Cannula - that's it! Yuck.

I forgot to say: I told everyone in advance that I wanted the baby to be handed straight to me, but when it came to it, I felt sick and in some discomfort, so DH held her instead until I was a bit more comfortable.

When they hook you up to the drip, they do warn you that the anaesthetic can cause your blood pressure to drop - and that this can make you sick. So if you do start to feel sick, say so, and they'll increase the drip and get your BP back up again!

One final thing I forgot to say: don't look up at the lights while they're doing the section. I did, not realising that there are mirrored surrounds on the lights, and regretted it enormously!!!

Re breastfeeding - if you're having an elective make sure you discuss with this your midwives repeatedly (you'll have several - recovery, theatre, pre-op) and make sure they understand that this is a priority for you. Asking for skin to skin contact in theatre does make a difference - if only because everyone is aware that it is very important for you & will they will forced to interrupt their normal routines & help where necessary. It can also go in your birth plan for an unexpected/emergency section if you write one.

After I went up to the ward I barely saw a midwife though - HCAs did pretty much everything.

I always take extra pillows with me - really helpful for feeding in the first couple of days - rugby ball hold is good because there's no pressure on the wound & you can request a bassinet cot which clips onto the side of your bed so that the baby is really close & it makes frequent feeding easier. Both times I have spent (literally) the whole of the first night feeding - I prop myself up in bed, put the dim light on & world service on the radio really quietly & just breastfeed - a private room makes in much easier. I also have all my visitors in after afternoon of they day of the section, but only dh the day after - means I can sleep while he looks after the baby.

Food is really dire, dh or my mum bring me meals & snacks & the ward is boiling (especially in winter) so it is really easy to get dehydrated, HCAs are great & bring litres of water.

I had my cannular out really quickly - certainly by the time I had visitors in the afternoon - if you're managing to drink enough & not puke there's no reason (in normal circumstances) that it needs to stray in. If they haven't taken it out buzz the mw & ask them too - often it's only in because they forgot about it/haven't got around to it yet.

Before you leave recovery make sure you ask the mw (if they haven't told) what kind of stitches you have - they don't always use dissolving stitches & the information that they'll need to come out at some point often gets lost on the pn ward.

I think the nursing thing all depends on your midwife (not necessarily private ones). My midwife in the recovery ward was fantastic and I certainly think I would have found nursing more difficult if I had been sent home straight away.

There should also be a breastfeeding counsellor in your hosipital who you can ask for.

If you are worried about feeding afterwards I would get in touch with your local breastfeeding counsellor (check with your local NCT) and have a chat with her before the birth. That way, if you do have problems you can just give her a call. Mind gave me great advice on feeding through mastitis.

I'd like to make a point about nursing:

I went Private and had MWs to support me round the clock. I think BF might have been more problematic without them.

Just thought I should point that out.

recovery: couple of weeks all healed fine. paracetamol for first day afterwards but otherwise better left so you can feel if doing too much / wrong thing. iv antibiotics for 24hours afterwards but in retrospect i should have told them no.

up and about: it was an ecs and i'd been in various stages of induction for three days/nights previously. so i went to sleep for 10 hours. catheter removed after that. i got up, ate, had shower, took stockings off etc. poo, can't remember so it can't have been a problem. every other bloody thing was.

Were you able to nurse right away? no and shit support. didn't get latched on till 5 days afterwards at home. beware this in particular.

pain-hurt when painkillers where wearing off and for weeks and weeks if i moved too quickly-took months to not really be aware of it but it was quite copeable with.hated catheter that came out after 24hours i think,both times,also hated line(canular) into hand,bashed it every time I fed the baby.both babies fed easily in the recovery room.Can't remember when i ate anything,so it clearly wasn't a problem.also poo thing-as normal no probs,didn't really hurt other than creeping to the loo and sitting on it.

>Regarding recovery, how long did it take for the pain(i mean abdomen ect pain due to surgery) to go away? How long were u stuck to IV etc and what pain medications did u take?
I have the needles etc. for 24 hours. Pain for probably a week, but not severe. managable.

> How long after your section were you allowed to get up and move around? How long did they leave catheter in?
I was up after 12 hours with care. catherter, less than 24 hours.

>How long before you were allowed to eat? (i heard they allow food only after passing gas, is it so? sorry timid). I was allowed to eat and drink immediately, infact, encouranged.

> How long before u had 1st bowel movement? is it painful
Probably 2 days for me and, yes, it was scary and a bit painful *but so was weeing at first*

> Were you able to nurse right away?

yes.

Hope that's some help. FWIW, I had a CS and it was great, so if you have to have one, please try to think of the positives for you and the baby and not feel like you have failed.

It can be a great experience - mine was.

Few questions about c-section:

>Regarding recovery, how long did it take for the pain(i mean abdomen ect pain due to surgery) to go away? How long were u stuck to IV etc and what pain medications did u take?
I found it pretty bloody painful for about a week afterwards but maybe I just have a low pain threshold. Also they forgot to give me painkillers in hospital because the hardcore ones were written on the reverse of my notes which nobody saw! I don't remember being stuck to an IV at all but was pretty out of it for about 12 hours afterwards because had three day labour with no sleep. I think had codeine & then an antiimflammatory drug & something else for drugs - can't remember. Just take everything and make sure you get it all!

> How long after your section were you allowed to get up and move around? How long did they leave catheter in?
Had section 6pm, catheter removed 8am or so next day. That was the first time I got up. That was OK - bent double but did manage shower by myself that day. It was on about the third day when they forgot the pain killers that I found it very painful & also I didn't get out of bed too long - you need to keep moving if you can I think.

>How long before you were allowed to eat? (i heard they allow food only after passing gas, is it so? sorry timid).
Had tea & toast about an hour later in recovery room - was STARVING after long labour before. I was quite gassy but no problems or pain actually passing gas.

> How long before u had 1st bowel movement? is it painful
OK, it was a week, it was not painful at all, but it was the biggest frigging poo I have ever done in my life. Was hilarious, had to call DH to come and have a look, silently lifted toilet seat to cue a loud "F***G HELL" from him and both of us wetting ourselves with laughter in the loo unable to move. MIL calling from downstairs in our tiny house asking what was so funny. Sorry for the TMI but it cheered me right up.

> Were you able to nurse right away?
About 30 mins or so. I had asked for skin to skin straight away but didn't get it, I think as DD was a bit blue and needed a bit of work when she came out. She latched on straight away though, normal hold. Lots of help from the MWs in hosp with the feeding so it was sorted by the time we left. I was planning a home birth - had that gone to plan I suspect I would have found the bf-ing a lot trickier as the help in hosp was invaluable.

Good luck!

Few questions about c-section:

>Regarding recovery, how long did it take for the pain(i mean abdomen ect pain due to surgery) to go away?

Quite a while, if I remember rightly. I pushed both DCs around in our Phil and Ted's for a day after about 4 weeks, and felt it afterwards! The really bad pain lasted a good week. I'd imagined I'd be able to walk round the block on day 3 or so - but no way!!

How long were u stuck to IV etc and what pain medications did u take?

IV - not long at all. I was given a big dose of something immediately following the operation, then Voltarol, paracetamol and codeine (codeine only twice - once quite soon after the operation, and then again because I demanded it!! It's fantastic stuff...)

> How long after your section were you allowed to get up and move around?

I had my section at about 10.30 am, and was told off at tea-time because I hadn't got up (though that was because they told me not to!!)

How long did they leave catheter in?
12 hours?? Or so??

>How long before you were allowed to eat? (i heard they allow food only after passing gas, is it so? sorry timid).

I don't think they gave me any rules about that. My Mum brought a tiny bottle of champagne soon after DD was born!!

> How long before u had 1st bowel movement? is it painful

Either the same day as the operation, or the day after. They gave me a double dose of Lactulose to speed things up - which it did to spectacular effect. Don't be tempted to accept if they make the same suggestion to you!!!

So no, it wasn't painful - just rather unpleasant. I don't recall bowel movements being a problem post-cs. The thing that hurt me most of all was walking down the stairs!

> Were you able to nurse right away?
Yes

Generally, my experience is that a cs does hurt - but nowhere near as much as a drug-free back-to-back labour followed by ventouse, forceps and reconstructive vaginal surgery. Compared to that, it's bliss!

The thing I hated most was that pesky thing they stick into the back of your hand. I have the word "calendar" in mind, but it's not that - it's something else that begins with "c". I think I have sensibly repressed all knowledge of it.

One weird thing is that you have no sensation around the wound for ages afterwards. I still don't feel completely normal in the scar area four years on (though I will stress that it's not in any way painful - just slightly weird if I poke it, which of course I do all the time...)

Thanks for your help!
You are v welcome. Good luck!

Can't remember all the exact timings as it was an emergency section and now all a bit of a blur.

However, I will say 2 things
- having a section is a good reminder to everybody that you need to take it easy for a few weeks and not try to do too much. "I have been sawn in half you know!". I think you are more inclined to over do it after a natural birth.

- the pain killers they prescribe you are a real boon to get you through the initial pain of breastfeeding and I kept taking them until the very last one had been emptied out of the packet.