Walk me through a C-Section please!

[sidesplittinglol]

I'm due to have my first C-Section and I am so nervous about it.

Please can someone walk me through what exactly to expect. I've read up on it but I still have some questions like:

-may sound like a stupid question but do you get a lot of vaginal bleeding like in a VB?

-what type of underwear is best to use?

-is there anything I need to adjust in my hospital bag? It's packed for VB.

• what's the recovery like?

• how painful is the epidural and what side effects does it have?

I'm sure there's more questions to come but these will help so far. X

TIA x

I've had four. I never felt the epidural. They spray your back so its freezing. Recovery has been different with each and probably harder with each one but nothing really awful. I think it's about finding the right balance if getting up and being active but not over doing it. I bled for about 6 weeks afterwards with each.

Underwear - anything soft and comfy that will go over your scar.

Hello,
Don't be nervous it will be ok,
I had planned section 4 days ago on Tuesday
Asked to be at hospital at 8pm. No food or drink past midnight. Two days prior I went to hospital for bloods and covid test.
Arrived with husband, taken to room in labour ward, went on monitor to monitor baby for 20mins, various people who would be in theatre came to talk me through what will happen. Stockings put on, hosp gown put on and we walked to theatre. Husband stayed outside at first, I sat on the bed, cannula went in my hand, spinal went in (I was worried about this but it went in painless and really quick). As soon as spinal in I started to feel warmness spreading waist down, I was asked to lie down, anaesthesiologist checked that the spinal is working and I didn't feel anything chest down, legs went heavy, catheter was put in and screen went up. At this point I started to feel hot and dizzy apparently it's normal as your blood pressure goes right down, they used some drugs to level this up and I felt normal again within minutes. Husband was called in, op started. Felt some tucking on my tummy and slight pressure nothing painful or overly uncomfortable. Within 15-20 mins baby boy was born screen lowered as we wanted it to see him being lifted, baby taken to recovery for checks husband gone too, while they started stitching me up. Husband came back with baby, I had cuddles and after they done stitching I was wheeled to recovery room for 30 mins. Baby put on my chest, latched on breast lots of cuddles. After 30 mins taken back to the original morning room, my nightie put on, baby dressed, had some toast and coffee, cuddles with baby and later on taken to postnatal ward. Husband left after visiting hours.
After 12 hours from op catheter was taken out, my briefs with pad went on and I was encouraged to go for wee and ask for help to walk there as soon as I can. I went 3 times until I actually managed to do some wee. Help with baby offered (pass him to me, put back after feed, help with nappy change). Next morning I tried to sit up and lift baby myself but you can still buzz for help and help will be given. Painkillers given every couple of hours I will not lie you will feel sore. Around lunch time I was discharged on the next day, various checks on baby and me, bloods taken too before discharge, husband came to pick me up and off we went home.
I'm on day 4 now post section, with painkillers is manageable, I'm taking it easy and waking just to toilet and back, I feel sore but every day slightly better then day before. Dressing is still on and will come off tomorrow. Stitches checked on day 2 by midwife. Nights are difficult as not very comfy sleeping on my back and constantly trying to sit up/lie down after feeds. Overall I think could be worse but it is tough few days after the section.

Bleeding- started bleeding straight after catheter taken out, not overly heavy I would say medium and it's getting lighter every day.
Hosp bag - I packed snacks like little cartons of orange juice, flapjacks, bananas something filling and rich. I bought peppermint oil tablets recommended for trapped wind but didn't experience any so don't buy unless you really need. Try to eat fibre rich foods coming up to section so your first bowel movement is as easy and smooth as possible to push out (sorry for tmi).

Overall positive experience after 2 vaginal births this was my first c -section. The actual op very relaxed and chilled, controlled well by hospital atmosphere in theatre great, radio playing everyone went up and above to make me feel calm and not worried. Postnatal really hands on and helpful, night staff really helpful every time I buzzed I was never made fell like I am inconvenience. Recovery tough but manageable at home just stay on top of your painkillers and every day is better then the day before.

Hope this all helps ask away if you have any questions or I missed anything you were asking out.

I didn't have much vaginal bleeding at all. Didn't feel the epidural. Recovered really well. Big granny nickers from marks. High waisted. It was all very calm and pleasant for me. Try to enjoy it! Good luck.

I found it a lovely experience both times. I bled after both, kind of like a moderate period that gradually lightens. High waisted granny pants - size up as you may bloat. Don't pack any clothes that might rub on the incision which will be along your bikini line. Also pack slip on shoes as bending down can hurt at first. Recovery was fine both times- back to normal and pain free within 2 weeks. No side effects. Stay on top of pain relief in the first few days particularly! After that I found it plain sailing.

The bleeding is from the placenta wound, nothing to do with vaginal or csection delivery so it depends on the person not the birth method. It's also not related to the catheter as someone else mentioned, different locations obviously!

-may sound like a stupid question but do you get a lot of vaginal bleeding like in a VB?
Yeah, you'll still bleed for around 6 weeks following CS. In my case it was light bleeding for 4 weeks, others have heavy bleeding for a couple of weeks then tapers off... different for everyone!

-what type of underwear is best to use?
High waisted underwear that comes up to your belly button, seamless is best, I had similar to these https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B07GDKCHHL?psc=1&ref=ppxpoppmobbbasin_title

-is there anything I need to adjust in my hospital bag? It's packed for VB.
Long charger because sitting up is hard, peppermint teabags (you will have trapped wind afterwards and it eases it up tremendously), dressing gown with rope so you can tie it to the end of your hospital bed to pull yourself up

- what's the recovery like?
First 3/4 days are painful, keep on top of pain relief. Ask for lactulose whilst you're still at the hospital, eat fruit, veg, soups etc - stuff that will keep your first PP poo soft. By the end of week 1 you will feel SO much better. Just rest as much as you can, short walks (even just round the house) will aid your recovery massively. I was pretty much back to normal 4 weeks after.

- how painful is the epidural and what side effects does it have
It isn't painful in my experience, it just feels weird. They give you local anaesthetic first, so you just feel pressure around in the area, just made me cringe a little. My side effects - it made me really cold and made me itch like hell! (Really normal, common side effects that wear off very quickly )

Another thing to add which I remember being surprised about - you'll probably get trapped wind in your shoulder/s. I had an AWFUL ache in my right shoulder on the operating table, I told the anaesthetist and he said "yeah, it's gas, no bother". Felt like my bloody arm was going to fall off!

Thank you so much for the responses so far, they're really helpful. X

C section 8 weeks ago. Planned. It was a dream and over in 50 minutes (total time in theatre)

-may sound like a stupid question but do you get a lot of vaginal bleeding like in a VB?
I bled heavily for 2 weeks then intermittently for 2 further weeks. Beware the after pains when uterus contracting! Awful!

-what type of underwear is best to use?
Just buy huge cotton ones a few sizes bigger than your normal size. I am pre pregnancy 14 and I bought 10 size 18 huge briefs. Was complimented by midwife on appropriateness

-is there anything I need to adjust in my hospital bag? It's packed for VB.
you need a nightgown instead of pj bottoms as you'll have a catheter in for 12-24 hours afterwards

• what's the recovery like?

4 days really awful pain / wobbly legs and difficulty sitting from lying and standing from sitting but then felt much better by day 5 then by day 7 I walked around my local park. Got better quickly but need to take it easy for a couple of weeks.

• how painful is the epidural and what side effects does it have?

You won't necessarily have an epidural. Most planned sections are a spinal (so no catheter left in). Side effects were itchy skin from dismorphine

To be honest, nobody ever prepped me for the feeling of someone yanking around inside.

It’s fucking awful and you’re led there on a bed unable to move but can feel everything (not pain). You can literally feel them tearing your uterine wall (it heals better if torn).

Then they’re writing down all the blood loss on the whiteboard across from your head so you can see it racking up, there’s some on their shoes for graphic effect.

Yeah.. not great.. but my baby was cute so I just forget about that ting horrific part of my life.

I didn't bleed for long, maybe a week, have loads of maternity pads left.
DH was there from the first moment in theatre. He had to wear crocs so good socks are a must!

I had a post partum haemorrhage but not enough to need transfusion. At my hospital they try to collect the blood you lose so they can put your own blood back inside you.

Definitely didn't have the experience of onedream with lots of help, by evening of the C-section they said I needed to lift baby myself and had to get my own breakfast the next day so maybe bring something you would eat if that happens. I really thought there would be more help and wish I had known at least to manage my expectations.

Take the painkillers and lactulose.
Bring flip flops or slippers you can put on without bending.

I had an emergency section and lost 2.5L of blood during the procedure.

1. I still bled quite a bit afterwards - 12 weeks!

1. Use high waisted underwear that are few sizes larger than you. I think I was in mine for 6-9 months post partum.

1. Bring a dressing down tie as you have tie this to the end of the bed to pull yourself up with for when you need the toilet and feed/ change baby.

1. My recovery was long but again, I had an emergency. I hear electives tend to be much easier to recover from. I drove again after 8 weeks and really felt better after 5 months. It is major abdominal surgery after all.

1. I can't really remember if it was painful - I had mine in the throes of labour when I was having back to back minute long contractions each time. I loved my epidural.

Ohh I was you a few months ago! I needed to know EVERY detail. So much so I did a bit too much research on YouTube and saw more than I was needing to see 🙈 So don’t do that! I had really built it up to be this massive event that was going to be so painful and dramatic and the recovery was going to be awful. It wasn’t at all! It was all great 😊 It was a spinal rather than an epidural I got but I’d decided before it that was the part I was most scared of. I had all these techniques ready for how I was going to count backwards from 100 in french when I was sitting on the bed while they did it. I had a hypnobjrthing breathing audio thing to listen to and mantras written down. When it came to it I didn’t need any of that. I just sat on the edge of the bed and it was like a completely normal jag (that was the one they give you to numb the area) then I didn’t know when the other one was going in. The cannula in my hand was more painful and that was just a nip! The best thing I listened to (multiple times) before it was the maybe baby podcast with anna Williamson as a guest. She literally takes you through hers step by step and I’d say it’s completely accurate to how mine went too! There’s also c-section videos on YouTube, Jennifer joy and Eilidh wells have good ones. The bleeding after wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It was heavy the first night and soaked onto the bed. For a few days it stayed heavy then stopped on day 5. I thought aw great, that must be it finished 😅 a few days later it came back and lasted til he was 6-8 weeks old, can’t remember exactly but it was never ending but only like a period by then. Take it easy standing up for the first time, just go as slow as you like. It was nowhere near as bad as I expected either but I was so nervous for the operation I hadn’t really considered the ‘after’ part that much. I plan to do it all again in a few years and I won’t waste all my time worrying this time, it was a lovely, calm and almost pain-free day! Enjoy it ☺️

Also couldn’t emphasise enough to the theatre staff that I was obsessed with watching YouTube videos on it, sometimes the same one multiple times 😂 the anaesthetist was lovely and just laughing about it but he must have been thinking this girl isn’t right 🙈

You'll still bleed afterwards like any type of birth. The blood (it was explained to me, I'm not a medical professional) is from the placenta coming away from your uterus. It effectively leaves a sort of wound, which will bleed for a bit until it heals. It's not a stupid question - for some reason I assumed as I didn't have a vaginal birth I wouldn't bleed. It was a bit of a shock!

You need big sexy maternity pads for this bleed. The hospital will give you some, but have a stock for home too.

The epidural wasn't bad at all. Felt a bit of pressure and a scratch. The effects are utter relief from contractions and pain and you may want to kiss your anaesthetist, depending on whether you were in labour before hand or not.