Just been told I'll need a caesarean - what should I expect?

[babybouncer]

I was told early on that I had a low lying placenta which, among other things, meant I had to have extra consultant scans. At Monday's scan I was told lots of good things about how healthy the foetus is, but that my placenta had moved the wrong way and was now 'blocking the exit', so I'd have to have a caesarean.

This is my second pregnancy - last time was totally uncomplicated except for being induced, and I felt so proud of myself afterwards I was sort of weirdly looking forward to the same 'achievement' again. But, I appreciate that this is necessary and so I'm not particularly upset about having to have a caesarean.

What is an elective caesarean like? What choices or birth plan do I still have to come up with? How can I make it feel as special as the last one?

Mine was lovely- had 3 nightmare deliveries before it, so it was planned for anticipated problems. You go in on the morning, the surgeon and the anaesthetist come and see you, you change into a gown and your partner changes into scrubs, and you go into theatre. They do a spinal which is probably the most unpleasant bit, then a bit of pulling, pushing and shoving and baby is lifted out. Partner cuddles baby while they sew you up, then off to the recovery area for a cuddle. Ask the anaesthetist to move the screen so you can see baby being lifted clear - it was the most amazing thing I have ever seen, and we took photos of her being lifted out. And take lots of photos. Afterwards, take regular painkillers, and don't believe all the stuff you hear - I got into a total panic about how was I going to cope with my kids and a scar etc. I was driving, with full knowledge of my insurance company, at 2 weeks. Good luck.

Yeah, me too. Horrible first birth, and then a very civilised csection. They let my DP stay with me for the spinal which was good for me as hes a calming influence. Post op it was certainly no more painful than a natural birth and people are more understanding. Just go with the flow. Good luck.

I had an EMCS. It was lovely. Epidural was fine, it took about 5 minutes to get DS out (felt a bit odd, like someone doing washing up with your insides), but no pain at all. And they put DS on my chest under my gown while they stitched me back together. Post op pain was manageable (ibuprofen + paracetamol). They will put a catheter in, which you might forget as you can't feel it. And they'll put a pad between your legs but no pants, so if you stand up there will be a bit of a mess. I suggest you stay in bed till someone (MW) is there to help, not least of all because of the catheter. The MW helped me with changing nappies and handing baby to me for the first 24 hours or so when DH was not there (yes, on a standard, busy NHS ward). Try to get mobile asap, but avoid the temptation to hunch up: stand tall if you can. I drove at about 4 weeks, but might have done sooner if I'd needed to. If I ever get pg again I want another one. It was grrrreat!

I had an emcs but will be having an elcs in a few weeks.

I didn't even feel my spinal go in! I'd been quite nervous about it because obviously you hear horrible stories (of course) - but when I saw the anaesthetist walk in and I realised he was at least in his 50's I thought "yaaaaaay! he's done this before!".

I was petrified at the thought of a c-sec, but as my DS was breech I was advised it was the safest thing to do for both him and me.
I agree with purplepansy, the spinal was the worse bit for me, I felt terrible while it was taking effect, but once that bit was over, the rest of the experience wasn't too bad.
You can still make a few requests for in the theatre. We had decided not to find out the sex of our baby, and DH was allowed to look as they pulled baby out, and he then told me it was a boy. The surgeon cut the cord initially but then DH was allowed to go and cut it further and take lots of pictures of little one. You can also take a music CD to have playing in the theatre, we took Michael Buble, as I love his music and it helped me to relax.
DH was also able to cuddle DS while the surgeons were finishing up.
I was able to breastfeed in recovery and got up the following morning to have a shower!
My recovery wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be, given that it is classed as a major operation, as long as you take the painkillers they give you and take all the help you can get, you'll be fine. I was also driving again after 4 weeks.