Hi I'm due with my second and trying to decide between vbac and elcs. Had planned elcs with first as he was breech. I've read so much about elcs over the two years since ds was born but have never heard a story similar to mine (scbu admission for a week for respiratory distress). I know I have a lot of trauma to work through (midwife has referred me to counselling) but I feel so weirdly lonely about having a non-great elcs when every story I read sounds so positive. Does that sound stupid? It's nothing to do with envy, I just keep wondering 'why me?' Am I going to get unlucky again? And it's making it so hard to choose between vbac and elcs!
Didn't enjoy any aspect of elcs. They told me to eat breakfast (I queried it three times but woman was adamant) then nearly cancelled the whole thing because I'd eaten a tiny bit of cereal. Told me not to shave, then said I should have so had to have dry shave by nurse before going in. Kept waiting for six hours. Told me to wear flip flops into theatre then told me off for not being bare foot. Couldn't get the spinal in and scratched vertebrae. Surgeon forgot to introduce themselves until after they'd cut me open. No one spoke to me at all during whole up. I wanted skin to skin but ds was held up by my face for two seconds wrapped in towel so I could only see one eye and his cheek. Nurse barked at me 'kiss your baby!' so I did then they took him across room to where I couldn't see for apgar I guess. Then there was lots of talking about his breathing (no one said anything to me.) I was wheeled off to recovery still knowing nothing (dh went with ds). Starting shaking like mad in recovery, whole body spasms. After an hour a pediatrician turned up and said 'concerned about several birth defects including small chin, short neck and large hernia which together suggest a genetic syndrome. We'll need to do chromosomal testing'. Then told ds having trouble breathing and on oxygen but needs to be transferred to another hospital for a surgical assessment. He went to the other hospital a few hours later but it took ages to get an ambulance and bed for me so I didn't get there until 4am. Finally got to see him at 7am the next day - in a different hospital on a different day to to the I gave birth! Dr was there. Said he had no idea what the first doctor was on about as neck and chin both normal and not a hernia but might be tortion of the testes. Later that day confirmed to be just bilateral hydrocele. Then told ds has funny shaped head, hydrocephalus suspected, confirmed the next day as not hydrocephalus but ventricularmegaly (enlarged ventricles in brain). Ds on cpap with oxygen mask over face if I wanted to hold him! Told I couldn't attempt breastfeeding as he's too sick. Then told he has suspected sepsis and needs lumbar puncture. Poor bean had canulas in both hands and one foot. Was only on fluids for first two days in case they needed to operate then fed donor milk through nasal tube. After a four days his breathing stabilised and he was transferred back to original hospital where he stayed for another three days until his breathing was fine (he was also having iv antibiotics). I'd been kicked off maternity ward when he was three days old as they needed my bed so I was back home with no baby. Recovery was awful. Hospital kept forgetting to give me any meds as I'd been transferred in at night and wasn't on their rounds. Morning after cs midwife made me get up and have shower with no pain relief at all (I stupidly didn't ask, just assumed I'd be given what I was meant to have). Managed the shower but nearly passed out when I got back to my bed. Took me nearly a month until I could move without bad pain. Anyway. Several weeks later another ultrasound revealed ds didn't have ventricularmegaly and was in fact perfectly normal. Or so we were told until we were sent a letter six months later saying a review of his scans showed agenesis of corpus callosum (the bit of the brain that joins two hemispheres). Another review of his scans months later revealed that again they'd got it wrong and his brain is perfectly lovely and normal after all.
So sorry, that's absolutely epic. I didn't mean to write so much but guess I needed the catharsis. I'm just so mixed up and scared now I'm pregnant again. Elcs was horrible and having baby in scbu was so awful. I'd do anything I could to avoid it again. But ds was big with a huge head and I'm scared of rupture and having to lie still for continual monitoring. Just don't know what to do. I also have no one but dh to look after ds if I go into labour but could arrange for family help if cs was planned. However I haven't much help with recovery after cs as dh doesn't even get paternity leave (new job) and family are not great and we have nowhere for them to stay anyway. Help!
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Has anyone else had a bad elcs experience?
22 replies
TippetyTapWriter · 18/04/2017 22:03
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