what do i need to take and do for my c-section?

[topsy1]

i know that this has been asked before, but can't find thread. booked in next fri for elective c-section and unsure what to take and how to prepare myself...can anyone help?

Big knickers - No.1 essential! Nothing skimpy and lots of 'em!

I took one of those V-shaped pillows in (second time - was more prepared!) so you can get comfy yourself and also to rest the baby on around you so he/she doesn't rest on your tummy too much when you are feeding or just looking at him or her in amazement!!

Will try to think of some more but your comfort is the main thing!

Good luck next week!

i think you need your hospital bag as you would take for a vaginal delivery...make sure you take big granny pants...the paper ones tend to cut right into the scar...also nice roomy clothes that are comfy round your middle

..extra stuff for you & baby unless someone can bring things every day as you will be in for 2-3 days..... music for during the op? if you need a hospital bag link..i can find one! arnica is good for helping the healing

in terms of preparing yourself -- you are having surgery..but you are also going to meet your baby! and you know when! that is quite exciting!

is this your first?

Can't stress enough about the granny BIG knickers - I only had the disposable ones which were a nightmare as lulumama said, they cut right above the scar so get some that sit on your tummy!! Not attractive but much more comfortable

Congratulations - you must be getting very excited!

The big knickers are the most important thing. I got some size 18 granny pants from M&S. If you are going to wear PJs in the hospital, make sure they are big and stretchy around the middle.

You'll be in the hospital for a few days, so you probably want to take some magazines etc. Also, I found that hospital water tastes of TCP so ended up taking bottles of water and squash.

Ear plugs are also a good idea (especially if your baby is quiet and you are being woken by other babies...) as is an eye mask. Although you won't be tired from labour, if you are in for a couple of nights you will need to get some decent sleep.

Old towels - you will still bleed after a c.s. and won't want to ruin your nice ones when you have a shower (and hospital towels are tiny). I ended up using one as a changing mat for DD and binning it when I left.

It's also good to take your own pillow(s) both for your comfort (nicer than hospital ones) and to rest the baby on when feeding.

Slippers with no backs (are these heeless?). I was advised to take these and Thank God I did. Bending over to put slippers on would be very hard at first, so you need some to slip your feet into easily.
Also lots of skirts ( I never wear skirts normally), but when you are up and about a bit, they are much more comfortable than trousers against your scar. (Specially if they have elasticated waists,-very sexy, so you can position them where you want-no, allowances for fashion divas with a c-section.)

The first day, you will be practically immobilised in bed with urinary catheter and fading spinal and .. yes ... sore wound. Only your arms will work. Bring packet drinks with straw to put next to you in bed. The tables were too damn far sometimes and midwives too busy to help.

Find out when visiting hours are and get your partner/friend/relative to be by your bed for the first 24, ideally 48, hours during those times.

Plibble has reminded me - I had big baggy nighties rather than PJs as there is no chance of them rubbing against your scar (Matalan do really cheap ones with front fastening - useful if you are planning on bf)

Food - the hospital food was atrocious so I lived off sweets and chocolate - v health conscious I know!

Vaseline/lip balm as your lips get quite dry after the op (mine did anyway and I believe this is common) - I had to scrounge a tube of vaseline from one of the midwives.

anyway, good luck - the recovery period was not as bad as I thought - it is really just the first few days that are painful.

Something to read - not too demanding, eg magazines or short stories.

plastic bags for putting rubbish and dirty laundry in

OK, this is my top tip, sorry for eeew factor.

They will shave the top couple inches of your pubes before the section - a friend warned me that they would come at me with a dry Bic razor, and they do. So get in there yourself the night before (or dh if you can't reach ) so that you can wet shave and moisturize afterwards - the last thing you need is itchy razor burn down there on top of everything else.

Ooh Flowerpot good point - I had forgotten about that!!
Also, you can't wear nail varnish so if you have any on, they will take it off - for me, this was one of the worst things as I had put some on the morning before I went into labour (my section wasn't planned) in an effort to make me feel better and 24 hours later it was being wiped off with cheap acetone and the midwife made such a mess, there was still bits of it left down the sides of all my nails - the one thing I can't stand (I am a perfectionist when it comes to nails) and there was nothing I could do for 4 days until I went home - shallow, moi????

Preparing yourself very tricky, emotionally - I thought I was totally calm and relaxed about it all, but without the hormonal and emotional build-up of labour, I felt completely confused when I was handed DD, so perhaps expect not to feel that overflowing joy new mums are supposed to feel. It took until the anaesthetic had worn off and I could see her snoozing in her fish tank before I felt any of that. Course you might be overjoyed right from the second they hand you your baby!

I actually found my not tight old bikini knickers were great, and I could throw them away afterwards. They held the pads in place which they recommend if you are getting a bit sweaty on the ward. They actually recommend a sanitary pad, but I prefer sterile dressings you can get from the chemist, who knows what went on in a factory for me to put that near my wound!

Make sure everything is in easy reach in your bag. I assumed I'd be rummaging around in my own bag but ended up with an emergency c-section and so it was hubs or midwives looking through for things.

Make sure that when you get to the ward everything is unpacked and put within easy reach. Especially water.

I had a hospital fan, but next time I will bring my own because I don't want to rely on their availability as the wards are kept quite warm. Electrical stuff needs to be checked over by the hospital first tho.

As many nighties as possible. I was in 4 days and couldn't be bothered getting dressed. Tho I had been through a day of induced labour with just gas and air so I was knackered from that as well.

definately not paper pants, I found cotton short type ones and marks and spencers seamless bodywear ones much comfier! and no bracelets you can keep rings on during surgery though - they'll just tape them up. I've found my maternity trousers to be the most comfortable things to wear afterwards. If you're in pain ask for morphine, if you need pain relief and they ask you if you want pills or an injection take the injection I stupidly took the pills and then needed the injection two hours later. Oh and babywipes for you (I recommend Jackson Reece) the iodine (and leftover blood sorry) itches and if like me no-one will help you get washed or give you a bed bath afterwards they come in really handy for making yourself feel (and smell) a whole lot better.

NCT sell c section knickers. Thet are like a white fish net, and you can wear them above scar, or below. Very very comfortable if not very sexy.

Goodluck topsy1, I'm also booked in for my C section next friday so our LO's will share a birthday.

use immac on your lady-garden before you go in.
Razor burn is hell on top of sore scar.
Take lots of fruit and prunes or something similar. C-sections can make you constipated and with terrible trapped wind - the pain from trapped wind was worse than the soreness from the op. Wind-eaze tablets were good too. I was afraid to fart it hurt so much. And I told the whole world when I managed my first poo after 4 days!!

I wore my husbands boxer shorts, they were very comfortable. The paper knickers are awful and make you sweat.

Agree totally with Ginger Bear! I actually phoned hospital in a middle of night panic when I got home as pain from trapped wind was so bad. I just didn't expect it under my shoulder blades?!

Take nice music to listen to in theatre if you are allowed.

Be prepared for no dignity - my "screen" between my head and the action end was my hospital gown lifted up and pegged onto two drip stands.

Do your own shaving beforehand, otherwise you are bound to get the shy student nurse.

Lots of handcream/moisturiser. Hospitals are really dry anyway without you constantly washing hands and drying on paper towels (Yeuch) for fear of contaminating babe.

Mints to suck for wind, arnica to heal the healing (eat 'em like Smarties - they work!)

Also disposable "care mats" are great for protecting your bed against leakages when you're home - at both ends!

Good luck!

oh yes the wind!!! it can be pretty awful, and it can be pretty painful too in the couple of days straight after. Peppermint cordial helps, and the midwives will dish out peppermint oil or something if it is bad. But generally you will all be farting away together in your ward so don't feel like you're the only one.

Take something to un-bung you post op especially if you are surviving on NHS hospital food for a few days. My 1st poo after about 4 days was really painful.

Can I recommend that you take flip flops rather than, or as well as, slippers? Gives you something to wear if the showers seems less than how clean you'd normally have them at home. Also v easy to put on and take off.

Take a lot of carb snacks, i.e. biscuits and other rubbish. You will start getting very hungry from around day 3 and believe me a packet of cornflakes and a piece of bread for b/fast does not last long!

Remember video camera or camera. I have a video of me a day after op with FunkyDude and it worked wonders when I had to express milk in the beginning, and of course they are never that small again, ever.

I would also recommend a swaddle blanket, the ones I had to use on him at the hospital was awful and just not soft enough to my liking.

Also take some money to buy a card for the t.v. and telephone if you like. You buy hours so it start at about £3.50.

And a big gown...one that fits your pregnant belly as you'll have that tum for about 2 weeks post pregnancy! o yes, and take a razor to shave under your arms, its totally arbitrary but can make you feel more normal if you can take care of yourself a bit and feel "fresher" so to speak.

Second the something to help you poo thought: dried apricots are good, so is Lactulose (but the MWs might be willing to give you some of that - check in advance). The pain meds can bung you up badly - took me 10 days to go post section, ouch.

Also, some women find their feet/ankles swell post section for a few days - so make those slippers big or with no backs.

Here's my advice:

Agree about the pants - I bought large black ones from primark and binned them afterwards

Take your own sanitary towels - the hospital ones are horrid. You COULD use up to a pack a day, so have planty at home for DH to bring in ( unless he is OK about buying them if you run out!!!)

Dont take nice new pink fluffy dressing gown and slippers. You will bleed all over them

Take plenty food and water / juice etc. The hospital stuff is in short supply or appalling

Have someone with you all the time the next day ie from 9am to 9pm or whenever visiting is.If your Dp cant stay all the time get a friend, sister etc. They are very short staffed. All the nurses will do for you is give out the drugs.

They will not have the time or the skills to help you BF. Learn about it yourself first

Be prepared to get no sleep as there are visitors there all day.

Be prepared to have no privacy - you are not allowed to draw the curtains around your bed unless you are BF!

As you can tell I hated it and came home 24 hours after the op. They discharged me with LOADS of great drugs and the food, care and privacy at home were FAB

Sorry to hear you had such a rough time of it Kristina sound's like my 1st c-section. I wonder if it was a hospital in North London?!?

To the OP, the post-natal care for my 2nd was excellent. I had a private room which was HUGE (I had visited someone in the Portland the week before and my NHS one was much nicer ). It was really quiet and clean. The 1st night one of the m/w's took DD for a few hours as she was very "sucky" and they wanted me to sleep Someone spent ages helping me to establish bf-ing, even though I knew pretty much what I was doing. It was really lovely - honestly - I am going back there in about 4 weeks for no.3 and hope to stay in for 4 nights this time!!

Not sure if anyone else has mentioned it but take your mobile for lots of sneaky texting. Magazines, books (nothing too "heavy" though). Also cash/card for phone/telly.