Wish I could um-impregnate myself. 34 weeks.

[weebigmamma]

I hate being pregnant. I don't want to do this any more. I don't want to have a baby in 5 weeks time. I have high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, I can't sleep, I have restless legs, I've had heartburn since October, I can't cope with people's endless bloody comments on my size, my mother in law is a bitch, I have to have a section and I'm fat so the recovery will be awful, the baby is breech and I can hardly walk, I have career opportunities that I now can't take and we have no money and the baby's not even here yet. Honestly, I wish I could go to bed and not wake up but I can't even sleep longer than an hour at a time.

[MrsHerculePoirot]

weebigmamma I am 31 weeks, breech baby really high up and uncomfortable. However I promise it will be worth it. I had a emcs with DD, and I am overweight (obese) and my recovery was absolutely fine - quicker than many of my NCT group that had natural births. Just wanted to give you one thing to cross off your list of woes!!!

[weebigmamma]

Thanks Mrs HP! I really appreciate you saying that. I feel totally crap now but I'm sure it is mostly because of the sleep deprivation. x

[Beckamaw]

I had GD and SPD in my second pregnancy. The constant heartburn killed me too. I just didn't sleep! The midwife kept telling me to take Gaviscon. It's shit - let's be honest.
I eventually went to the GP, in floods of tears. He told me off for not seeing him, and prescribed Omeprazole. It fixed me in that dept for the rest of the pregnancy.
I feel for you. Please see the GP.
Lack of sleep makes everything seem hopeless.
Heartfelt hugs.

[Beckamaw]

And also, I recovered much better from CS than vaginal births. And lost the weight faster!
Have you tried tonic water for restless legs? Worked for me. A large glass of economy tonic water before bed, every night. Honestly!

[flusteredmumto2]

Hi. I didn't just want to read and run. I wish I could say something to make you feel better but I don't know what.
Do you have other dc's?
I'm fat too and pregnant with #3 and if it helps my elective csec with dc2 the recovery was a breeze. I found being bigger the skin was slightly more elastic so not as tight.
Stressing out is going to make you feel worse. I know its easier said than done as I sit here at 17weeks pg fighting heartburn, strep throat, kidney infection and gestational diabetes with a 1500 word essay due tomorrow.
You will be fine. You are on the downhill stretch now and you will come out of it. You need to rest in some way. Have you spoken to your dr or midwife at all?

[weebigmamma]

Thanks all. Yes, I've spoken to midwife and doc and nothing they can do etc. Can't wait until it's all over and dread the thought that sleep deprivation will only get worse. But I feel guilty feeling this way too of course because other people have it so much worse.

[Proudmummytodc2]

Hi sorry I haven't ready every post and I may cross post but I'm sorry your having such a crap time I had a horrible 2nd pregnancy same symptoms as you and also had SPD and I couldn't walk without crutches and I still struggled but with regards to the heartburn ask your GP to prescribe you mucogel it's brilliant I suffered for months in my pregnancy and I got rushed in to hospital to maternity assessment the midwife noticed I was having really bad heartburn and gave me a bottle of mucogel it doesn't taste great but works a treat do ask your midwife/GP to prescribe that and see if it helps hope you feel better soon x

[flusteredmumto2]

Don't feel guilty!
I second omneprazole. Its fantastic! No heartburn and could eat anything. Drs don't like prescribing it as expensive but it really works.

[YouAreMyRain]

I'm very fat, had a c-section, was walking the next day. You will be fine

[weebigmamma]

OMG THANK YOU people. You have no idea how good it is to hear these positive stories, especially about the ELCS. I really appreciate it so much. xxx

[fhdl34]

I am very fat too (around 130kg at delivery) and I was up and walking about 9 hours after my elcs, bad even 12hrs after my emcs the first time round.
The thing you must be stringent on is wound care. With my emcs the first time my wound reopened on day 12 after having the baby at one end and it didn't close for 5 months due to an infection that wouldn't go away.
So for my elcs, I followed advice I'd read on mumsnet, which my consultant agreed would help. It is laborious, especially when you've a new baby to manage but it works.
Every day you have a shower and wash the wound with just water, don't rub it, just gently wash it. Then keep a freshly opened kitchen roll in a ziplock bag, and a new packet of maternity pads in another ziplock bag. Lie down on your back and pay dry the wound with some of the kitchen towel, being sure to seal the bag everytime you get a piece out. Then use a hairdryer with cool shot on it to dry it a bit more. Then for as long as you can (sometimes I only managed 10 minutes per day), just lie there gently holding your tummy up to air the wound. It needs to keep dry to heal but if you have an overhanging tummy like I did that won't happen and it gets moist very, very quickly. When you have to get up, take one of the maternity towels from the ziplock bag (best to use these as thicker than sanitary towels so easier to keep in place) and place it against your wound. It will draw the moisture away and keep the wound dry. Change pad regularly to avoid infection and also try to air it as much as you can still. Keeping the kitchen towel and maternity pads on ziplock bags helps keep them as free from contamination as possible. My consultant and midwife both said this was the best system for me to avoid the problems I had first time and I think I spent 3 hours without a pad there after having dried and aired it and it was really moist and sweaty again so I stuck with the pads until it had fully healed. It still wept a bit 2.5 weeks after birth but the knot of the dissolvable stitches hadn't dissolved properly, my practice nurse removed it with tweezers and it healed straight up.
What caused it to open the first time round was poor wound care and stupidly carrying a basket of washing upstairs 12 days after birth. The physio who saw me after my elcs said it was very common for wounds to reopen around then as people feel much more able to do stuff then.
Sorry if any of this freaks you out but I wouldn't want anyone to go through what I did the first time round, it was so hard having to traipse to the doctors everyday for 5 months to have the wound packed and dressed.
Oh and if any midwife tells you (like the one who discharged me did) that it looks ok on day 2 and you don't need the pad on it anymore ignore them, as long as the wound is kept clean and dry, the pad is changed frequently and it is aired to allow oxygen to get to it to aid healing, then it shouldn't be an infection risk. My view was that even if the pad wasn't there, because my tummy overhung and sat on the wound it wouldn't be getting oxygen to it anyway so when I wasn't holding it up and airing it, it had a clean pad on it.

[fhdl34]

Oh and ask for dissolvable stitches, I had staples first time round and they pull, my consultant said they should've used dissolvable stitches.

[weebigmamma]

Thanks fhdl. I will copy out your advice and tell my husband about it too (because I will forget). Really appreciated!

[aroha77]

You might actually get a bit more sleep once your baby is here??
Sorry you're having such a shitty time :(

[hubbahubster]

With DC1 I too had high BP, GD, had odema like you wouldn't believe (am usually a size 5 shoe – struggled to get into size 7s!). I had low placenta so was also booked in for an ELCS.

I wasn't as fed up as you but I feel for you all the same.

ELCS was fine – recovery was great, didn't have any issues at all with the wound, have the tiniest, neatest scar and way less issues than my friends who had vaginal births or EMCS. The aftercare at my hospital was excellent too, fabulous pain relief. I was walking round Tesco three days after having DC1, no problems at all. All that bloating went down really quickly, I've had no further issues with the diabetes, and since I had a CS my family were prepared for me not to be very mobile and looked after me really well.

CS isn't without its discomforts, but that's childbirth! I felt horribly nauseous while I was being stitched up, and standing up for the first time the next day nearly made me pass out. Also I found drinking loads of peppermint tea was a must as the op gives you terrible wind. But honestly, ELCS is so different to EMCS… a lot calmer. You'll be fine.

[hubbahubster]

Oh, and I was awake every 3 hours throughout pregnancy. So dealing with a newborn was a breeze after that…

[weebigmamma]

Thanks Aroha and Hubba! I had my meeting with the dietician yesterday and feel a bit better about the GD. I also got a decent few hours sleep last night so that helped a lot. The baby has gone the right way up again and I wonder if the extreme discomfort of the past few days was due to it turning around. Still will be glad when it's all over but the comments about ELCS have been really reassuring. Thanks!

[FobblyWoof]

Another one who is overweight and recovered from a CS just fine. It was much better than my previous (albeit traumatic) vaginal birth with my first. I did end up with an infection despite being really careful , but had a bit of cream and that cleared it up a treat, no problems.

It's a very difficult stage you're at. You're fed up with all the shitty things pregnancy brings and wanting the pregnancy over but you're also scared about when the baby arrives too. It's a hard time, but it does get better and the end is in sight now

[weebigmamma]

Thank you Fobbly! xxx

[MrsHerculePoirot]

With regards to the scar, I also got an infection, but it was caught really quickly. I then bought a big packet of gauze swabs like [http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gauze-Swabs-10x10cm-Non-Sterile/dp/B002S2CA3S/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1394629296&sr=8-2&keywords=gauze%20swabs&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21 the]]. I just used to pop a couple over my scar, they were held in place by my overhang (is this oversharing?!?!) and whenever I went to the loo or got changed I chucked them and swapped for some more. It just meant that the area kept dry and the infection stayed away - was easy to do as well, am stocking up ready for this time!

Not long to go now, glad you are more comfortable - hang in there!

[MrsHerculePoirot]

With regards to the scar, I also got an infection, but it was caught really quickly. I then bought a big packet of gauze swabs like these. I just used to pop a couple over my scar, they were held in place by my overhang (is this oversharing?!?!) and whenever I went to the loo or got changed I chucked them and swapped for some more. It just meant that the area kept dry and the infection stayed away - was easy to do as well, am stocking up ready for this time!

Not long to go now, glad you are more comfortable - hang in there!

[weebigmamma]

Thank you for the over-share! I totally need to know stuff like this and if my experience at the hospital so far is anything to go by they will be too busy to suggest this stuff when I'm in. So helpful. Thanks!

[weebigmamma]

I have just realised that I don't actually know where the cut will be made. Is there any way to explain it? I tried googling (a gruesome experience!) but it didn't really help. When they are feeling for the baby's head they feel really low down, like in a place that I would have imagined was actually made of bone rather than in my abdomen if that makes sense.

[AngelaDaviesHair]

Hello, another person popping in to tell you my ELCS and recovery were fine, really. I got a scar infection that was quickly caught and treated (pesky stomach overhang here too), the scar is fine now and still fading 2 and a half years on.

My scar is along the top of where my pubic hair starts, just inside the hairline. No idea if that's typical, but take it as a working hypothesis.

Along with gauze swabs, buy yourself some disposable giant (waist-high is good, up to the underboob in a Simon Cowell-stylee is even better) mesh knickers. I think I got mine in JoJo Maman Bebe. Not things of beauty by any means, but very practical post partum.

My Dd was an unstable lie and the pain in the last few weeks when she decided to writhe about headbutting me was astonishing. She always chose times when I was out of the house trying to get stuff done. Transverse and kicking the crap out of me in general and my bladder in particular was her favourite nighttime position. You don't sleep AND IT WEARS YOU DOWN. Which is made worse by the fact everyone wants you to be excited about the baby coming.

Really don't worry if you barely have the energy for, you know, standing upright and can't muster enthusiasm for what's to come. It is a cliche but if ever there were a time to just take every day as it comes, this is it. I would even delegate prep and planning if I were you. Doesn't mean you won't be great with and delighted by your baby when it arrives, quite the opposite.

[weebigmamma]

Thank you! I feel like having a little cry, everyone's been so brilliant! I really needed to hear that Angela. Thanks so much. Baby has apparently turned the right way round but has just winded me again- the pain! lol. xx