starrynight
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Having read through some of the other posts - i hope this one helps
I was advised to have a c-section after finding out I had gestational diabetes and polyhydramnios. So from week 29 I knew she was coming out the sunroof!
I was booked in for 38+5 but my waters went 5 days earlier (at 38 weeks). The concern was that bits other than the baby would come down first as the polyhydramnios prevented her head engaging but all was ok.
Headed off to hospital after calling to let them know i was on my way in.
At this point, i just hoped they would have time and space to fit me in!
As it goes, I was admitted to the 'day unit' until space bewcame available on the maternity ward and pretty much left to my own devices. I was being monitored and bubs heartbeat checked but that was it. I had 3 contractions quite close together and then nothing, not a twinge, not a tense, nothing.
Finally, at about 7pm i got the go ahead to make my way upstairs to prep for surgery.
As some of the others here have said, the painful bit was having the spinal. I was sat on the edge of the operating table in a gown, legs propped up and cushion on my lap. A nurse helped hold my shoulders down whilst the aenesthitist (sp!) tried to get the needle in the right place.
I wont lie, it was painful but i compared it to the pain of having a tattoo or piercing and once it was in, that was that!
The operation itself is a bit of a blur (she had to be pulled back up from the canal with forceps as she had moved so far down and people were talking all over the place over my head so i was just concentrating on my husbands face).
And then she was out - all 9lb 8oz and curly haired (explains the heartburn at least!).
This was the biref bit - the main reason i wanted to post was to offer a couple bits of advice from my very limited experience
1 - Ask for the first cuddle as soon as you are comfortable to. I was desperate to hold my new baby but was very aware of still being numb, shaking from the excitement/stress and still being sewn up. When she was put on my chest, my husband had to hold her there as I couldnt manage on my own. My second cuddle, back on the ward, is the one i really count as i remember everything about it and wasnt distracted by random medical jargon being shouted over my head!
2 - make sure you get your time back in the delivery suite after surgery. I was sent from operating table to ward with only a qucik stop off in a few corridors. I should have been left in a delivery suite for at least an hour so we could have some alone time but for various reasons this didnt happen and I didnt ask for it. I am sure that had i been more assertive I would have got this time.
3 - dont be afraid to ask the nurses and mdwives for help on the ward - i did the typical british thing of not wanting to bother anyone but it resulted in me straining my stomach to try to get the baby out of her cot.
4 - ask for the details of the birth - i only found out about the forceps once i noticed bruises on baby's arms and alerted the nurse to it. she told me they were from the forceps and i found out a lot about the birth from her a day later (nothing bad!! just information that I didnt remember/wasnt aware of and it helped build the picutre in my mind forevermore)
6 - dont push yourself - i was told this a thousand times and i could tell a thousand people but we will all ignore it again and again! A c-sec is major surgery and it takes time to heal. I felt so much better on day 3, back at home, and was pushing myself to walk up the stairs without a limp or one at a time etc and convinced myself all was going well - by day 6 i was in more pain than the first day and i am sure it is because i didnt rest properly.
7 - someone else has already said this but BIG PANTS! means nothing pushing on the scar and also space to put a maternity pad at the front to cushion any accidental blows to the area (from errant baby legs)
My baby is now one and a bundle of cheekiness but i am stll cautious of the areas around my scar.
It is a neat scar but i still have some overhang/apron (result of polyhydramnios and not being very good on the PP diet) and there are still days i get twinges and i probably will for a long time to come.
So - its not dramatic, it wasnt the easiest or hardest. It was just standard and if i am honest, i hope anyhone that has a planned c-sec has a similar experience as it ended in a healthy, happy, rather large baby!
I was advised to have a c-section after finding out I had gestational diabetes and polyhydramnios. So from week 29 I knew she was coming out the sunroof!
I was booked in for 38+5 but my waters went 5 days earlier (at 38 weeks). The concern was that bits other than the baby would come down first as the polyhydramnios prevented her head engaging but all was ok.
Headed off to hospital after calling to let them know i was on my way in.
At this point, i just hoped they would have time and space to fit me in!
As it goes, I was admitted to the 'day unit' until space bewcame available on the maternity ward and pretty much left to my own devices. I was being monitored and bubs heartbeat checked but that was it. I had 3 contractions quite close together and then nothing, not a twinge, not a tense, nothing.
Finally, at about 7pm i got the go ahead to make my way upstairs to prep for surgery.
As some of the others here have said, the painful bit was having the spinal. I was sat on the edge of the operating table in a gown, legs propped up and cushion on my lap. A nurse helped hold my shoulders down whilst the aenesthitist (sp!) tried to get the needle in the right place.
I wont lie, it was painful but i compared it to the pain of having a tattoo or piercing and once it was in, that was that!
The operation itself is a bit of a blur (she had to be pulled back up from the canal with forceps as she had moved so far down and people were talking all over the place over my head so i was just concentrating on my husbands face).
And then she was out - all 9lb 8oz and curly haired (explains the heartburn at least!).
This was the biref bit - the main reason i wanted to post was to offer a couple bits of advice from my very limited experience
1 - Ask for the first cuddle as soon as you are comfortable to. I was desperate to hold my new baby but was very aware of still being numb, shaking from the excitement/stress and still being sewn up. When she was put on my chest, my husband had to hold her there as I couldnt manage on my own. My second cuddle, back on the ward, is the one i really count as i remember everything about it and wasnt distracted by random medical jargon being shouted over my head!
2 - make sure you get your time back in the delivery suite after surgery. I was sent from operating table to ward with only a qucik stop off in a few corridors. I should have been left in a delivery suite for at least an hour so we could have some alone time but for various reasons this didnt happen and I didnt ask for it. I am sure that had i been more assertive I would have got this time.
3 - dont be afraid to ask the nurses and mdwives for help on the ward - i did the typical british thing of not wanting to bother anyone but it resulted in me straining my stomach to try to get the baby out of her cot.
4 - ask for the details of the birth - i only found out about the forceps once i noticed bruises on baby's arms and alerted the nurse to it. she told me they were from the forceps and i found out a lot about the birth from her a day later (nothing bad!! just information that I didnt remember/wasnt aware of and it helped build the picutre in my mind forevermore)
6 - dont push yourself - i was told this a thousand times and i could tell a thousand people but we will all ignore it again and again! A c-sec is major surgery and it takes time to heal. I felt so much better on day 3, back at home, and was pushing myself to walk up the stairs without a limp or one at a time etc and convinced myself all was going well - by day 6 i was in more pain than the first day and i am sure it is because i didnt rest properly.
7 - someone else has already said this but BIG PANTS! means nothing pushing on the scar and also space to put a maternity pad at the front to cushion any accidental blows to the area (from errant baby legs)
My baby is now one and a bundle of cheekiness but i am stll cautious of the areas around my scar.
It is a neat scar but i still have some overhang/apron (result of polyhydramnios and not being very good on the PP diet) and there are still days i get twinges and i probably will for a long time to come.
So - its not dramatic, it wasnt the easiest or hardest. It was just standard and if i am honest, i hope anyhone that has a planned c-sec has a similar experience as it ended in a healthy, happy, rather large baby!
