Things you wish you'd known about c sections

[MakeAWhish]

Hi all, ok, I am having my first c section (third baby) in 5 weeks time.
Any words of advice from those of you who've had one? What do you wish you'd known/done? Essential items to have to help with recovery? Best piece of advice you were given?
Thanks wise ladies xx

I don’t have an overhang. I’m not thin though, although not massively fat either.

Wish I’d known:

You never go in on time! Waiting is nerve wracking so take Netflix etc. Second time I got there early and the women before me was late (!!) so they took me down early.

It’s quite common for the baby to fail the hearing test they do before you leave hospital (usually some fluid in ears). Can repeat in a few days in community - both mine were then fine.

Drink loads of water (take squash) after, to get your bladder going and rehydrate. Sooner you wee, usually sooner you can get out.

My second anaesthetic made me feel sick, and I was sick after one of the meds - they can then give you anti sickness meds so do tell them ASAP.

It can still take a while to get the baby out. My first was so quick! My second was longer, in a funny position and they used forceps (I had no idea that was possible).

Get up and walk within hours; specifically ask for their advice on this. For my second CS a nurse helped me take all the pain meds, wait 15mins, then sit up, swivel and told me to walk 4-6hrs after, I couldn’t believe it was possible. It made me feel much much better.

If you want a quick discharge ie same day / next morning ask from the start, to understand what you need to do, and what they need to do before you can go. Then gently make sure all the tests are done.

My second baby went to Special Care Baby Unit - husband went with baby, I returned to labour ward alone (was a bit sad, they gave me a private room, everything was fine after a few days of antibiotics). An amazing midwife hand milked me to get the first ‘milk’ for the baby before they took her, to really improve her blood sugar. Once I was up they took me in a wheelchair to see her (so I was up quickly).

After, if scar is raised / red / itchy as it heals, it may be an unusual scar type. Your skin may ‘overreact’ to scarring. I had no idea until I went for my second CS and the surgeons were surprised by my raised scar! That time they injected my scar at the end, I think with steroids, and it is now almost non existent. So if you scar easily, tell them.

Expect your feet to get swollen. Walking around and raising them up helps loads, so get a footstool (even just a makeshift one) so you can prop your feet up while sitting and nursing the baby. My feet would go down but then i’d sit holding my little one for a few hours (he was in icu so i’d take all the cuddles I could) and my feet would be huge.

Also, oral morphine is really worth taking when they offer it to you (I just opted for paracetamol at first when the epidural was still working for me and really regretted that a few hours later so took the morphine)

Also, you can take Piriton for the itchiness and honestly it will be very itchy in the first few days.

I have to be honest though, I found recovery was fast and pretty easy. The worst part of my recovery was actually the contracting of my uterus which would occur however my baby had been born.

Pit things you are likely to need when back home in easy reach.

When you're having the c section there's obviously no pain but it does feel weird. My nurse said it was like somebodywashing up In Your stomach. She was right.

The needle they use to Inject the spinal block is big.

Once I was in recovery I couldn't stop shaking and shivering for around 40 mins. Apparently it happens to a fair few women.

Be careful the first few times you get out of bed. Your legs don't feel like your own

I wish I had known how easy it was and that it was nothing to worry about.
I was absolutely terrified the first time (I had 3) and there was no need. I have lovely memories of my c-sections.

You're doing the best thing OP going in prepared. With my first I was ridiculously naive about c-sections, I was refusing to even consider the possibility of having one and skipped all the chapters about them in pregnancy books. I ended up with an emergency c-section.

I read them all again with DS2 who was also delivered by c-section. And really wished I had read them with my eldest because they had so much I didn't know about recovering and recommendations etc.

I’ve had two - an elective and an elective that arrived early. Both were fine, but the second one was actually really good.

My first, the anaesthetic made me feel really nauseous and trippy for about 24 hours after. This side effect can be reversed if you tell the doctors - I didn’t

The second, the only bad thing I remember was the shoulder pain afterwards - absolute agony. Be careful with mint tea as it can reduce milk production (not sure about pills).

Well the first thing I learnt was some hospitals keep you in for days & give you morphine etc & others like mine send you on your way the next morning with some paracetamol. I found the pain for the first few days much harder than I expected. I don’t think I’m a wuss! I only got G&A with dC1 when he was crowning so think I know pain. I assumed CS were easier, not at all ime.
I didn’t enjoy the feeling of not moving my legs either.

@Sparky888
Can you share pics to prove it?

My point was...that i personally found it upsetting after previously having a perfectly flat stomach and returning to the same weight that I was before pregnancy and not even having large babies. So she should beat herself up if this happens to her also

I was left with the overhang and I've been told by a plastic surgeon after a private consult that only a mini or full tummy tuck will shift it but... I have to wait until I am 100% sure I am finished having children before any sort of tummy tuck

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/7078021/four-mums-c-section-scars-beyonce/amp/

But not once, was I told Before my planned c section that I would need more surgery to remove the overhang

I'd still choose a c section I just wish I had known there was nothing I could have done to prevent the overhang instead of feeling botched and losing confidence over my no longer flat stomach.

Get up as soon as you can after the op. It makes such a difference to be mobile. Be sensible but also don’t assume that you’ll have to lie in bed for weeks. By a week post-op I was happily walking a few miles at a time and didn’t need painkillers, and I was back to gentle exercise within 6 weeks.

Big pants are a must. Anything that sat near my scar was uncomfortable for months.

Ingrowing hairs on my scar were a problem for me for a while. I have no idea if it’s common but probably worth mentioning. I also have one side that has more scar tissue than the other, which is normal but not very pretty.

An old sheet tied to the bottom of the bed was a lifesaver for getting up out of bed and to feed as there was a next to me cot in the way so I couldn’t swing my legs over the side of the bed and push myself up.

9 months on, I’m lighter than I have been for a couple of years, I’m back to racing, I’m constantly smashing previous personal bests and feel great. I know I’m lucky to have had such an easy recovery but it just goes to show that it does happen,

I had one.

Recovery all fine for me- pad against scar helped.

All that said- one word: laxatives! Before and after. That first poo nearly killed me!!!!

Yes I didn’t know about the overhang either. I’ve never had abs or a completely flat belly but I think it’s just where they cut you means it’s hard not to have a overhang. My tummy was the same after my VB but different after the CS.

I used windeeze tablets and they helped loads. No trapped wind issues at all. Took them a couple of days before planned CS and about a month after.
Hands down the best thing ever was this:m.patpat.com/product/3-in-1-C-Section-Recovery-Body-Shaperwear-Postpartum-Corset.html?country_code=GB&currency=GBP&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIn9_Z0Lbn4gIVLSjTCh14SgGMEAQYHyABEgK2HfD_BwE&is_new_category=1&sku_id=1033839

I used a part of this before CS for really bad ribcage pain and after for about 6 weeks. Absolute godsend. Rolling over in bed, getting up, moving around was exactly as normal. No side effects at all... Honestly it's so good I lent it to my neighbor twice after her two CS and she was also highly pleased each time!
A CS scar adhesive patch was also another thing I used. It really helped the healing process. My scar is barely visible and healed really quickly.
The maternity pad over the scar initially, mentioned already, yes definitely!
Good luck!

I recovered better than anticipated and was up and about quickly. Apparently staying a little active helps with healing-though don't overdo it, as when you've overdone it, you know it! You can't trudge around like you do after a natural birth.

Tbh I wished I hadn't had to have it, and felt cheated of my birth experience. Like you, third baby, first c section. It's ages ago now, and us t important any more.

Isn't

If anyone bothers to read the article even Beyoncé was left with a c section pouch. I just wish people would be more honest about it

if you give birth naturally it's now ok to talk about urinary incontinence but no one ever told me I would be left with an overhang post op, it's just not spoken about.

I have one more tip since nhs hospitals are different. Ask your hospital if your oh will be allowed to stay overnight the first night or not, if not have everything on your bed table ready for night feeds and nappy changes

And drink lots of water to flush out any traces of a uti from your catheter.

If they don't remove the catheter quickly ask for it to be removed and get up to go to the bathroom.

New guidelines are to get you up out of bed and into a chair as quickly as possible after surgery so don't be shocked if they ask you to get out of bed a few hours later

It's to prevent blood clots that they do this.

Mumsnet being what it is I'm sure I read somewhere in the thread you have to wear surgical stockings for 6 weeks post op so to order more???

No you don't! It's never usually longer than 24hrs but every hospital is different. Certainly not 6 weeks or wearing surgical stockings

@fancynancyclancy
Thank you for being honest

Mumsnet is a hive of people saying I'm a size 8 and eat whatever I want at times and other nonsense

I worked hard to lose my baby weight and I was left with the overhang from my first c section whilst others who have had a natural birth had no overhang

And tbh I hated it, now I know it can only be removed surgically and privately (which is expensive)

I don't feel so bad I'm just waiting til I am sure I don't want to have any more children before going ahead

mumto2babyboys Ha ha, yes they are all the size of Kate Middleton. As someone who’s 5ft 9 & used to do modelling when young & skinny I can say there are not a lot of people with that body shape & height particularly after 3 kids!

Are you really going to get a tummy tuck? The idea of more surgery scares me. I hated the fact I had a CS for a good few months & wished I pushed on for a VB. Mine was semi elective due to medical reasons, best thing for baby but not for my belly :(

@fancynancyclancy

I have had a consultation already and I get the price of the consult taken of the tt ,but the surgeon warned me it's best to be 100% sure I won't have any more children and I'm not quite sure about that yet as mine are still so young.

It really annoyed me though I also do a lot of exercise and before I was just flat stomached.

I've been trying to see what josie Gibson is like currently, she has a different body type to me but she had a tt and then had a baby,

but so far her post baby tummy does not look good

Now I am stuck wearing swimsuits when swimming incase my bikini bottoms slide down In the water and anyone sees the state of my tummy

@mumto2babyboys

Blimey. I don’t need to ‘prove it’. I’m not going to post a picture of my body on the internet. If you don’t believe me (or other posters who said the same as me), that’s up to you.

You’re clearly upset about your own circumstances and I haven’t and wouldn’t comment on that at all. I’m sorry if you’re unhappy.

You started out saying the majority have an overhang (that might be true, I don’t know). Then you said ‘I do not believe any person who says they have no overhang at all after a c section’. You’re wrong (I do know this). I don’t think it’s right for you to state that categorically as if it is true, when other people like OP may soon be having a CS. They may or may not have an overhang - that’s the truth. I’m sorry it happened to you.

@fancynancyclancy

I also know other mums who have given birth naturally lost their baby weight and have absolutely zero pooch, they went back to having a flat stomach, where as I will always have this and it was caused by my c section not that they do more exercise than I do

But it's just something no one ever dares to talk about; weirdly.

The nhs also don't do tummy tucks only very rarely.

And yeah everyone is always not me I don't have fine lines, I don't have to watch what I eat etc, I've never had to diet. Lucky sods! Lol because I do

Try not to be self conscious although I know it’s hard, I got bloody stretch marks on my tummy second time round too so don’t think a tt will actually help.

@Sparky888
I personally am just going by what the plastic surgeon told me at the consultation and he specialises in excess skin removal for weight loss patients and tummy tucks

And I had to lay for his advice so don't take it personally but I don't believe you

Pay

Anyways. I'm just saying it is good to know it can happen. It even happened to Beyoncé after her c section, it happened to me and lots of others

I'm not unique in being the only person left with a c section overhang, but it is something that is never spoken about

@mumto2babyboys
The man who gets paid to fix this problem told you it happens to everyone...... The only people who go to see him have the problem in the first place. People who don’t have the problem don’t go to see him. But you believe whatever makes you feel better.