Pre-op.... do I have options?

[LoveSanrio]

Hey everyone! So my scheduled section is on the 27th, the day before Thanksgiving, at 7:30am. This is my first scheduled C, my last was an emergency C after 24 hours of labor.

I have a pre-op appointment on Tuesday at 10am. I was wondering if some of you could clue me in a bit about what to expect at this appointment. I know I will be meeting with the anesthesiologist, but I wasn't sure exactly what for. If I had to guess it would be to discuss pain relief options, anesthesia options, ect? Now, I have never had a spinal, only epidural, so I am not sure what to expect in that aspect. I am not afraid of the pain if it feels like getting an epidural, but what I am concerned with is I read somewhere that with the spinal they also put in morphine, or Duramorph, when injecting it. I read that it is a great pain reliever, and is supposed to last 12-24 hours. That is great and all, but I also read that common side effects are intense itching, and vomiting. I would REALLY like to avoid that if possible. I would honestly rather be in a bit more pain than risk those side effects happening to me for 24 hours.

When I had my emergency section I had the epidural in place already, they pumped it full of the anesthesia to make sure I was very numb, and when I got into recovery I was given morphine and dilaudid through my IV, and percocet in pill form. I would much rather do this than have the Duramorph. After they had given me several doses I told them to stop giving me the dilaudid as it was making me nauseous. I want to be able to control how much of what I am getting and not be tied down to something. I want to be able to refuse something if I don't like the side effects of the drug.

So, I guess my question is, will I have a choice on how my anesthesia is managed, as well as the pain control? Do I have to have Duramorph, or can I opt out of it and manage my pain with the same methods used as last time? Will I be given options at pre-op?

 

[minties]

I'm not sure if you will have any choices. At my pre-op there wasn't much said really. Just asked me if I understood the risks, was I allergic to anything and gave me a little pill to take the morning of the op.

The spinal felt exactly the same as an eidural. The loss of sensation went really high up for me with the spinal, though I'm not sure if it's normal or just happened with me.

I got insane itching on my face, especially my nose. It drove me nuts!

I had an emergency section with my son and a planned with my daughter. The one thing the planned had over the emergency, was that my OH was asked to leave the room when I had an epidural. With the spinal he was allowed to sit in the operating theater and hold my hands. I did have both kids in different hospitals though.

 

[The Alchemist]

Hi Love,

For my scheduled c/s due to breech presentation, I met my anesthesiologist during the waiting period in l&d, waiting for my turn to go in for c/s. He just came in, intro'd himself, told me what I'm getting, and asked if I have any q.

I've never had an epi before since my first was natural. They do put morphine in first. People never told me the injection of morphine stings/hurts like hell for a good 10 seconds. The actual spinal didn't hurt at all to me. So expect that discomfort. Idk if they can give you anything besides morphine in the spine though. You may have to ask once you see the anesthesiologist. However, I did get the morphine itches as side effect. I had overall body itches, except my face. What I wanna say, as a nurse, is that every single drug has some sort of side effect to them, if which each individual will experience differently. Anyway, the itch was not too too bad. Annoying, yeah, that's all I can say but everybody is different.

I did noticed once my catheter was taken out, I couldn't pee. This is normal. It takes time for the body to adjust. I'd sit on the toilet for a couple if minutes telling my brain to pee, come on, pee. Doing kegels helps. Little by little, urine would excrete. By second day of recovery, I could pee. As for poop, I couldn't poop for a few days. I had finally regained my bm at home on the 4th day. Some women is longer than that. I'm sure you remember your bladder/bowel pattern and issue back when you had your emcs.

As for skin to skin, I didn't get to immediately hold him after he was out. They had to clean and weigh him first, then OH got him and brought him over to me while they stitched me up. Btw, my anesthesiologist was a wonderful, nice man. And a chatter full of jokes. He, OH, and I were chatting away while the dr waa cutting me open and I had no idea.

Anyway, anymore q, ask away! Best if luck!