being able to see it etc

My friend said they were bonding with baby fine and I requested skin to skin for this reason and my doc told me this morning that was absolutely fine.

Milk is unrelated to birth method.. It's the removal
Of the placenta which starts milk production

After this morning with my doc I'm actually totally comfy with this idea as I had been struggling up til now...

But as he assured me that if baby is healthy they will for fill my request to have immediate skin to skin for half an hour while being stitched I am actually quite happy...

Both my friends I asked had natural and ceserian and both said they would take a section recovery any day...
One could only wee in the bath co of her tears and the other said she was surprised with how little pain she had...

I have read so much and on here and on the net there are such negative comments about it... But every time I ask a person who's done it to they're face they can't speak highly enough of how great it was.

Hope this helps

 

[Jadey121]

Ive had two and both were great even though the first was an emergency.

Ive only got a small scar and you cant really see it as its faded over time.
I had my 2nd at 10.26am and was up sat in a chair in the evening holding him (i needed help getting up and down) but it wasnt painful just a tad uncomfy. I breastfeed both my boys as soon as i got to recovery so no problems with milk or bonding.
With both sections i was out after 2 days so not too bad. I was able to get on with normal light duties at home too. Overall they were both good experiences for me and the recovery for me was really good i wasnt even in pain afterwards just uncomfortable for a few days.
Hope you're section goes well xx

 

[_Lexi_]

* How long before you were able to be up & moving about - I was up and in a wheelchair/walking to bathroom 2 hours after the op to be with Joshua in the nicu. I don't recommend getting up that soon, as it gave me extensive bruising and delayed my recovery. Most hospitals suggest getting up the next morning.
* How long was your recovery time (before you could lift baby, do housework, go out walking etc..) - I had a very long recovery, it took me a good 12 weeks until I felt somewhat back to normal. Initial recovery was a few weeks, before I could walk easily, get up from bed/chair/car without too much pain.
* What is your scar like, how low down is it & is it very big? Does it ever fade? - my scar is just over a year old now. It sits just under my underwear line, and us about 6 inches. It's starting to fade at the edges, and I'm sure over time it will fade more.
* Did you feel like you weren't able to bond with baby as well? - Joshua never made it home from nicu. I was allowed to hold him whilst they stitched me up, until I started shaking and worried I would drop him.
* Did you find that you had any issues with your milk coming in? - I was able to hand express that day.
* How long were you in hospital for (UK)? - I was in for four days.

The actual op was ok, and believe me, I was terrified!! It's a very odd sensation. If you start to feel sick, tell them and they'll put anti sickness meds into your IV. I wouldn't opt for another just because of how long my recovery took. Over a year on I still get pain and numbness round the scar, and was a good 6 months before I could wear clothes that sat on the scar line without it hurting. I bled for 9 weeks, and me and oh couldn't dtd for 12 weeks due to the pain. I'm not sure how much my recovery was delayed because if how soon I was up and about. Just take things slow and accept all the help that's offered. Take your pain meds before you need them. No one told me to expect shoulder pain afterwards, let your midwives know, they gave me some peppermint water and it eased it, apparently its from trapped wind from moving your organs about. Also take a stool softner! I didn't. I had my op on the Monday morning, and had my first bm late Friday evening. Utter hell. Was in so much pain I was sick, which hurt even more!! Apparently with everything that happened, they just forgot to prescribe them to me!! Happy to answer any other questions. I am opting for a vbac this time. I suffered a lot with feeling like I'd failed because I couldn't naturally birth my son, and I'm hoping to avoid another long recovery process. x

 

[SamsMum]

Hi,

Mine was a positive experience, despite originally intending to be the most 'all natural pain relief free natural birth mother.' My waters went at 35+5 and he was breech, so had no choice but c-section:

* How long before you were able to be up & moving about
12 Hours, could have been sooner but I had him at 11pm at night.

* How long was your recovery time (before you could lift baby, do housework, go out walking etc..)
Lifting him straight away (I found that rubbish about not even lifting a kettle very over the to!),walking around the ward as much as poss the next day, out walking when I was home 4 days later (like 10 mins to begin with though and slow). Housework - DH did it but I could have done it after a week I guess.
* What is your scar like, how low down is it & is it very big? Does it ever fade?
You can hardly see it - in fact when I had my consultants appointment in March for baby no.2 she had to ask me to point it out to her as she couldn't see it. I was dreading looking at it the days after the op, but my husband encouraged me too saying it really wasn't that bad - and it wasn't!

* Did you feel like you weren't able to bond with baby as well?
Only a little, due to the fact his blood sugar level was a bit low, prob. due to him being early, but he was back with my by 9am the following morning.

* Did you find that you had any issues with your milk coming in?
Nope, breastfed for 5 or 6 months.

* How long were you in hospital for (UK)?
C-Section 11pm Friday, out Tuesday. **However, I was signed off the the OB on the saturday, but had to stay in because of my baby being a early

 

[Dani_Ldn]

I have that feeling of failure that I am not even able to try to naturally birth baby. I hope this feeling disappears after he is here.

 

[_Lexi_]

I have that feeling of failure that I am not even able to try to naturally birth baby. I hope this feeling disappears after he is here.

I did really struggle with this. Joshua was very poorly and I had no choice but to have a c section at 34 weeks to give him a chance. I'd planned a natural water birth, and found the idea of a c section terrifying and completely against what I wanted. I felt like a failure that I couldn't do the most natural thing for a woman to do, which was grow and birth a healthy baby. I felt like I hadn't birthed him, but he was taken from me. It took months of talking it through with my partner about how I felt to somewhat accept it. Just over a year on, I've finally accepted that I done the best I could for Joshua, and that by trying to birth him naturally would of been selfish of me. I still have a lot of regret, and I'm so hoping for a successful vbac this time, but I'll never be allowed my midwife led water birth. Don't let people tell you how you're feeling is stupid or silly, it is real and to suffer with c section disappointment. My partner has been fantastic though and has supported me through the tears and just listened when I needed to talk about it. You don't need to keep it to yourself. My partner just kept reassuring me that it wasn't a failure on my part, but the safest option for Joshua. Hopefully it won't be so bad for you, mine was obviously mixed in with grieving for Joshua at the same time. Don't be afraid to talk about it though xx

 

[sbl]

* How long before you were able to be up & moving about

About 5 hours
* How long was your recovery time (before you could lift baby, do housework, go out walking etc..)

I pretty much got back to doing most things after about 3/4 days. I didn't lift things that were too heavy though for about 2 weeks.
* What is your scar like, how low down is it & is it very big? Does it ever fade?

Mine is just below my bikini line and its only about 3 inches long. At only 5 months post section my scar is almost invisible!

* Did you feel like you weren't able to bond with baby as well?

Not at all. Obviously women who have a section are a small disadvantage with regards to the first few days with getting the hang of how to to do things so as not to hurt yourself but honestly I dont feel it hindered me at all.

* Did you find that you had any issues with your milk coming in?

My milk was in almost immediately.

* How long were you in hospital for (UK)?

I'm from Ireland so it's pretty much the same I reckon. I stayed 4 days I could've left on the 3rd day but choose not to.

 

[Dani_Ldn]

Thank you for all of your honest responses, am starting to feel a little better about the whole thing

 

[Foxycleopatra]

I had an emergency c-section 2 weeks a go due to bubs being posterior with her next flexed down so she just wouldn't fit!

* How long before you were able to be up & moving about
I had my c-section at 3pm and was up showering by lunch the next day.

* How long was your recovery time (before you could lift baby, do housework, go out walking etc..)
With in a week I was moving freely with little discomfort. Now 2 weeks PP I feel 99% normal. If anything I have to remind myself to slow down and take it easy!

* What is your scar like, how low down is it & is it very big? Does it ever fade?
My scar is still raised, but I had no external stitches or staples (which freaked me out at first!). It very low on my pubic line. My scar is 17cm across (hubby just measured it). Can't comment on fading just yet.

* Did you feel like you weren't able to bond with baby as well?
The worst part was that I only got to see my daughter for a split second after she was cut out of me but that was due to the fact that she was gunky and had to be taken to the nicu. I was then stuck in recovery for 2 hours so it felt like an eternity till I got to hold her. Hubby stayed with her the whole time. When I finally got back to our room I did have hours of skin to skin so I feel like I have bonded just as well as I did with my older daughter that I had naturally.

* Did you find that you had any issues with your milk coming in?
My milk came in just fine. By day 3 I had giant rock hard milk filled boobies!!

* How long were you in hospital for (UK)?
I'm Aussie. I went home on day 5. I was going home the day before but Ziva became jaundice and had to go under the UV lights overnight. I was told by my MW that with a c-section you can check out from day 2 as long as there is no complications.


I hope things turn out the way you want. But honestly having a c-section was no where near as bad as I thought it would be. The most annoying part is not being aloud to drive for 6 weeks!