What do you wish you would have known before your c-section?

[egoldber]

I agree with the others that it really is a stress-free situation. You can line-up adequate childcare before hand, have everything done that ABSOLUTELY needs to be done, and you will have 4 days in the hospital to sleep and work on nursing. A pediatrician comes and checks on your baby daily and the OB checks on you daily. Super-duper care for 4 days. Use that time to SLEEP!!!

Holy cow.

This just goes to show how different everyone is. My c-sections were anything but stress free. I worried about every detail, about everything that could go wrong, about needing an emergency hsyterectomy on the table, etc. I worried about the pain meds and the side effects. I worried about not being to get up and take care of my baby. I am up and out of bed within about 3 hours of surgery. As soon as I can feel my feet, I beg to get the cath out, get out of bed and change into street clothes.

The worst sleep of my life is in the hospital. The overhead announcements, the endless vitals checks, the troop of doctors and nurses starting at 7 am. Golly I can't imagine finding it restful.

[gatorsmom]

Holy cow.

This just goes to show how different everyone is. My c-sections were anything but stress free. I worried about every detail, about everything that could go wrong, about needing an emergency hsyterectomy on the table, etc. I worried about the pain meds and the side effects. I worried about not being to get up and take care of my baby. I am up and out of bed within about 3 hours of surgery. As soon as I can feel my feet, I beg to get the cath out, get out of bed and change into street clothes.

The worst sleep of my life is in the hospital. The overhead announcements, the endless vitals checks, the troop of doctors and nurses starting at 7 am. Golly I can't imagine finding it restful.

um, yeah, I did worry about some of that too. But I didn't think it was helpful to tell Beachbum about it since most of that stuff is unpreventable anyway (emergency hysterectomy, the pain meds, side effects, etc). And, if you CAN relax during the whole time you are there, it is MUCH better so that you can sleep and heal and relax enough to bf, etc.

Don't worry, Beachbum, we'll all be sending you P and PT. piece of cake.

[kijip]

I think the longer hospital stay thing is changing too- I stayed 4 days for T 5 years ago but it I had developed complications. This time around, I had the surgery on Saturday morning and was discharged Monday morning. Had I wanted to stay longer, I could have but they told me 2 days was typical for them now unless mom was ill or nursing was not working at all. Since I sleep better at home and the food at my house is WAY better than the hospital, I was THRILLED to leave at 2 days. I headed home to bed and found that way more restful. ETA: My answer might be totally different if I was heading home to a different situation. I have a very involved and supportive husband and a lot of hands on, helpful friends and relatives. I went home to a house where I never needed to get out of bed if I did not want to, a constant stream of food brought to me and a husband that wakes up without complaint for every middle of the night feeding to change Finn, make sure I have plenty of water and bring me a snack. It's been over two weeks and I have cooked nothing, cleaned nothing except for a baby's bottom, and gotten a ton of sleep. If I had less help at home, a longer hospital stay might be more appealing than a short one. I am planning on heating up a casserole and tossing a salad for dinner tonight with Toby...

[bubbaray]

Where the heck did my LONG post go??? ACK.

Anyway, a big to Lisa's/Gatorsmom's post.

[Fairy]

ITA...

Yes, the strapping down is necessary. I was so freaked out by this and begged not to do it, but they would not do the surgery without it.

Get up and walk within 12 hours of the surgery...for some reason it cuts recovery time down.

Use the pain meds, they are there for a reason. You will heal better and faster if your pain is controlled.

No solid foods first 24 hours...my stupid hospital served me spaghetti with meat sauce....all I ate was the jello cup.

Avoid gassy foods.

Use the gas pills...air actually gets inside you during surgery.

If you are prone to motion sickness, warn the anethsiologist (sp??). I barfed, twice, after dd was born when they moved from the table to the gurney.

Nurse! Make arrangements with your OB in advance if you want to nurse right away.

Bring a pillow for the ride home to hold over your incision when you go over bumps.

Use antibacterial body was on the incision and air dry with blow dryer.

Remember, this is surgery....you have to be kind to yourself!!!!

Perfect, perfect, perfect post.

The gas thing can be significant. The air bubble that gets inside of you after surgery can settle in painful places, like your chest and shoulders. That and the nausea from the spinal block were the worst. Anti-nauseal is your friend.

[egoldber]

But I didn't think it was helpful to tell Beachbum about it since most of that stuff is unpreventable anyway (emergency hysterectomy, the pain meds, side effects, etc). And, if you CAN relax during the whole time you are there, it is MUCH better so that you can sleep and heal and relax enough to bf, etc.

Personally, I MUCH prefer to have information and be prepared than to not know. Someone can do with that info what they will. JMO.

But my point is that different things are important to different people. As I said upthread, things that are important to some or worrisome to some are not to others. You need to take in the info, reflect on what is important to you and go from there.

[slworld]

I didn't read through all the posts so I am not sure if you already got all this, but for me here is what I wish I had known before surgery.

--> I had unplanned c-section after 36hours of labor. The second they decided it had to be a c-section everything happened in about 1/2hr. I wish I knew everything would happen so quick since it was the most overwhelmed I have ever been and the feeling was horrible. Also I felt so tired/drowsy during & after surgery that for about the 1st hour all wanted to do was take a nap, not even hold the baby.
--> I was not strapped, but I had chills all through surgery. I don't know if it was the drugs or the fear (I was freaking out).
--> Babies born via c-section don't end up having their lungs squeezed like those born vaginally. So c/s babies have more water in their lungs. DS stopped breathing after a while though he did cry as soon as he came out. They call it being stunned and he was taken to the NICU and DH accompanied him while I was brought to the recovery room.
--> You probabaly will not be getting out of bed for the 12hrs or so, so make sure you have someone in the room to attend to you, bring you the baby to nurse, get you food etc.
--> They made me walk to the bathroom after the first 12hrs and that was really painful. But after that it kept getting better every time.
--> I didn't get to eat solids for sometime after surgery (don't recall how long) and the nurse kept asking me if I passing gas ok. Guess they need to make sure that there is no blockage. Also I kind of felt weird in my tummy like it was all bundled up or something. Guess they need to move around your intestine to get to your uterus (sorry if TMI)
--> I took all medication religiously as prescribed/suggested (gas, stool softner, narcotic pain med, motrin). Also prune juice helped a lot with constipation.
--> Nobody at the hospital told me about the velcro band to hold the incision. I started using it a week after surgery after DH's aunt suggested and that really helped, especially with getting out of bed.
--> Avoid the stairs as much as possible for a while. If I had known this before, I would have made a makeshift bedroom downstairs. It was so difficult to avoid the stairs since our bedroom was on the 2nd floor.
--> I didn't like any material touching the incision except cotton. So I switched to those brief type underwear which completely covered my incision and kind of held it tight.

HTH and good luck.

[Fairy]

I wasn't prepared for how much I'd bleed and for how long. I thought that when you had a c/s they just got all that stuff out on the operating table! I didn't know I"d bleed like a vaginal birth afterwards. silly me. I went through a LOT of thick pads. I think I stopped bleeding red after 3 weeks. I still bled but it turned dark (sorry if TMI but that surprised and frightened me the first time).

This is me, as well. I was shocked at how much I was bleeding. I thoguht, jeez, I thought they mopped all that up, right? Wrong. You're bleeding from where the placenta comes away from the wall of the uterus. It's a big vascular area that has to heal. So, that takes a while. I bled for SEVEN weeks. More, actually, but seven full weeks. It was insane. But it eventually stopped. Then I got my period. Nice.

[Fairy]

The shaking you experience is from the spinal block narcotics. I had it, too. Freaked out DH big time. But it's normal.

You will be freezing, ORs are very cold. They have nice hot blankets in a warmer oven. ASK FOR THEM.

If your insurance has maternity coverage, then with a c-section, they are required to allow you to stay five full days. Ihad complications and had no choice, but I'd use all the time no matter what. YOu are going to need it.

[egoldber]

they are required to allow you to stay five full days

Actually it is 96 hours or 4 days.