ELCS vs Vaginal *please help*

[chocitychoc19]

Please someone help me with my decision

My first birth was very traumatic.. ending with spinal & forceps. Baby didnt breath for almost 9mins. Lost 1200ltrs of blood. Also prem baby at 36wks

I am 33 weeks with no2.. I was so set on an ELCS.. so many people are putting me off regarding the recovery. I don't have a great pain tolerance for anything. So I obviously know it will be a long road of recovery compared to my vaginal birth.
I am also worrying about the pain of the csection along with the uterus contractions after birth. Mine were like labour all over again the first time. Apparently after number 1 those pains get worse with each baby (so I've been told)

I am terrified of going through the same as the first time. Is a cSection really as bad as they say & can anyone tell me what it was like having the uterus pains with your section Vs having them with a vaginal birth.

I need to make a decision and I don't know what to do for the best 😢

Thanks in advance if you got this far 🙏 xo

I had an emergency c led to believe that an elcs isn't as bad especially because you haven't laboured 1st

I've had two elective sections. I didn't have any contractions, before or after the births.

Pain was fine. Just made sure I got plenty of rest.

@Wildwildwoman yes I've heard that an elective is much easier than an emergency one. So I'm ofcourse afraid of having an emergency one aswell. How were your pains with the uterus contracting back down? If you can remember?

@Awrite were you able to lift your baby ok for like nappy changes / feeds? We have a 3 year old also.. so just worrying how I'd manager with her, a baby & a csection

I had an elective section and the recovery was a dream compared with my first baby, which ended in third degree tear. Having had such a bad time before, I’m sure you’ll find c section recovery a walk in the park.

I had one natural (disaster) followed by 2 elcs. First at 39 weeks, second at 38+4. The after pains after the second section were, I won't lie, awful BUT only lasted a few hours at most and weren't that many of them if I remember rightly!

I've never had a vaginal birth so can't make any comparisons pain wise, but I had an ELCS at 35 weeks due to PPROM. I can honestly say that at no point was the pain unmanageable. The c section itself was calm and I felt very in control. The first few days were hard and obviously there was some pain but with adequate pain relief (just paracetamol and ibuprofen after a few days!), plus plenty of rest, I was absolutely fine. I was up and about within a week or so, small walks to the park and never felt unable to do anything with baby really. I did have a supportive partner at home which made a lot of difference!

The only downside for me was the emotional detachment I felt from the birth and the subsequent feelings that brought up in the first few weeks. I suffered with the 'baby blues' quite badly (it wasn't PND as it was over within around 3 weeks) and always put this down to me not labouring so not having the hormones there to tell my body I was going to have a baby!

My c section was a very controlled and calm experience albeit it's a bit unnerving to have them rummaging around inside you. There were two occasions when the pain was intense afterwards due to the c section but they were short lived. The cramps were not really an issue - breasts were more sore to be honest.

That's interesting. We had our second child via surrogacy and I actually felt more bonded with her at an earlier stage while the lady who had given birth to her felt no maternal feelings at all.

They weren't too bad like a pp they weren't unmanageable

Oh one other thing: when I breastfed the first few days I had some moderately painful contraction like pains and heavy bleeding which is apparently normal but I wasn't expecting it!

I had an elcs for first breech baby, and a vbac for my second. I seem to have a very low pain threshold, after the elcs I couldn't change positions without crying out, couldn't really lift baby, couldn't walk faster than a zombie shuffle for literally weeks. It did heal absolutely beautifully, no complications physically. The fear of that a second time, with a hyperactive 3yo who still doesn't sleep through at 5, pushed me towards the vbac. The vbac was precipitous and ended in shoulder dystocia, and despite the incredible intense pain (diamorphine was excellent though) and the hand insertion and the deep second degree tear, I was literally bouncing a few hours later. They only kept us in because they had to resuscitate baby. I've never had after pains so can't comment.

Honestly, it's a gamble. The reasons why you needed the forceps could weigh the scales. An elcs could be debilitating like it was for me, but a lot of women have excellent recoveries.

About the only paon I did have were the after birth contractions, but they were manageable and happen either way.

In terms of the sections, in a huge wimp when it comes to pain and my sections were less painful than period pain for me.

It didn't t even rate in the top 20 painful things I've ever experienced. It was fine. I did take painkillers just in case it started to hurt though.

I had an ELCS. Keep on top of your painkillers and you’ll be fine. I had OxyContin, Paracetamol and Difene for the first 3 -4 days, then Paracetamol and Difene for 2 weeks then just Paracetamol for another week. If I had pain from the uterus contracting back down then I didn’t feel it.

Oh Wow thank you so much for all your replies. My problem really is having other people tell me 'im mad' to go for a section etc so maybe I will just keep it to myself and not let them know, will just let on I'm going myself.. until the day before or something 😂

Seems to be if you keep up on your pain relief & rest then it may be manageable. I'm also one of those people that hates days on end in the house.. so im worried about having to stay put and it putting my head away. Did anyone manage to go for short drives to visit relatives or anything? I don't mean walks/shopping or anything like that. Just a wee drive for a different scenery for an hour or 2??

I breast fed both easily. Thinking back I suspect my husband did all the nappy changes in the first few days. Newborn babies are very light though.

Given your circumstances, and elective section seems a no brainer to me.

Two csections, both emergency, last one I lost 3l blood and spent three hours in theatre. It was failed vabac (I am stil very happy I tried).
Tbh newborns are light. If you are used to handle three year old, picking up a newborn will be nothing.
You can ask for stronger pain killers but for me 4h between alernated 1000mg paracetamol and 400mg ibuprofen did the trick.

Think driving is not recommended for several weeks but you can be driven around. With forst c swction I was walking in park on day 3 without painkillers. It was a bit painfull but I wanted to see how much it hurts so I don't overdo it. With second I was walking around and to local shop on day 6 as I had to spend three days in hospital.

You will not feel contractions as for first few hours spinal is still wearing off and you are topped with painkillers.
If I had assisted birth I would go for ELCS. In fact, for my second section I refused forceps and went straight to theatre (wwhich saved babies and probably my life too).

I’ve only had elcs and have quite intense health anxiety and low pain threshold. I was really surprised with how little pain I was in at any point in the recovery. Had 48 hours of dihydrocodeine but then just paracetamol and ibuprofen. No uterine contractions that I was aware of. Able to walk down the road after a few days (could have done earlier but preferred to rest). No issues carrying baby. But wouldn’t fancy lifting a toddler! Engorgement and sore tongue from oral thrush from the IV antibiotics (one dose!) was much worse than c section pain. And still not bad just felt very sorry for myself!

My problem really is having other people tell me 'im mad' to go for a section

This is just a lie that women tell each other. Oh I’d hate to have a section. Anything but a caesarean. Major surgery (that’s the most common one).

I said it too when I was pregnant with my first. I believed it. Then, afterwards, I felt a bit of a fool, as I realised that vaginal births can be terrible ordeals too.

I also believe that an awful lot of women who only had vaginal births secretly believe that other women don’t deserve to get out of the pain of labour by having an ELCS. Misery loves company.

Ignore what everyone else says and go with your gut. Everyone is different and recovers differently at the end of the day. Personally I never had anything stronger than ibuprofen and stopped painkillers entirely by day 9. And I’m not being a hero, I simply didn’t need them.

EMCS first time round and vaginal birth the second. Can’t really remember my after birth contractions for either, dull period pain like I think.

c section recovery easier by far (had an episiotomy with vaginal birth).

I was offered an ELCS- I decided against this because of the recovery-
I ended up with an emergency c-section. My recovery was worse.

You have to do what's right for you.
My friend had an ELCS and recovered well.
She also looked amazing in her post birth pictures and I looked hell for over a month.

Other friends had vaginal births down had no complications some did.

Unfortunately there's no way to know what will happen.

While I was ill Post emergency C-section I did wish I'd gone for the elective, but i'm very sad I didn't get to do it the way I wanted.

So my only advise is to choose what you want and as long as it's safe go for it. Good luck

I had an elected section for my 2nd birth after having an awful experience with forceps and it was the best decision I've ever made , I found the recovery ( physically and mentally) better than forceps to be honest !

Thanks again to all who has commented. I've read all your responses and experiences. You have all helped me make a more positive decision. Which is going for the ELCS 😊 I have a very supportive husband. So I know we will be able to get through the very early weeks with his help & support. He has already been amazing with our little girl through this pregnancy.. As I haven't been having it easy from the start. I've about 8 weeks to go, so hopefully it'll be less if I get taken a week or so early for a section 🙏

I had a water birth with 2nd degree tear. Fucking hated everything about it and didn't bond for a few months. Elcs with next. Delivery a dream. Bonded. Recovered well and have no lasting effects unlike with first which left me neve the same really.only downside to Cs was having to do injections to stop clotting as was an older mum.

@ReadtheReviews oh my goodness that sounds awful. Ive never heard of anyone having a bad experience with a water birth.. so it just goes to show you. I had thought of water birth too this time but if i wasnt for having a section id 10000% be demanding the epidural (wouldnt give me it the first time due to being 7cm dilated before they decided to check, 8hrs after being admitted🙄).

Oh those injections are horrible little buggers. My husband had to inject me for the first 6 weeks. So I'll likely end up with them this time round too😬