C section pain

[Kelroc]

I’m booked for a section on weds, as baby is breech. Happy that this has been picked up and everything is planned but I’m really nervous about the recovery. I’m curious about what the pain is like. Crampy? Sore? Achey? Sharp?

Iv had two having another september and pain is quite sharp at first like a stabbing pain when epidural wears off but its manageable. I thought it would be worse tbh. Just feel stiff

First few hours of having it done you'll feel like you've been punched very bruised /acheybe honest with your pain and they can give you the right medication make sure if you need to sneeze and cough you hold something like a cushion on the area of the scar get a breastfeeding pillow or a v shaped pillow. Take peppering oil capsules for trapped wind or the tea bags or cordial. Hope it goes well.

Peppermint silly phone

Had two... was given very good meds for pain management in hospital never felt anything. But this wasn't in the uk though.

I was given tramadol when I left hospital but never used it as I found it made me drowsy... even in hospital. I used paracetamol and found I was ok. But perhaps my threshold for pain is different as I only used the paracetamol if I needed it.

I had one eight days ago, I've had 3 other babies naturally without epidural. It was a much more pleasurable experience and so much more relaxing. But the pain after has been horrific at points I wish I'd just had another natural birth as by now I'd be feeling much better where as now I'm still really sore in my scar area 😩

Mine wasn't that bad (I made sure to take pain relief as advised rather than wait for it to hurt IYSWIM). The trapped wind is awful though so YY to the recommendations about peppermint. Good luck!

In answer to you question: sore and achy.

But no one can tell what a VB is like. You could be one of the lucky less than 10% who has a first VB without needing stitching. I personally needed keilland forceps and a huge episiotomy which opened on day 2. I then spent over 2 months waiting for the scar tissue to grow over the open wound. Of all first time birth friends I only know 1 or 2 that were wick and easy, non were stitch free and some had temporary incontinence after.

I then had an ELCS for DC2 which was so relaxed and much much easier to recover from.

Major abdominal surgery is not going to be a breeze compared to every day life, but mine was a breeze compared to my first birth. DC1 and I are permanently scarred and damaged by that VB.

Your CS will be calm and planned. You should not be afraid to keep asking for pain relief if you are still hurting on current post-op meds. My VB was so awful that CS recovery was fine on diclofenac and no morphine compared to the pain post 1st birth.

So try to re-set your baseline. You'll have a calm, predictable and controlled birth. Major abdominal surgery is a valid reason for asking for help, needing assurance and strong pain relief. I hope you can look forwards to it with a positive mindset.

I second the PP who said to make sure you hold a cushion to the scar if you need to cough or sneeze! This was the worst part for me and unexpected!

I didn't find the pain too bad afterwards, just tender although I did carry on with paracetamol and ibuprofen for a while.

This has been really helpful. Thanks all x