Elective c-section stories?

[DreamCatcher_]

Just looking for some stories/answers to a few questions about an elcs. I booked mine yesterday for the 16th May and, despite saying this is what I wanted throughout this pregnancy, I am now worried.

1. How long did you wait before being taken to theatre?
2. How long did you spend in recovery?
3. How long before you got the catheter out and could walk about?
4. How long did the actual op take from getting the spinal to being wheeled back out?

I know it's a few weeks away but my emcs was a long time ago and I was so exhausted I can barely remember it.

 

[Tishybabe]

Hi there,

I'm in Canada, but I can give you a little bit of perspective on your questions:

1. How long did you wait before being taken to theatre?
- We have to be at the hospital 2hrs ahead of the scheduled section for an IV, monitoring the baby, and possible antibiotics if your are group B positive

2. How long did you spend in recovery?
- With my EMCS I was extremely tired and spent a couple of hours in recovery from labouring before the surgery; with my ELCS I was probably in there for half an hour

3. How long before you got the catheter out and could walk about?
- They like to take the catheter out within 12 hours of having the surgery and they want you up and using the washroom right after; you can request to keep it in, but I don't recommend it, because I had lots of pain when I did go pee after it was out

4. How long did the actual op take from getting the spinal to being wheeled back out?
- The entire operation was less than an hour. Within 15 minutes of the spinal they were cutting me open and pulling the baby out. As long as you have no complications you can have baby on your chest in 30 min.

I really enjoyed being able to talk to the doctors and ask questions. My husband was also able to talk to the nurse and ask about the condition of my placenta [not interesting to me at all..yuck]

All the best! I have my 3rd Section scheduled for April 26th.

 

[KatO79]

Hi I had a planned c-section in October due to the doctor suspecting a big baby. I live in Denmark btw so things may be a bit different here:

1. How long did you wait before being taken to theatre?

In my case we were informed incorrectly of what time to arrive by the gestational unit so we came a lot later than the natal unit were expecting So I think we ended up waiting 2-3 hours since they had to see when they could squeeze us in.

2. How long did you spend in recovery?

I was in recovery for about 3-4 hours as I'd suffered a couple of complications: one being I'd lost 1.6 liters of blood and the other I had a bad reaction to some of the meds so felt very nauseous for a good while plus had heart palpatations. Not to scare you, think I was just very unlucky

3. How long before you got the catheter out and could walk about?

I think mine was about 14-16 hours. They recommended me to start walking around as quickly as possible after that and even encouraged me to walk around with baby in his little wheely crib, using it for some support.

4. How long did the actual op take from getting the spinal to being wheeled back out?

About 1 hour but I'd also had a couple of issues so that made it take a bit longer.

 

[DreamCatcher_]

Thank you both. With my emcs my stitching back up and time in recovery were longer than normal as they 'underestimated DS size and position' and tore me a bit which required a more experienced surgeon to come and fix! This, plus the labour and drugs, meant Inwas in recovery for almost 4 hours and I slept on and off while a mw looked after me (thankfully I was the only one in recovery at that time).

 

[Tishybabe]

No problem! It's always nice to get perspective from others when you're not sure.

I'm sorry your experience wasn't very straight forward. I'm guessing this time around they will be more aware of the size of your baby and should accommodate that before trying to deliver.

Also, I'm not sure about pp, but my ELCS was way less tiring because I didn't have to labour for hours before it. Which is much nicer than labour plus surgery.

Mine is 8 days away... I'm very excited.

 

[TTC First]

I am also from Canada and can tell you from what I remember:

1. How long did you wait before being taken to theatre?
I seem to remember being at the hospital about 2-3 hours early. My hospital had 3 scheduled section and I was the 3rd. As soon as one comes out, the next one went in. The time that I was waiting DH and I were just hanging out. I remember they said not to eat or drink starting midnight the night before. I was SOOOOO thirsty and hungry but they wouldn't give me anything. I hadn't eaten since dinner the night before. I should have eaten at midnight.

2. How long did you spend in recovery?
Typically I believe it's about an hour, we had an unusual situation. Since there were no rooms available we had to wait in recovery. In our situation family is not allowed in recovery so it was hours before they could come to the hospital. I'm glad they didn't wait at the hospital.

3. How long before you got the catheter out and could walk about?
It was 12 hours for me. LO was born at 11:30 am so I thought what nurse is going to make me get up and walk at 11:30 pm. Well they did!

4. How long did the actual op take from getting the spinal to being wheeled back out?
I got the spinal and they called DH in the room. DH was only in the room for a couple mins before LO was popped out. It wasn't all that long before we were in recovery but we were distracted by LO so we didn't pay attention to how long. I know it's quick! I know for me, I had a couple fainting spells after I had the spinal. It may have been my nerves though, it's not uncommon for me. They have an anesthesiologist there watching you. You either tell them you feel faint or they will catch it on the monitor. They give you medication though the IV and it stops it instantly.

I have to say, the surgery is nothing to worry about. It was quick and painless. The environment is very relaxed and the doctors are talking and joking. Just be prepared for when the spinal wares off. TAKE YOUR PAIN MEDS!!!!! Make sure you take them on time....watch the clock!! If you don't do this for the first couple days the pain will come on faster than the late pain pill can kick in. After a couple days I tried to back off the drugs little by little and change to tylenol 3 because the other meds pass through to the baby and the baby is sleepy all the time.

I am sure that everything will be great for you!

 

[DreamCatcher_]

Thank you.
It's three weeks tomorrow and I'm keeking my pants a wee bit!

 

[nordicpixie83]

Just looking for some stories/answers to a few questions about an elcs. I booked mine yesterday for the 16th May and, despite saying this is what I wanted throughout this pregnancy, I am now worried.

1. How long did you wait before being taken to theatre?
2. How long did you spend in recovery?
3. How long before you got the catheter out and could walk about?
4. How long did the actual op take from getting the spinal to being wheeled back out?

I know it's a few weeks away but my emcs was a long time ago and I was so exhausted I can barely remember it.

1. I had two options , either go in the morning of my csec at 6 am or go In the Night before . I chose the night before as I didn't want to rush about in the morning. My section had originally been booked for 11 am. However due to emergencies I was pushed back and went down to theatre at 1230pm. I had my spinal and pre-meds. Then catheter placed and surgery started . Baby was out by 13.10.

2. I unfortunately haemorrhaged so was in recovery for about 90mins.

3. I requested my catheter to be removed early evening as I was up and about with no issues.

4. Again I was longer than normal in theatre as haemorrhaged.

 

[minties]

I've had one emergency, and two planned c-sections.

#1 was an emergency so was taken to theatre at 2ish-pm after being told I'd need a c-section at 1:30pm. #2 I was told to be at hospital by noon and had her at 2:05pm. I was instructed to be at hospital at 6am with #3. We were called into theatre about 10:15am with her which was a long and boring wait.

Each section I have spent about 40 minutes in recovery I think. Between that and 60 minutes. Baby was with me the first two times, the third she was in SCBU.

With my first two, the catheter was out the next morning (those sections were both mid-afternoon). With #3, I had it in for a few days because I had additional repair work to my uterus, as it was damaged from scar adhesions and had a window/tear. The catheter was to keep pressure from the bladder off the uterus. I also had a drain which I had never had before. I was up walking within 18 hours with the first two, and got out of bed by myself (naughty) about 6 hours after the third because I wanted to grab something from my bag.

Total time in theatre was under an hour for the first two. Was about 1.5 or so hours for the third due to the repair work, and I had my tubes tied.