section in four weeks, shitting myself (not literally)

[bleurghblah]

Help! I know this has been done to death but I don't know anyone in real life who has had a planned section.

How much does the spinal actually hurt? Will I not be able to move at all for the first day? How much does it hurt when the painkillers wear off?

what should I take with me that I might have forgotten.

basically looking for some reassurance :-(

It may be worth checking out the obstetric anaesthetists' association:

www.oaa-anaes.ac.uk/home - go to "information for mothers".

It does talk about risks, as well as what happens in theatre, so may not be the most useful thing if you are just looking for reassurance. I personally prefer to know all the facts before I go into something!

Have you gone for a visit at your local labour suite? They may be able to help answer some of your questions, and let you become familiar with the environment.

Oh thank you thank you all so much! I feel so much better. see this is why I love this site, total strangers reassuring you.

how soon after the operation (say it's straightforward and done at lunchtime) will I be changed into a nightie and how long after will I have the catheter out and be walking around?

I was onto my feet by about 8 pm after a 3:30 delivery. Got showered and dressed and felt better.
The catheter is nice! One less thing to think about!

Everyone has said it all. My advice is that once the surgery is going, if you feel at all weird - dizzy, sick, faint, whatever - TELL the anaesthetist and they'll do something to counteract it. The anaesthetist is your friend!

To add, I was up on my feet 6-8 hours later once they took the catheter out.

I weirdly enjoyed found the catheter useful as I didnmt have to do anything like get up...so mine was removed the following morning, but I did have a sponge bath the evening of the delivery.

The other thing that was bizarre was that I had SPD quite badly by the time of the section. I was using crutches intermittently and every time I'd roll in bed I'd wake up because of the pain. I was expecting that to improve slowly, like you build up stamina slowly, but in my case the SPD disappeared as soon as the spinal wore off!

Just had one on Tuesday so this is all very fresh to me! I have actually not had it too easy (awful instrumental delivery last time so was maybe overly optimistic about how lovely it would be!). Procedure itself was fine but I lost more blood than they would like so it all got a bit panicked in theatre at one point which was a little scary. After that the issues were mostly circumstantial or due to me making mistakes, which it might be useful to cover here so others can avoid them!

1. Heat- the post natal ward was sauna like day and night in the current heat wave - I was literally dripping with sweat and there were no fans to be had. A battery operated hand held fans and flannels for drenching and covering my face would have been useful. The heat combined with constant noise meant sleep was nigh on impossible.
2. Morphine like pain relief can badly screw up your gut function. I should have known this as have had it before and got badly constipated then but had forgotten. By day 2 my guts had pretty much stopped completely and were full of gas that wouldn't move which was agony. Stupidly I accepted more oral morphine which was of course a viscous cycle. Also should have demanded lactulose as soon as they slowed down.
3. Empty your bladder properly each time you wee. The sensation of how full or my bladder was was a bit hard to read initially after the catheter came out so I didn't empty it properly at first which lead to it getting rather full and painful.

Coming home (yesterday evening, and only by lying through my teeth about how I was feeling) and starting on lactulose has thankfully made me feel a whole lot better and I am now in no pain to speak of, which for day 3 post-op is not bad at all, I just wish my hospital stay experience had not been so grim

Spinal uncomfortable but not painful. You will be pretty bed bound for first day, but it will pass in a blur and the midwives will make sure you have your baby in your arms when needed!

The pain isn't too bad as they will get you on other oral painkillers straight away. You won't feel at your best but certainly not agony!
Just take what you would take for normal delivery, and look forward to meeting your baby!
One bit of advice, stay in hospital for as long as they let you - it might not be the greatest place but you have a bed which can help you with mobility in the first couple of days (getting from lying to sitting can be difficult), and you get brought meals regularly!

Would you recommend taking your own painkillers in? When I was in last one the staff were woefully busy and it took two hours of crying to get paracetamol. "We're very busy you know"

I was wondering this too op! Third cs due in 6 weeks and last tinet it was a bit of a struggle to get hold of drugs. However. I'm sure they wouldn't want you to be takinf your own drugs as they have to keep a record of everything. Just need to be persistent / pain in the arse!

Bits I'm dreading most are first wee after catheter out which I found really hard both times, and painful cannulas in hand. Which are really not big deals when you think what's happening!

Reading this thread am a bit more excited / nervous all of a sudden!

Good luck OP.

ha to the cannula. I am looking forward to that being painful. I was in so much pain in labour I ripped it out of my hand and threw it at a midwife (outing myself here) when she said I needed to calm down as I had a while to go yet. This was five minutes before they examined me and found I was at 10cm and not 1-2 as they thought.

I keep thinking if it hurts I will just be grateful. Does that make sense?

With my first I was in labour before the section, and DP leant on the hand with the canula in. I couldn 't say anything just looked at him and we both remember that moment vividly! Second time round he went looking for someone to remove it after it had been in two days and a doctor told him she was busy "looking after sick people" . I apparently have small veins and with both DC I ended up with one bodged one in one hand and a good one in the other so two in for two days! Mind you they gave me a local before putting the second one in.

Anyway. A planned section will in no way give you the kind of pain you were in last time. It's planned, controlled and managed. You really shouldn't let pain worry you at all.

Yes, it will be sore afterwards, but only when you sit up in bed, sneeze, laugh etc. DS1 told the midwife we were going to take his baby brother home and wash him in the kitchen sink. I laughed... it hurt! Can you feel your lower stomach muscles pulling and tweaking under the bump now when you do things like that? I certainly can at 32 weeks, especially when I roll over in bed. It's like that just a bit worse.

To put it in perspective in the first week after DS2, the section scar hurt a lot less than either engorged boobs or raw nipples.

I think if you've got your big pants, and some tracksuit bottoms that you can pull up over the scar that's all you need. I was also recommended control pants (that cover your tummy) for the less immediate recovery, to help your stomach get back into the right place. Obviously you're not going to want to put those on until the scar has healed a bit as they're very tight!

It is a bit nerve-wracking walking in to the theatre but by that stage you'll be so excited there will be less time to worry and also you'll feel so at ease as everyone is just doing the job they do ten times a day. It's really very relaxed.

Oh my god I love you. Yes I absolutely can. I have too much fluid and have really suffered with plung some muscles in my bump and that has just really brilliantly explained what it be like. I had my appendix out about 20 years ago and I suddenly remembered the pain of it when you said that and feel so much better because it isn't going to be the same is it!!

Thank you so much xxxx

Happy to help!

And how soon after will I be able to pick my three and a half stone other kid up?

Thank you so much for starting this thread - after a normal vaginal delivery last time (which was fine!) I'm facing a c-section for a breech baby and this has been so reassuring to me :)

Ah yay! When's yours?

Can't really remember! My ds1 was not far off 4 at the time ao didn't need to pick him up really. The one thing I can remember being difficult is when you need to push the buggy up over the curb onto the pavement - for some reason it really pulls at the lower abdomen! God knows how I'm going to manage Phil & Ted's over my very high abd awkward front door step this time....

Are they going to make me take my toenail varnish off?

Ha - I'm just sat here debating whether to take mine off for tomorrow! I was told to but I know I had it on for last EMCS....

Bleurgh maybe ask about specifics in your pre-op assessment? It varies between hospitals, I believe. I was made to take out my earrings but rings were taped over. The varnish is different though as the colour of your nail beds indicates a bunch of stuff. Also, post birth you can more easily reapply the varnish...I was quite chuffed when I was easily able to cut my own toenails. It's the little things in life, really...

What should I be asking in my pre OP assessment?

Anything and everything! Ask about nail polish, music, photos, food, drink, recovery, breastfeeding, bottlefeeding, any medical thing you can think of and so on - that's what it's for. I made notes beforehand to make sure everything was covered and then made notes during so I'd remember things. I also made sure to ask about things relevant to DH as he was worried about what he'd see, what he'd need to do and about not being in the way. Obviously all things they routinely deal with but he felt better for knowing.

will I be able to go out for lunch a week after?

I'm 8 days post CS and could go out for lunch but still get tired walking more than a few hundred metres so I would want transport door to door.