Section next week - advice re various, please!

[spub]

Hi,
I know these questions have been asked a million times but please indulge a heavily pregnant and increasingly brain dead mumsnetter....

Any advice re dh's role re the section? Does he change into those scrub things and what does he wear underneath?(Having mental images of it all going farcically "Carry on").

I have bought tea tree oil and lavender to help with the wound healing. Know they can't be applied neat so can anyone tell me what the bloody hell to do with them?

I have flip flops for the inevitable shower and dettox wipes already packed thanks to an earlier, highly informative thread.

I have arnica 30 to take after the section and fennel tea to help with the digestion and encourage milk production.

Any other tips or reassurances about sections would be most welcome. DD1 was a vaginal delivery but there were some complications so this is my first section. At the moment, I'm having a bit of trouble focusing on the having the baby aspect rather than the having an operation. Silly, I know!

I wore mine for years afterwards for comfort until a pal caught sight of them and dragged me into M&S for some nice high leg proper sized black ones..... Goodbye dear post-natal pants, you will be forever in my heart even though you are not in my drawers .
{grin].

Have scanned through thread and havent seen anything mentioned about stitches.
If you can ask for stiches that disolve rather than staples or stitches that need removing later - its a bit horrid apprantely and they were quite impressed when I asked at my second cs for disolving stitches as had heard horrid stories about staples being removed!

I wore dps boxer shorts which were really comfortable, although not that great for holding in mat towels. Even though my c.section was 'an emergency', I din't find it at all traumatic and felt generally well looked after by the whole team.
Make sure you take snacks with you, or get dh to bring them up, as I didn't really like going to the dining hall so pretty much didn't eat.
Got really bad trapped wind after ds was born so docs prescribed me peppermint something or other!
Just try not to do too much too soon, get as much help as you are offered as I made this mistake and got an infection, dp came in the bathroom to find me howling and convinced I was going to die!
Most of all Good Luck and enjoy it.

Skribble - I still wear mine too!!

i had emergency c-section with dd 2 ( if anyone read my post on the thread about dr crippen and home birhts) will know it was traumatic but afterwards was a breeze, i was driving at 3weeks carrying carseat , so get up and about as soon as possible even if it is only gently pottering about at home, my wound got infected but i rubbed drops of breast milk into it and it healed really quickly ( my midwifes advice ) also if you are anaemic good quality dark chocolate has as much iron as spinach - i know what i preffered ! ps i never wore big pants , have i missed out on an experience....

My kids use mine for camping now and Dh often strings up a pair to use as a hammock.

Be very careful with all the I was jogging at 3 weeks and canoeing at 4 weeks talk. Be gentle with yourself and as long as you stay mobile you really don't need to be zooming about being super woman, plenty time for that yet . Remember no bonus pints for early activity, it just tends to make it hurt more.

My DH had his appendix out this year and nobody expected him to do anything much for ages, where as we are expected to bath the baby, carry prams up stairs, lift up toddlers, do the school run, do the laundry, clean the loo, etc etc etc. Slight difference in recovery me thinks, plus we had to carry babes for 9mths prior FGS.

I just said "MY BABY WAS 11lbs7oz FGS" and then lie down with a damp cloth on my forehead.

Had an emergency cs 12 weeks ago. Still in big pants, just can't bear to part with them!

Afetr the initial few days of moving around VERY carefully, you get into your stride again. Take all the drugs you can get. Make sure you tell the midwife exactly what youy want re skin contact/feeding after birth. I was too off my t**s on morphine etc to know what the hell was going on (so off it on gas and air that I signed the wrong name on my consent form....)so I missed out on that aspect of things. But generally had a very good experience, the staff were all very kind and reassuring and chatty. DH wore just pants under some pyjama-esque scrubs. I didn't have many side effects afterwards apart from being puffy round the feet and ankles and having REALLY itchy nose for a few hours, but that faded very quickly. The iron tablets make your poo black, in case you didn't already know that. If and when I have another baby I may well go for an elective. I don't think I'm too posh to push, but really, it's SO much easier than all that pain! Since you're having an elective, spub, try not to stress, and enjoy it. I honestly did NOT want a cs or even an epidural since I hate needles etc, but it was absolutely fine and was the safest way to delivery my super lovely dd!

Aw, thanks guys for even more reassurance and great advice - not to mention the beginnings of the cult of the big pants....
Sally - loving the baby blankets!!
LOL at Skribble's pants being used for hammocks and camping. My bras are generally of those proportions even when I'm nor pregnant so it will be nice to have a "matching" set of underwear doubling as accommodation in the garden!!
Mclure - you are making the being off of ones t**s on morphine sound pretty good, actually. Thanks for that! ROFL at you signing the wrong name on the consent form!
Also loving mumydoc's advice re breastmilk on the wound and dark choc for the iron. Yum. Green & Black's organic over spinach any day!
Clare - thanks for the advice re the painkillers - good to know what might "come to pass" as it were...
Cleaning - thanks for the advice re stitches; apparently I won't find out til the day which type are favoured by whatever surgeon is on but I'll be mindful re the dissolvables.
{Household in uproar - England have just scored against Ecuador! We're in Scotland but dh is English and he and dd are going crazy!}

I am sure you will be fine, i had tubes taken away this time so that made it a bit more painful, agree with all the big pant stuff recovery was quick for me and i have had three i was driving and back doing the school run with a 3 yr old and 4 yr old 9 days later...GOOD LUCK

Buktus - School run 9 days later? 3 under 5?
Bloody hell, woman. I can feel a wayne's worldesque "we are not worthy" bowing and scraping coming on!
I am going to try to rest up wholeheartedly for the first 2 weeks when dh is at home but I admire your capacity to be up and about so quickly.
Another endorsement for the big pants!!!

JUST STUPID I THINK, I DONT THINK IT WAS AS PAINFUL BECAUSE I HAD SO MUCH ELSE TO THINK ABOUT AS I DIDNT GET THAT MUCH HELP, BUT I DO RECOMMEND TAKING IT EASY IF YOU CAN

Another 'big pants' fan after c-sec here!

I had an emergency c-section 6 months ago and was up pushing DS around in his cot just hours later not to mention arranging seating round the bed for visitors and making trips to the loo Everyone was in total shock, even the anaetheist paid me a visit! I must have been given very high doses of morphine, I was topped up constantly hence being numb of any pain. It wasn't until the next day that I paid for it, could not move at all!! What a different story.

Anyhow..definitely go with the v-cushion, I had mine and was great. Be sure to tell them if you're NOT comfy, I had a dodgy bed that wasn't discovered until I passed out and was taken to observation days later. Maternity pads IMO are crap, better to get your usual type. Definitely take flip-flops and plenty of favourite toiletries. DH helped me to shower once we removed the dressing from scar and having my hair washed in lovely smelling shampoo etc. was bliss. Nice big pair of comfy jim jams or nighty. Take plenty. I was taken into theatre to find DH already there, thought the was one of the surgeons!!

Gosh, i think i've gone a bit. sorry
And congrats, hope it all goes well.

I was going to take my old maternity bra (48D) to T in the Park this year but apparantly you are not allowed gazebos .

Hi ya Spub
I'm so glad you started this thread, as you know my cs is the day before yours so all this advice has been fantastic! I just wanted to let you know that apparently Arnica 200 is better for surgery, and I also have hypericum 200 (for deep tissue repair), callendula 200 (for healing and stitches), and bellis perenis 200 (for deep muscle pain). I found this advice on an old thread. I'm getting really scared now, what about you?

Hey Twirl Girl!
I am a bit nervous but at the same time all of this info has been deeply reassuring and I don't know about you but I am soooooo over being pregnant that now I just want to get on with being a mummy again!
I am a bit scared but wish I could fast forward the next few days and just get it over with! It all sounds very civilised, though. Different to the pushing and sweating last time!!
Will you get your other half to post and let us all know how it went for you?
I'll be thinking of you on Thursday but will see you on the threads before then anyway!
Thanks for all the homeopathic sugestions. Will do some more stockpiling! I'm gonna need my own WING for all the stuff I'm planning to take!
Chacha LOL at you thinking dh was a surgeon! A bit of ER type fantasising, methinks??
Skribble - are you in Scotland or travelling North for T in the park? We live about an hour away but for obvious reasos couldn't even contemplate going this year! Can't you hire out some of your big old maternity pants as overflow accomodation on the campsite???

Yes I am in Scotland, don't know about accomidation, hopefully freind will have her camper van on the road or I will fashion my old bras into more of a tent and smuggle them past campsite security .

Spub...Just wanted to say good luck for your section, i think you are the first of our "3rd degree tear group" lol.

I have been reading this thread with interest, but my section is 7 weeks away yet, but thanks for starting this thread as it has very good advice on.

So good luck, and i am looking forward to your birth announcement

xxxxx

Sooo jealous. Am sure it will be fab. Just hope the weather holds for you. I suppose incontinence pants would have a certain weatherproof quality though not sure that you had mat pants of that particular variety??

Hey Pucca,
Great to hear from you. How's it all going?
Yeah, I figured that if I could survive the indignity of the bum doctor potholing around my sphincter then a section would be okay!
Nonetheless it's reassuring to get all of this fab advice from those who've been there, done it and got the Gerri Halliwell "smiley scar"
I'll post my own birth announcement when I get home from hospital (cos dh won't big it up enough!!)but will ask dh to post on the pg after m/c and July antenatal threads - hopefully on Friday night.
Can you believe you are only 7 weeks away now?
Fels like no time at all but also AGES!!!
Take good care.

Get everything in reach on your bedside table. Don't laugh for the first few days & wear waist high pants!! best wishes xxx

big knickers essential!!! i brought a few packs of 'short style pants' from asda at £4 a pack as then i knew if they got messy i could throw them away and also they were high enough up to not irritate my scar. (although dressing on for first week so pants rubbing on scar not really an issue. also check if you will be sent home with dressings or have to provide your own when at home! yes its true some hospitals ask you to buy your own dressings, dh brought some from the chemist which were £1 each and i got through 10 of them! i then started using cheap sanitary towels stuck to the inside of the knickers! LOL! i was paranoid about keeping my scar dry though as i developed an infection in my scar with ds2 so careful to avoid this time. i washed it twice a day (shower morning and night) laid on the bed to air dry and then put clean dry dressing or sanitary towel on and no infection this time.

as already said take the arnica a couple of days before, i also brought windeeze as the wind can eb painful, and as someone else said bring soemthing in to eat that you know has a laxative effect as hospital food seems to have the opposite effect!

it is all over very quickly and can be alovely positive experienc, i beleive that if you are open minded and positive things are bound to turn out for the better, expect the worse and get the worse.

good luck

Hiya, not much to add really. Mine was an emergency as ds was breech (and the midwife didn't know the day before I went into labour - not that I'm bitter...). I did find the experience a bit traumatic, but only from the point of view I wasn't expecting it. In every other way it was absolutely fine. DH wore the green gown (George Clooney he's not - there was a gap between the bottom of the gown and the top of the trousers where his belly hung out - hee hee hee). I'd already been set up with an epidural, so it just needed topping up. The anaesthetist was brilliant, and he actually ran the whole thing, which amazed me. There was a whole team of people there and he called the shots. There was a screen up as both me and Dh are squeamish, we just chatted the whole was through until we heard DS's first cry! We wanted to find out the sex ourselves and the midwife held him up for us to see. I held him first, then DH had to have him as I got really shaky, which was a side effect of the anaesthetic. We kept him with us (after he'd been cleaned up a bit) while I was being stitched, then the midwife showed me how to breastfeed. We went through to the ward (not for long - I had a private room which I paid £30 a night for. I would have paid £300 a night!) and settled down. I couldn't eat for a few hours as they'd had to move my bowel out of the way; that was a bit depressing as I hadn't eaten since lunchtime the day before (this was 6.00am next day). They gave me morphine for the pain, and I have to say I can't remember ever feeling in pain, I just took it when they told me to, before I felt anything. The worst thing for me was having the catheter in. I HATED it and begged them to take it out. Only had it for 24 hours but it was awful. Found it difficult getting up in and out of bed at first (someone already said you don't realise how much you use those muscles!) but you learn to cope. DS was with me the whole time, no-one suggested the nursery and I wouldn't have done it anyway. Big pants are a definite - I had paper ones which were ok but a bit 'rustly' - I think cheap cotton ones to throw away are a fab idea. You'll need plenty of sanitary pads too, for the first few days. Took me days to have a poo - I had to have an enema in the end before they'd let me go home. You feel nervous about splitting your stitches, so make sure you drink loads of water. I had stitches which needed removing, but that wasn't a problem, and I healed really quickly. My doc was fairly laid back about letting me drive - he was amazed when he came to see me the day after I got home and I was trotting up and down stairs. He thought I'd had a normal delivery. I'm quite an active person anyway, and I think if you feel well enough get yourself moving. I think it helps you to recover. All in all, a positive experience (even if it wasn't planned!).

For someone who said 'not much to add' at the beginning of this post, I've sure written a lot