Caesarian survival tips

Lavender oil is great in the bath to help the wound heal and prevent infection, especially if you have put on weight while pregnant, and have an attractive 'overhang'. My scar never saw the light of day, still battling with the bulge!

Also, don't do what I did, after a couple of months, feeling 100%, decided to join in with 2YO DS in his play tunnel. Commando crawling is one of the last functions to come back after a CS - I ended up completely stuck, unable to go backwards or forwards!

Full time help is good, I tried the same thing which was helpful up to a point except that DS took an instant and unreasonable dislike to the lovely lady and would not let her do a single thing for him.

Good luck!

Hi, Soutine. I don't know how a first elective section affects you after you've had normal deliveries - I have had 4 electives and no vaginals so my experience is different - but for me the worst thing, always, was getting out of bed the first time - especially after an epidural because you have that lovely long lull with no feeling at all. (One of mine was under GA.)

The pulling sensation across the scar is quite scary when you first get up but after that it's not nearly so bad. The bloating/trapped wind didn't bother me but the nurses always mithered on about moving your bowels - which you will do eventually, so if you haven't I would recommend lying about it, otherwise they might make you have an enema (eurgggghhhhhh). Hospital food didn't offer much fibre back then (my youngest is 10), probably better now, anyway try to get wholemeal bread, bananas, apples etc where you can, and as PamT said move about - gently - as much as you can.

It seemed to me that I didn't bleed afterwards nearly as much as the normal deliveries - I think they must hoover you out before they stitch you up.

I did have that "quick and uneventful recovery" described by Marina (but I always have been a quick healer and have very clotty blood) but the major problem I had with my babies after sections was breastfeeding. If you don't plan to then it won't matter, but electives tend to be early and not quite ready to be born so don't have the major survival/sucking reflex that term babies have. You don't give the reason for your elective (breach or something?) but if you can, get them to leave it as late as possible so the baby is as near as it can be to term. (I also had milk supply problems though so it wasn't just the earliness.)

Having full-time help for a bit is an excellent idea. My kids were a minimum of 3 years apart, not 18 months like yours, and getting everybody organised and out of the house used to defeat me on a regular basis for the first few weeks - especially with the unsucky babies who wanted to be fed a small amount every 5 minutes! - with help you can send the older ones out and concentrate on the new one without them feeling a nuisance or you feeling hysterical.

Incidentally all the medical people in theatre were brilliant for me, despite no previous contact as mentioned by Marina, in fact I particularly remember the (German, training) anaesthetist I had with no. 3 who was as involved as we were and delighted in pointing out the effects on my heartrate of different parts of the op - as the baby was delivered it practically doubled, he was thrilled!

Lots of luck!

Soutine, I was absolutely fine after both of my elective c-sections, and in my hospital you had to have a bath on the same day as the op, they got you out of bed about 6 hours after, the most painful part for me was the injections into the belly of the drug that prevents thrombosis, I had to have these for 3 days after my second section, but after my first I just had to wear long surgical stockings for 6 hours (until I got up and moved around), I think it depends upon your consultant.

My top tip- even though you're starving hungry by the next day, do NOT eat an absolutely enormous breakfast as soon as they allow you to eat again. As you will guess, I did just that and had appalling indigestion/trapped wind or something that was more painful than the scar. Good luck!

Soutine - you may be lucky, as I was, and have absolutely no side effects - I had an emergency C/S so was knocked out by the aneasthetic but had no problems whatsoever - of course, I pretended I was feeling weak for some time to get as much help as possible with the housework etc!!

Definitely BIG knickers, preferably close fitting up to the waist ones. They look hideous but they keep the maternity pads in place (yes you still bleed the same afterwards) and they don't irritate your scar. You are likely to be in hospital for 4 days or longer so make sure that you have plenty of supplies, unless you have a very obliging dh you will need loads of maternity pads, breast pads, nighties and knickers in your hospital bag.

I would recommend that you get active as soon as possible and try to move little and often throughout the first few days. This helps with healing and prevents thrombosis.

You won't be allowed to have a bath until your scar is healed but my hospital allowed showers from day 2 or 3 if you tied a plastic apron around your waist to protect the dressing.

I had a general anaesthetic (emergency section) and was very groggy for at least 36 hours - it gave me the perfect excuse to turn my back on the MIL. I also suffered a sore throat for a few days which is apparently quite normal and due to the gas/tube down throat.

You will not be allowed to drive until pronounced fit by a doctor which around here is not before 6 weeks and I would not recommend it any sooner. My aunt had an accident a few weeks after a tummy tuck operation and her scar burst open, that was an operation which didn't affect the stomach muscles like a caesarian does. You also need to avoid vacuuming and carrying heavy things around as it will become immediately obvious by the pulling sensation when you have done too much.

Start taking high strength arnica pillules about a week before surgery is scheduled. This homoeopathic remedy is widely felt to be helpful with reducing shock and bruising and promoting healing.
Pack a small bottle of essential oil of peppermint too. This, taken a few drops in warm water, can really help with any abdominal bloating/trapped wind you might experience post-surgery.
Get your midwife to demonstrate the correct way to get yourself upright/off the bed and back on again. Post-operative pain relief these days is so efficient that you might, as I did, start flinging yourself around too energetically.
Pack BIG knickers even if you preferred below the bump pants during pregnancy. You need something that is not going to rub on your bikini line. My carefully chosen disposable briefs turned out to be unwearable for this reason.
And, on a lighter note, shave the top inch or so from your pubic hair before you are admitted. Somehow this was not communicated to me and I ended up having to do it with a teeny useless hospital razor on the morning. It would have been easier and less painful for me to gnaw the wretched stuff off myself...
I had to attend hospital briefly the previous afternoon to meet the anaesthetist (I found out afterwards I was the only one of five booked electives that day who bothered to keep this appointment...). It was well worthwhile because I am a bit unhappy about needles and she was very kind and reassuring. You can check whether the elective will be done under spinal or epidural anaesthetic, ask about procedures etc.
And you might also want to find out from your consultant how things will be managed on the day. Who will be your surgeon? Will you have a chance to meet him/her before the op? Is your midwife able to tell you if you will be able to hold your baby as soon as he/she is born? Can you have music playing in the theatre? I never thought to air these concerns so although my c-section went fine from a surgical point of view, it was a bit perfunctory.
Good luck with the operation, anyway, Soutine. Hope you are one of the lucky ones with a quick and uneventful recovery (most are, I wasn't, so am keen to avoid one if possible next time).

Hi Soutine.
I had both my twins and my dd by elective caesarian and I swear by the power of arnica! My GP prescribed it ( she is also a homeopath), 200c potency, and I had to take it the day before, the day of the op and thereafter until I felt ok ( 4x a day). By day 4 I felt great and was turning down the offers of painkillers and although they gave me some to take home, the only time I took them was for back-ache caused by breastfeeding in a bad position.

Do avoid hoovering and any unneccesary housework for the full 6 weeks ( or even longer if you can) but it's a myth that you are not allowed to drive afterwards- all you need to do is contact your insurance company with a note from your doctor saying that you are fit to drive.

As for during the op, don't forget to take a cd to listen to, helps to take your mind off what's occurring.( My dear friend suggested that I took Bat out of Hell!)

Best of luck.

I took Arnica tablets in the weeks prior to my delivery by emergency C/S. Don't know whether it was coincidence but I seemed to be up and walking around a lot quicker than the others on the ward!!