Hi I had an elective last month and it was AMAZING! If I was going for one now I’d be excited and not scared but I got myself into a right state before mine 🙈 It was so lovely and calm and virtually painless (the only bit that hurt at all was getting the cannula in). I was originally overthinking the actual surgery part but then I decided I was more scared for the spinal and the cannula (only because I’d never had one). I had basically accepted I was going to die during it, that’s how worked up I got 😂
I did the mini abdominal birth course on the mindful birth group and had the audio files on my phone and headphones in case I needed them in theatre but for some reason I completely forgot all about it during it. There’s tracks you can listen to in the lead up to it though - it’s basically all about counting your breathing in and out and to breathe out for longer than you breathe in, I think 🤔
On the day the anesthetist came to speak to me before it and I just fully told him how scared I was, particularly about this massive needle going into my spine. He told me after the one thing he isn’t allowed to say is ‘it will be fine’ so he just has to listen and question your fears but he can’t tell you itl be fine 🤷🏼♀️ He said for him it was a normal Monday but for me it wasn’t at all so he totally understood why I found it so strange and he didn’t! When I walked into theatre he took my hand to put the cannula in after I sat up on the bed and (without me asking or him offering) he put an injection of local anesthetic into my hand before the cannula went in. It made me smile inside that he had done that to help me feel a bit better about it even though I hadn’t asked 😌 He really made the whole thing for me, he was so reassuring and calm about it all. The spinal was a complete non-event. I kept asking on posts on here what it was actually like before I went in but now I couldn’t even really tell you what it was like. It was nothing! There was a small nip when the local went in then I didn’t know if there was a needle in or not in, I could just feel them touching my back. It wasn’t until I heard the nurse saying ‘you’re doing great, that’s the medicine going in now’ that I realised that needle must be in my back 😂 a tip I was planning to use that I didn’t end up using is to count to 100 in French while it’s happening if you need to distract yourself but it really was nowhere near what I thought it would be. After it went in I’d read on here you might instantly feel it all rush down your legs and I’d geared myself up for that being horrible - it wasn’t like that at all. I didn’t even think it had worked because I moved my own legs to turn round and lie on the bed. It very slowly felt like I was getting pins and needles but that was it. I could still feel touch on my skin but just not pain which I was surprised at. I’d got myself so worried about those needles at the start that once they were over I was so relieved that I kind of forgot there was still the small matter of an operation to get through. I asked not to be told all the details of what was happening and wasn’t sure I even wanted the curtain down when he came out in case I saw some horrific image that stayed in my mind after. The anesthetist told me they had started about a minute after they had and I was shocked, all I could feel was what felt like someone pressing down on the area they were operating on, it wasn’t even like heavy pressing down. There was about 10 seconds where it was as if someone was giving me CPR very close to the other side of the curtain and I was a bit taken aback while that was happening but he had told me to expect that. It wasn’t sore or anything though and was over so fast. The second that finished (about 90 seconds since the whole thing started) they dropped the curtain and there was my baby! I was in disbelief it could be that easy 😊 As cliche as it is, it really was the best moment of my whole life and I cried instantly. I didn’t see anything bloody or horrible either. If its your second they’ll probably take their time a bit more getting the baby out. The stitching up part was over quicker than I expected, it only took about 20 minutes and they took one arm out the gown so I could have him lying on my chest while that was happening. It all went so fast! As they wheeled me round to recovery I felt like the luckiest person on earth. How had I just gone in there and not only survived it and been given a baby but it had actually been quite good ?! 😯
I listened to the maybe baby podcast, the episode with anna williamson, a few days before going in and it really helped me. She talks through her section in so much detail and makes it sound like no big deal. I thought about that a lot while mine was happening and it was really quite accurate.
I also watched two YouTube videos one million times. Eilidh Wells video of her c-section and Jennifer Joy’s, they go into so much detail and it lets you picture it all for yourself.
For me the worst part was sitting waiting to go in and I had considered taking magazines or something for that point but you’re really not interested in reading a magazine at a time like that 🙈 Maybe listen to some music if you need to. I had the positive affirmations from the mindful birth group’s course at the bottom of my bag in case I needed a last minute look at them if things got too much but it actually didn’t. Walking round to theatre was as terrifying as I expected though but really once I was sitting on the table and talking to them I couldn’t really worry anymore so just had to let them do what they needed to do.
Good luck, I hope it’s everything you hope and more 😊 sorry for the ridiculously long comment!