Emergency c-section fully dilated

[WonkyFairy]

First time I've posted on here. Just wondering if emergency c-sections tend to be more painful than elective ones or whether I'm a bit of a wimp. With DC2 I had planned a home birth but when my waters broke there was a lot of meconium so I was blue-lighted to hospital. By this point I was about 9cm dilated I think. At hospital, I had a scan and they realised the baby was breech. So I had an emergency c-section. Apparently it was tricky to get the baby out so they pushed me about a lot. Afterwards, when the anaesthetic wore off, I was in agony, couldn't walk and hurt to move at all. I was like this for weeks and the scar still hurts a bit now, over 2 years later. It was the worst pain I've ever experienced yet others say their c-section recovery wasn't too bad. Am I just a wimp or do emergency c-sections cause more pain afterwards than elective ones?

It's the same operation.....I think it's possibly a large psychological element

Your recovery after the emergency section was probably due to all that pushing etc which they had to do. Your muscles would have been damaged by the surgeon's efforts to remove your DC. That is why you had trouble with walking, etc.

When people talk about their own recovery from a section, they are probably talking about a routine operation where the baby literally pops out of the incision within seconds of the doctor doing the cut. There isn't any pushing or pulling so the mother's muscles are not damaged at all.

I didn't have one but my boss and sister both have an emergency and elective ones (in the first case an emergency followed by elective, in the second case vice versa). Both said the emergency one was way more painful to recover from.

I had a planned c section as my dd was breech. A friend was in hospital the same time as me and ended up with an emergency c section after 4 days of contractions, pushing but no baby.

I was pleasantly surprised by my recovery and was up and walking later that day and driving within 3 weeks. My friend struggled to get out of bed for up to a week later and 6 months later is still in a lot of pain at her scar and feels very uncomfortable. She believe this was because her body had already been through so much before the c section. She was amazed that I could walk to breakfast the next day. (Well more of a shuffle)

I had a straightforward vaginal birth with my DS and I found the recovery from my planned c section easier than my vaginal labour as my body was so exhausted from pushing and contractions. The night before my planned c section I'd had a full nights sleep and felt good.

So I don't think the pain is necessarily more but your body had already been through so much. You're not a wimp, just take it steady

@WonkyFairy I had an emergency section and it was agonising to recover from as I was fully dilated too so I'd spent all that time pushing and widening, so I was tired as well as physically affected.

I can completely see that a planned section is more peaceful as the other muscles haven't been stretched and pulled too.

I've had both. Recovery after elective was so much easier as much less trauma. In an emergency they basically desperate to get baby out so less attention paid to minimising pulling and tugging.

I had some physical complications with my second section (planned) - my midwife told me it was the worst bruising she'd ever seen and she'd been in the business 3 decades! Thankfully I couldn't feel it as I have some abdominal nerve damage.

My EMCS was a walk in the park.

I suspect if the operation itself requires more "physical intervention" then yes, it's going to really fucking hurt - and it's all well and good them saying "yep, cervix looks lovely, no tears" when your entire abdominal region has been mauled!

I think they do, because there isn’t necessarily time to get the pain relief right and there’s no advance discussion about post-op pain relief. I’ve had 2 emergency cs and the second was far more painful. I was very bruised (because of scar tissue maybe?) but also it was under general so I didn’t have a nice spinal. Afterwards the consultant promised me that if I had a third, it would be elective and would be much nicer in terms of pain relief and recovery.

Thanks for your replies everyone, it's reassuring to know there might have been a reason why it was so horribly painful and maybe I wasn't just pathetic

Have you been to the doctor about it? Sometimes there can be a complication, like for example the scar tissue fixes together surfaces inside that shouldn't be attached! Probably not what's happened to you but worth getting it checked out.

EMCS is bound to be hard when you've been through labour for a long time before it, plus the shock of it. My EMCS didn't hurt much to recover from but left me very groggy and confused.

I have had one emcs and 2 electives. Yes, I found the emcs much harder to recover from because I was knackered (been through a full labour and pushed for however long before the section), because it was a rushed procedure due to urgency, and they definitely had to push and pull me around to get ds out. Hurt like hell for the first 2 weeks. My electives were much better.

It's hugely individual just as labour is I think. Dc1 was an emergency section at full dilation after a long back to back labour, following 2 hours pushing and an attempt at forceps. I got out of bed 5 hours later and put my clothes on much to the horror of the midwife who discovered me balanced on one leg putting my tights on. It just didn't hurt to the point that they were worried I had massive nerve damage (I don't).

One of my friends had an elective 3 days later and her recovery sounds like yours OP.

My contractions before were agony, all in my back and thighs and I don't know whether it was a comparison thing, i.e. labour hurt 1000x more for me or whether there is just something odd about my physical set up but they expected me to be in a lot of pain and I wasn't.