For those who have had a C-section

[Ang1873]

hey,

i had a pretty positive experience. i was terrified and some of the bits were horrid but over in minutes. the shaking afterwards was the worst bit but only because i had no idea what was going on.

i have to say, the pain wasn't bad - the drugs keep on top of it. in the morning times i often felt like i was hit by a bus but once i took more tablets i was fine and i stopped taking the tablets after a week because i didn't need them.

mine was an elective section, so i'm not sure that because my body didn't go through labour it recovered quicker?

don't get me wrong, the first few days were really tendor and i was scared to do anything incase i burst open (unrealistic i know!) but i could easily carry baby and i breastfed for a week.

the bleeding shocked me too, i'd been told you bleed less with a section - i bled heavily for about 5 days but then lightly for about 5 weeks on and off.

 

[wishingforbub]

Thanks Ang1873, So glad yours was positive. Mine is elective too. So hopefully I don't go into labour beforehand LOL
And so happy to hear you carried baby and breastfed fine after. I was a little worried about that, but I have my SIL coming over and my DH will be home for 2 weeks too
Thanks again for sharing.
x

 

[samantha.xo]

Bump!

 

[Wirral_Kitty]

Hi, i was having a planned caesarean but ended up having an emergency one due to pre-eclampsia. If I take away how ill I was from pree then the caesarean was fab. I had a spinal which was good. It feels a bit bizarre going in as my left leg shot out but its not that awful. Because I was ill I was on drips for 25 hours and didnt move but I had a fab midwife who kept on putting my LO onto my breasts as I really wanted to breastfeed. I was in and out of being awake all this time and wasnt able to bond with my babs as I kept on falling asleep. When I was ready to be moved there was a horrid old hca who just kinda grabbed me to spin me on the bed which felt like my insides were tearing apart. If I'd have had a knife at that point I'd be in prison right now...lol. In those first few days you may feel really 'heavy' in your belly area. I am overweight and I now have a lovely stretchmarked apron of belly and I had to hold that area a lot whenever I got up. I was out walking with the pram quite far on day 11 and my wound area is really good. Its mad how it just 'holds together' as I had no apparent stitches or staples. I am gutted that my milk never kicked in and I tried desparately in the first 9 days to express by hand and latch baby on but it never happened. Now, when I get in the bath my boob might dribble a drop of milk and it makes me feel soooooooooooo sad. Just be aware that you might not be able to bf if u have a caesarean (one where you havent been in labour first). I was told by the midwife that because the hormone for labour never gets released then ur body doesnt know to lactate and it gets delayed a bit longer.
From my illness I pent a lot of time in the labour ward overnight and got to listen to lots of women giving birth naturally and it honestly didnt sound that bad. Yes, they were howling and crying etc but its not the way it gets portrayed on the tv. I was having my planned caesarean due to psycological issues (tokophobia - fear of labour) but I sometimes quite regret this.

 

[wishingforbub]

Thanks for sharing your experience Wirral Sorry about your pre-e but at least you and bubs were ok in the end
xxxx

 

[Tasha]

I had a really good experience despite it being an emergency c-section for her distress. I got to hold her immediately - skin to skin as much as possible, then husband had a cuddle, they then weighed and sorted her whilst I was finished being stitched. They then gave her to me, whilst they wheeled me down to the high dependency unit, once there (I would say that was about thirty minutes after she was born), I sat up a bit and we breastfed. I was able to hold her once people had passed her to me at this stage.

Within six hours, I was up and about, walking around the ward, had a wash, got changed into my pj's, went to the toilet, was picking her up myself, and so on.

The recovery time was minimal for me, the only time it hurt was when I coughed or sneezed but holding something to it was able to cure that.

 

[wishingforbub]

Thanks Tasha... So good you healed so quickly... and was able to breastfeed so quickly. I hope my milk comes in straight away !!!n