Is it possible to have a C Section and have a settled baby?

[Lucypearl]

I had an emergency CS with my daughter after induction and am now 40+2 wks pregnant with my second child. Just been for a sweep and my cervix is still completely tucked away so having to face the option of another CS.

I desperately wanted a VBAC for many reasons but one is that my first child was a very unsettled baby - cried constantly, wouldn't sleep at all unless in someone's arms (day or night) and struggled to feed for weeks. It was exhausting - and I've always blamed my CS for a lot of these problems. I know it perhaps had nothing to do with it so I'd really love to hear from anyone who had a CS and had a settled baby that fed and slept and was generally contented.

Dd was a section she was/is fab. Slept well, but I couldn't feed due to tt problems but she settled well on the bottle except she threw up constantly because she turned out to be intolerant to cow's milk. I have heard of others really benefiting from cranio sacral therapy with unsettled babies if it happens again. On the other hand my cervix was shut tight up to my second labour but it was still a normal delivery so maybe all is not lost.

I had one extended labour (ds1) and twins by c-section. They were all unsettled, I think. Dd was the worst. I think it's all about the child tbh, personality thing. Ds1 has all sorts of issues which I blame on the extended labour. If I got pregnant again after crying for a few weeks, I would definitely ask for a caesarian.

I do not think that caesareans mean you will have an unsettled baby.

I've had four, dd1 was emcs and an absolute joy, quiet, slept well, few problems feeding initially but not too bad. Ds1 was a screaming nightmare for the first year. Dd2 a joy again and ds2 although he was in nicu for a while as was premature was still content.

Try not to worry about how you deliver your baby, I honestly don't think it has a bearing on how they will 'behave'

I had a planned section with my twins. They were both very settled babies; try just ate and slept in a 2.5 hour cycle for the first 3 months! Hardly any crying (though DD did seem a bit unsettled for half an hour or so after feeding in the very early days) and generally very content.

I think the birth is just a small part of a whole set of things that can affect the early days of your baby's life. I am sure a quiet, drug free, relaxed birth is best for a baby, but what happens afterwards, in terms of a responsive parent, a quiet and warm environment etc is just as important.

Good luck with your second baby :)

Brilliant! i live in hope Can I ask those who have had more than 1 CS, did you find the recovery time significantly longer with the second op?

I had easy recoveries with cs 1 and 3 but very difficult recoveries with 2 and 4 but it was due to complications ( placenta accreta).

I've had 2 emergency sections and 2 extremely placid babies

I wonder whether your birthing experience affects how you bond with the baby and therefore how settled they are? Both of my two were born by emergency c-section, but the experiences couldn't have been more different.

With ds we had planned a home birth but when the waters broke they were meconium stained so we had to go into hospital for scans etc. Turned out he was transverse oblique and so half an hour later I had a c-section. I didn't actually go into labour at all and really his birth was quite a pleasant experience, just a bit of a surprise (he was two weeks early too). He was a very settled and pretty easy baby, fed every four hours from birth (demand fed) easy to read etc.

With dd I really wanted a VBAC but ended up being induced (waters broke early again) having a horrible time and an emergency c-section. I found the experience really scary, and dh and I had a total communication breakdown which really damaged our relationship. dd was a very difficult and demanding baby (lovely ever since mind!).

If I were to go through the experience again I would have opted for an elective c-section, but for some reason going through labour was very important to me at the time.

Oh and for your second question I'd say it was quicker second time simply because I knew how much I could push myself. Plus I had too recover quite fast as ds was only 16mths and needed lots of reassurance that life was normal (I did have lots more help though).

I pretty much had the same experience with my first baby, difficult sleeper, reflux, colic, just generally difficult - he still is somewhat and also blamed the c sec. Or anything else I could think of before just accepting that's his personality. I now have a 4 week old born by elective cs after not labouring naturally. He is the total opposite. Laid back, sleeps all the time... Shockingly different! Although he is whiney this week as my antibiotics are upsetting his tummy. There is hope. X

I had both of mine by preplanned section. Both were very settled babies -ate well, generally content once needs were met (fed, changed, slept). both slept 8 hours a night from 6 weeks (they were big babies which helped with the early sleep throughs).

lots of people will tell you how different their offspring are from each other and its true. Just because your last baby was demanding doesn't mean this one will be the same.

sorry just saw your question about getting over second section.

My second section took longer to get over but was complicated by the fact that I had gallstones during pregnancy and then had surgery about 8 weeks after the section. Even if I had a vaginal birth I still would have to have my gallbladder out so would have to get over that anyhow.And been unwell after the birth. I think the recovery was about the same to be honest.

Ds turned breach and had c section. Planned better than emcs but because no labour, babies never get a warning that something's happening - cranial osteopathy sorted unsettled behaviour.

If I wanted a vac and my cervix was still tucked away I'd simply wait until it wasn't tucked away.

Was your first induction for being overdue?

I had emergency cs with ds and he was the easiest baby ever. I then had VBAC with dd and I'm still waiting for her to settle and she is now 11. The way the baby's are is mostly related to their personality, I think, and nothing to do with how they are born.

I had an EMCS - DD is 12 weeks old on saturday- she is a dream.

I've had 2 CSs.
DD was very prem, recovery was awful even though I wasn't up half the night with her (she was in NICU/SCBU). She was very demanding, but that's because she was teeny.

Ds was sooooooo chilled out! The midwives kept telling me to wake him for feeds. Recovery 2nd time was totally straightforward even though I was straight home and had DD too. He was an easy sleeper and very calm.

Every one is different :-)

lucypearl - sorry you're feeling distraught . I had two CSs - both non emergency but not strictly elective either iyswim. Both babies relatively chilled but especially number 1 who didn't wake up for three months . She was prem so that was part of it but the CS was also v easy and calm.

Now that I think about it, feeding was a bit difficult but that's because she was prem, mainly. DS was easy to feed. Good luck!

I had an EMCS and my baby was very 'easy' (despite having a serious medical condition - not related to the CS) - he slept well, napped most of the day, hardly ever cried, was happy to be cuddled by anyone, self-settled himself to sleep at 7pm from day 10 I did follow a very strict routine. He's always been a brilliant sleeper

Thanks for the advice everyone, quite interesting!
Starlight I went into labor at term + 9 with my DD but only enough to break my waters (to a mere trickle) before it petered off to nothing. Because my waters had gone they gave me 2 days then straight on the drip for induction. Itv was horrible. I got stuck at 6cm for hrs and then had EMCS due to fetal distress. I will hold off for a bit but because of last time I've been worried this whole pregnancy that my body just doesn't know how to go into labor and today the midwife & consultant pretty much agreed it was unlikely to happen

Dd was born by emcs. She's stunningly chilled out and settled. Even when we were in hospital, one on the midwives used to get other midwives to come and see her because she couldn't believe how happy she was for a newborn.

People keep telling us we don't know we're born. All I can say is that I'm pretty certain we'll get our comeuppance and dc2 will be a nightmare.

Do you know why your waters went?
Had you had a sweep?

The problem with waters going is that the baby might not be in a very good position and all of a sudden with no waters less able to move into a better position. An even slightly better position will put pressure on the cervix and trigger contractions which can turn the baby. There are positioning things you can do but you obviously don't want to wait forever with no waters if cx haven't started.

Add a drip to a badly positioned baby and you get contractions which 'can' help, but often don't due to the monitoring policy of the hospital preventing you from moving around as much as you might need to or taking up different positions. A baby being 'expelled' when presenting not optimally is a higher risk for getting stuck and tired.

There is no harm and waiting with no interference, for your baby to get his or herself into an optimal position and triggering labour, though it is sensible to agree to monitoring.

Lucypearl I had the same thing with dd, and probably would have done with ds too if they'd not fished him out quickly because of the meconium. Waters broke, no labour, trips back and forth to the hospital over a couple of days (I wasn't leaking too badly and she had enough water to be OK). Then syntocin for six hours until I really couldn't cope (especially when they told me that I'd started at 1cm and after 6 hours I was still 1cm!) and then the c-section.

If I were you (and obviously I'm not!) I would opt for an elective c-section now. Sections without all the drama and stress are very very different. You know what's happening, everyone is relaxed (ds was born to Every Little Thing She Does is Magic while the theatre techs were having a mild tip about the relative merits of Chris Evans). Neither you or your baby are hugely distressed, it's not at a crazy time of day (ds born at 5.30pm, dd at 11.50pm) and you just generally feel less out of control.

Sure there is recovery, but you are only recovering from an operation, not from labour as well, and you've done the recovery before so you know that with a bit of care you will be leaving hospital in a couple of days and normal life in a few weeks. Easier to organise care for your dd during the birth too.

I felt really bad about my useless uterous for a while, but really it doesn't matter how they come out, your body has done the really hard work of growing them in the first place!

I had an EMCS with DS1, and he was a brilliant baby, fed well, slept loads, actually started sleeping through at 8-9 weeks!

I tried for a VBAC and ended up with an EMCS with DS2, and he was fine as well, I actually only stayed in hospital 1 night (he was born at 4am, I left the following afternoon).

Really wish I'd gone elective for DS2 though. As it turns out, I'm too narrow for babies to get through (very odd considering my 'birthing hips!'). And I had a number of other risk factors that brought the probability of VBAC success down well below 50%, just wish I'd realised that beforehand!

I would have missed the Gas & Air though, that was ace.