Elective caesarean - talk me through it please

[empen]

I have had an emergency c section but this was after days/hours of stress and drugs so memory of it is a bit blurry and I KO'd straight after it.
Can someone tell me ehat to expect with elective c section. How long does it last, especially the bit after the baby has come out. I am a bit worried about catheter (can't spell) - does it hurt when they put it in? Anything else I should know about. Will I have feeling in my arms so i can hold baby and breastfeed?
Thanks - 20 days and counting and panicing

My c-section with dc2 was 'semi-urgent' - ie they needed to get the baby (who was prem and small) out that day, but not a dire emergency, so I was able to have it under epidural. Yes, you have a catheter, which was put in before the epidural was administered. It hurt going in, but I would describe it as unpleasant rather than awful. I did my breathing techniques that I'd learned at NCT for my first labour and that helped me relax as they put it in. The drip in my hand was uncomfortable too. The epidural I didn't find too bad - the idea of a needle in your spine isn't great - but I can truthfully say it was ok! I found the sensation of numbing up very odd, but maybe you had an epi with your first labour so I guess you may remember this? I know it felt like cold liquid running through my veins. The operation itself is the strangest sensation, because you feel pressure and a HUGE amount of pulling and tugging. My baby was tiny and they still pulled me around a hell of a lot, so you may end up feeling a bit battered and bruised when the anaesthetic wears off. The baby was out really quickly - I'd say 5 mins from first incision to getting baby out. DH held her; she then had to be whisked off to SCBU, but if she hadn't been prem then yes, I'd have been able to hold her. My arms were fine, just no sensation from abdomen downwards. The stitching up takes a while (about half an hour or so i think). I was then back on the ward and I think it was several hours before I got the feeling back in my legs. Tummy remained numb for a good while and I still have a small numb patch years later. The pain afterwards is a drag, but all quite bearable. I had my catheter out the next day, and yes it was uncomfortable coming out too! Overall, some unpleasant bits but nothing unbearable, all the pain was totally manageable. Hope that helps.

you can write a birth plan for an elective, you can have your own music playing, you can have the curtain lowered to see baby born, you can have skin to skin, you can bring your own blanket for baby to be wrapped in, you can discover the sex yourself if you don;t know it

lots you can do to make it better

you will be taken to theatre , given your spinal, and the op will begin, it will be much less rushed, much more relaxed and you won;t be exhasuted and full of drugs.

only a couple of minutes to get baby out , will be checked over, then you can request baby given to you for skin to skin, takes 40 mins - 60 mins to stitch you up, might take a wee while longer to do than last time, as going through scar tissue from previous op

catheter might feel a tad uncomfy coming out, but not painful

OK mine was planned so I went on the antenatal tour of the hospital where you visited the theatre and where they clean baby etc so when I went in i knew exactly what was going to happen and where.

Honestly mine was really chilled and relaxed. The drip in my hand hurt a bit but the epidural was a breeze just a bit uncomfortable then a bit cold. Doctors used a freezing spray on random places to check I was definately numb. Catheter was inserted after epidural so didn't feel it. Coming out was pretty painless too.

DD was handed to me a few minues after incision and then taken off to be cleaned for about minute then brought back for skin to skin contact.

I feel intermittently sick and woozy during c section and they just administered drugs to counteract this. Lots of tugging and pressure during.

For me I knew I couldn't have a natural birth (breech baby & lots of previous problems) and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. I would not hesitate to go thorough it all agin tomorrow and would not change a thing

Thanks for the insight. 3 quite different stories.
They have told me that the stitching up is going to take longer as I have hefty scar following tummy tuck but was hoping I would be feeling delirious after birth and would not notice.
Am really scared about catheter still so will have to ask if they can do it after epi.
Never thouught about birth plan just thought as it was medical procedure it would al be dictated to me. I really have very limited memories of first one - it was 5 years ago too.
I remember the freezing spray casue I had no feeling up to my neck - scared this was going to happen again cause had freaky moment of breastfeeding baby with midwife holding boob for me - felt really unatural all cause I could not move my arms.
will not get a chance to see hospital firstcause they don't let kids in, dad works nights and I don't have any sitters/family locally but will have to accept that.
Thank you all for your stories Will have to give it a lot more thought. Trying to plan what I need in my hospital bag now too!

catheter should be done after epi

you can look at the caesarean.org site for ideas of making an c.s birth plan

it might be a medical event but it is a birth, first and foremost.

you should not be numb up to the armpits ..discuss this with the aneasthatist on the day and the MW so that they are aware of your concerns and that you want to breastfeed

It's really interesting to know things like the catheter can be done after the epidural. Makes me wonder now whether mine was just put in earlier just because the nurse was around then and had time! I know it's a relatively minor thing, but it DID hurt. I would echo what was said about feeling sick during the op - I definitely thought I was going to chuck my guts up at one point, but they just give you various drugs to counteract it which work straight away. A c-section IS very medicalised and definitely very different from a natural birth, but there's no reason why you shouldn't feel as in control as possible. Good luck!

I have some leafletss from the hospital and on it it says the catheter is done before the epi. Last time I was numb up to my earlobes and had my arms strapped down!
Have last appt with mw on friday so will discuss it with her - if she can be bothered to listen (she hasn't so far)

Am amazed you were numb up to your earlobes - this is definitely not normal in a c-section and sounds almost like a general anaesthetic with the head left out! You should have no feeling below your waist for a couple of hours, but normal feeling and movement above it. I've had 2 c-sections and breastfed immediately after both, holding the baby as normal.

Am surprised too that your leaflet says catheter is put in before epidural. Mine was inserted after, when I couldn't feel a thing. I can remember them taking it out after I'd got feeling back, but that was uncomfortable rather than painful.

You will probably find that your elective c-s is miles better than your emergency one. I can honestly say I felt no pain at all during my elective, just a slight discomfort like indigestion afterwards - a far cry from my emergency which was a pain-filled nightmare. Plan it as much as you can, and enjoy it!!!

I had emergnecy C after 5 days of induced labour so had had 3 doses of epi - I think that explains why I was numbed up!
Will defo have to discuss catheter issue with MW and/or docs on the day

I have 19 days to go, and i'm having a csection too, my first was also an emergency section! I am more scared thistime around!

like you empen I had an em c-section with my first and after 48 hours in labour I was so drug crazed and desperate to get the baby out thsat it was all a bit of a blur and I didn't really know what was happening.

I had an elective this time around and it was fine. I walked into the aneasthetic room and was calm and chatting away to the doctors and nurses as they put in the spinal and epidural. I found it a bit uncomfortable but I think I was tensing up too much as they had a bit of bother when I had my em c-section and my body was remembering the pain. this time because I was more aware of what was going on, I was irrationally scared that I would feel pain, but of course I didn't. The screen between me and the surgeaon wasn't very high, and I could see what was going on in the shiny bit of the theatre lights which made me a bit light headed.

The anaesthetist was lovely though and kept talking to me to keep my mind on other things as did DH. From incision to baby being delivered was about 10 minutes as there was a bit of scar tissue from the old operation, and then there was a very tense few moments as DD was whisked off to be resuscitated (I don't think I breathed the whole time) Once she was breathing DH went over to see her being cleaned up a bit and weighed and then he held her for a bit and then passed her to me. I chatteed to the surgeon at this point as he stitched me up, about additional maths tutoring for his DS of all things. DH took DD back while they moved me to a bed and then I was wheeled into recovery where I had as much skin to skin as I needed and gave DD her first feed (and had soe toast). We were on the recovery ward for about two hours before going to post natal.

I was in a bit of pain afterwards as I reacted to one of the painkillers so they stopped it, but didn't give me an alternative and I think that hampered my recovery a bit. The catheter was fine, just awkward with pads etc and i felt it come out (about 12 hours later) but it wasn't uncomfortable. I had a bit of bladder weakness about 12 hours after that (like floods of wee on the floor, but I was just glad it was wee and not due to PPH)

I stayed in longer this time around and was in a side room so it was much more pleasant all round.

It was a really nice experience to be honest, especially after the kerfuffle of last time.

Sorry this has been such an essay.

You'll be fine xx

oh, and ctheter was inserted after the epidural had started to take effect so I didn't feel it going in at all

I was numb up to my shoulders and the anaesthetist remarked that I was obviouslt very susceptible to the drug as normally it stops at boob level!

Hi,
I'm also due for a c section next month and it will be my first. I'm absolutely terrified of the thought of the epi and worried that i'll shake too much for them to do it properly!

I'm also worried about the possibility of a drain - i hate them being taken out - does anyone know if they are put in regularly?

I have had loads of ops in the past tho where they have put catheters in/out and i've never found it any more than a little uncomfortable/ small sting. I think mine goes in after the epi, but either way i'm sure it won't be too bad for you.

One of the differences is that as this is not an emergency you may get bumped by emergency C/sections. i was told to arrive at the hospital by 8am but I wasn't taken to theatre until 6:45pm (and I know that I was almost told to come back the following Monday).

I chose a c-section on the same day after talking through my complications with the consultant. I have a slight tremor and I was shaking quite a lot through nerves and having the epidural (thought I was going to fall off the operating table), nothing hurt at all. I had my music playing and the consultants were happily discussing top gear with dh! Blokes. They kept asking if I was ok, told everyone to be quiet when finding out the sex of baby and were really amazing. Its not how I expected it to work out but was thankful for such wonderful care. Just thought the aftercare was a bit lacking. I'm sure after normal surgery you would get visited by the doctor again.

Hi Empen, I had a crash section with my first and an elective with my second in June. The elective was very calm and straightforward. I walked into the theatre, they put my cd on for me, sat me up on the bed and they asked me to lean forward while they did the spinal injection, it felt pretty much like any other injection. After that I was helped to lay down and my DH came in (my hospital don't allow partners for the spinal bit - but they are all different so ask). They put my catheter in after the spinal so i didn;t feel a thing. I did ask for them to do this but I think many hospitals do it this way around anyhow. But ask!
Then they got to work, I felt a bit of tugging and then DS was born. They showed him to me and then weighed him etc. Then they brought him back to me and lay him on my chest so i cuddle him. It was lovely.
I asked in my mini-birth plan for me to have one of my arms free above the screen, enough that I would be able to hold him. They stitched me up while I said hello to my son and then I got taken to recovery. I breastfed him for about 30 minutes in there while they checked I was ok. Then I was wheeled up to the ward. I was up and in the shower the following day and had the catheter out too. Had DS on Tuesday pm and was home on Friday pm.
I found it a great experience and it has really helped me to get over the trauma of my DD's horrible birth.
Good luck!

This was my birth plan, it might give you some ideas for your own:

Birth Plan

· I would like to be conscious for the operation.
· I would like the catheter to be inserted after the spinal if possible
· I want my husband to remain with me as much as is possible.
· I wish to breastfeed as soon as possible after delivery.
· I would like my husband to be with the baby whilst it is being checked and if possible be able to have a photograph taken of the baby on the scales etc so that I can see this later.
· I wish to have skin-to-skin contact with my baby as soon as possible after birth, please leave one arm accessible/unrestricted.
· Please do not have the screen so high across my chest that I cannot have my baby lying across my chest.
· I would like dissolvable suture of my incision, not staples.
· I am willing to have students present.

Hi - my experience v. similar to red fraggle. I had a birth rehearsal where I was shown operating theatre and talked through the procedure about a week before the op.
Pre op - I was given meds to help prep me and I was asked to eat no food from midnight onwards and virtually no water either. At the appointed time I was taken to theatre, met with the anaethetist who walked me through everything. DH was with me the whole time. We went into theatre (our CD of choice was put on). I was hooked up to all the necessary machines spinal administered (this was the part I was most nervous of - didnt need to be, it was fine) - catheter inserted. My consultant arrived, started, 90 secs later curtain dropped and DS put straight onto chest - arm and shoulder was left out of gown (we have great pics of this part). He was then taken away briefly to be weighed etc. then put straight back on.

wheeled into recovery pretty quickly where I was turned onto my side, and DS latched on for feed. Then handed to DH (after about an hour) and I was washed, surgical stockings put on and switched into own nightgown then wheeled back to my room.
At this point I was pretty out of it for a few hours as I had a bad reaction to morphine in spinal and was throwing up - they eventually got the right anti sickness drug into me and I was fine.

I was up walking that afternoon when I washed again. Showered and iv/ catheter / wound dressing removed next day. No major pain from csection - milk came in day 3.

Birthplan of fraggles is spot on!