C section worries

[RhubarbRhubarb23]

I'm currently 36 weeks pregnant with my second child and my baby is breech. I know she could still turn but I don't think it will happen - I think she just prefers being in this position as has mainly been oblique or breech in all midwife checkups and scans. My first baby was not breech and I had an assisted vb.
I think I will probably need a c section for this baby. I'm really nervous about this as my 6 year old is very lively and physical and I know I will be quite limited in what I can do with him. Additionally I am pretty devastated thinking I may not be able to lift my baby on my own for a while - I have an image in my head of all these people around me lifting my baby and having cuddles and me being helpless and not able to spend the time I want with my baby.
I am doing all the things I'm meant to be doing to spin the baby round by the way. And I know that other births can be very difficult and I am not glorifying one birth over another - I'm just worried about c section recovery and the implications / affect it might have on me bonding with my baby. Does anyone have any positive c section stories to help me with my worries?

I’ve had two c sections. First was an emergency one, second a planned one and best decision I’ve ever made! Do you have a partner to help? Also you absolutely can lift your baby up after a c section. I’ve never heard of anyone not and I did with both mine.

You can totally hold your baby after a CS! You won’t be shut out at all.

I’ve had two CSs, and if I had another baby I’d have a third. I’ve genuinely loved them.

I couldn’t carry my 3yo for a bit after the second one, but after about 48 hs I think I could do everything else (I was home in less than 24hs).

You’ll be grand.

Also, recovery was not ‘easy’ for me I’ll be honest and you do have to be strict with yourself about lifting things and not doing things you would normally do in order to aid recovery and let your body heal but equally I’ve had friends who have had vaginal births and have had a harder recovery than me!

Why do you think you wouldn't be able to lift your baby? I've had 2 c sections - great experiences, immediate skin to skin with babies, no issues with breastfeeding, easy recoveries. You can hold and lift your baby immediately. The only thing I avoided was carrying the baby in the car seat carrier as I thought the one sided weight wouldn't be a good idea. You'll be absolutely fine.

You can lift your baby after a C-section. You won’t be that limited if your recovery is a normal one, but at 6 your older child is plenty old enough to understand to be gentle with you, my 2.5 year old and 4 year old could understand it.

I was able to pick up my baby after a C-section, just no hoovering! Which was fine by me.

Yes! It’s fine honestly! The first day in hospital you’re on such strong pain killers and the bed moves up and down so you can shuffle about fine. With my first section I lay there and let the nurses change him etc during the first night but the second time round I got on my feet earlier and was able to do everything with my baby without help. The only thing I struggled with was lifting my bags and bending down to get things so I just made sure everything I could possibly need was high up beside me.

When I got home last time it was hard going until day 5ish. I wasn’t in any sort of constant pain, it was fine to walk slowly round the house, it was just going from lying down to getting up out of bed and going from sitting on the sofa to standing that was the issue. Second time round I think I had some sort of nerve pain going on because I had intense burning in my scar at one side when I went to stand up. By 2 weeks in both times it was almost completely better. I was then just tender but fully able to go walks etc and just avoided lifting heavy things but could do everything else. Its honestly such a short amount of time and I think it’s probably a mindset thing more than anything. I had a positive experience with both but I would also put that down to the fact I wanted to have two sections so I knew what to expect and it was okay. If you went into it not wanting one I’m not sure if you’d feel differently about any of it. On the whole I’d say it’s not the pain that’s the issue as you can keep on top of that, it’s just a few days of feeling a bit helpless when you can’t sit up in bed whenever you want to that’s the worst! Try just to make the most of it and fully embrace having help

I haven't had a c section myself yet although it's looking like I will with this pregnancy. I think the consultants try and give you worst case scenario so you're not going in blind but I've heard a lot of stories where there's been great recovery.

My sisters a midwife and she had a lady last week when you have a catheter in for 6 hours after, she went to check on her after 3 hours and she wasn't there, she'd popped to the shop with her catheter still in. Hopefully you'll have the same recovery, wouldn't recommend going to the shop that quickly though lol

I’ve had two c-sections, one emergency and one planned.
First, I was definitely able to lift my newborn baby after! The first 12 hours or so obviously you can’t get up and lift them (you can obviously hold them and cuddle them and feed them if that’s what you choose to do, someone needs to hand them to you!) but once the spinal block has work off and your back walking you can lift them up.
The recovery from the emergency one was a little slower and I was sore enough but the planned one was definitely easier.
As regards to recovery, with my second section I was lucky enough that my husband was off for two weeks following and I didn’t do much for those two weeks but after that I was back up and about fairly easily, while taking it slowly. I was back driving after 3 weeks and was able to lift my (large) 2.5 year old after about 6 weeks. 13 weeks postpartum now and back to normal and exercising, running etc, get the odd sensation at the scar but nothing to worry about, just more of a feeling of ‘yeah, I had surgery 3 months ago!’.
It is daunting but if it’s a planned section it is definitely easier (in my experience). Just take the first 2-3 weeks really easy and then go from there and see what you’re comfortable with. Best of luck! 💐

I’ve had 4. Like others have said, you’ll be able to lift your baby, it’s quite surprising how quickly you recover. In all but one of mine I was home the next day. When I had my 4th section, I had a 5year old, 4 year old and 2year old. DH was self employed so couldn’t take much time off. Honestly it was ok.

As others have said, you'll be able to lift your baby don't worry I had an EMCS and as soon as I could walk I was fine getting out of bed to get baby in and out of his little hospital cot on my own, changed his nappies, breastfed fine. Keep on top of painkillers and take it easy, you'll be OK

You definitely can lift your baby; I could lift my baby from the hospital crib next to me from 4 hours after even before I had my catheter out. I had a 3 year old who was very physical too and I explained as best I could that I was limited and with a 6 year old they will definitely understand and it’s only for a short period of time.
My second c section was planned and it was an amazing experience; recovery was not easy but then equally an assisted one isn’t either. There’s pain either way

Cat 1 section here, I was up carrying baby in under 12 hours. That night I literally paced the ward for hours with my baby as he wouldn't sleep in his crib and I kept nearly falling asleep in bed and DH wasn't allowed to stay.

Thank you everyone! I am inspired by all your stories - thank you for sharing them with me x

Depending on what position your baby is in, you could have a vaginal breech birth. Not overly risky if you’ve had a baby vaginally before. Just another option to think about.

I've had a C-section, and found everything fine! I always thought the advice was to lift nothing heavier than your baby. I had no issues doing so anyway. Recovery in general was far easier than anticipated. I'm sure your 6 year old will understand they're not to be quite so physical and lively with you for a little while.

I'm also here to offer hope! My second baby (the one I had the C-section with - he got himself stuck in labour) was also breech at 36 weeks after being oblique/breech for much of my pregnancy. He turned all by himself at 36+5. The sonographer who performed the scan said that seconds+ tend to turn a bit later, so hopefully it will be the same for you.

I had a conversation with midwife about this. She said (at least in uk) breech births basically don't happen so they've deskilled. Most haven't delivered a breech baby. So while they used to deliver some breech babies just fine, it's very much no longer recommended as that skill and experience has been lost. It would likely be much safer for both to have c section if still breech.

I had an elective c-section.

The surgical team were amazing. The anaesthetist told me every step of the way what I would be feeling …‘right about now you’ll start feeling an icy sensation’.

The surgeon said ‘it’s not painful but I’ve been told it’s an unusual sensation like someone is doing the washing up in your stomach’…. and it did feel like that.

I was able to hold my son with no issue. I would say that the only uncomfortable part for me was the catheter due to the pipe being too short - and the cannulae stuck in my arm. AND going to the bathroom 😳 I always say I may have escaped the pain of labour, BUT that bathroom visit with all the trapped air from surgery 🥶 Drink loads of mint tea!

I stayed in for 4 nights in a private room. It was unusual as there wasn't any necessity for me to stay so long. On day 3 they stopped doing room service though and I had to make my own way to the canteen. This was an NHS hospital btw not a private maternity suite.

You’ll definitely be able to hold your baby and have all the lovely snuggles. If you’ve got someone around to help with nappy changes though, then take full advantage, but you’ll be able to do everything you need to with a newborn.
Day two is the worst, pain-wise. All the anaesthesia from surgery is well and truly out of your system, and you’ll feel like you can’t move. Accept oral morphine if the hospital offers, and keep on top of taking paracetamol and ibuprofen.
Stock up on isotonic sports drinks, they help with healing.
If you need to cough, you’ll feel like your stitches are ripping out. Don’t worry. Press a pillow down over your wound (or add pressure in some other way with something soft) and just hope for the best. The pain from coughing does subside fairly quickly.
Let your wound get plenty of fresh air to it, so use that as an excuse to get some me-time and lie flat on your back naked for a while after a shower!
Good luck!

I had a c-section 3 months ago and it was a really positive experience. I was really unhappy about having to have one and found reading positive stories on here helped. I also read a book called Caesarean Birth by Leigh East which really helped me to get into a better headspace and feel a bit more 'in control'. Would definitely recommend!

I'm 12 weeks out from my c section and honestly, it is the best decision I ever made and I was far more mobile after birth than friends of mine who had a vagunal delivery. I had about 6 hours recovering.in bed before nurses got me up and removed my catheter, ans I was bending over changing nappies by about hour 8 with decent pain relief. I'm not especially fit or young. Everyone has different experienced but you absolutely should be able to lift and hold your baby! Aside from thr first 5 hours after my child's birth, I've been #1 holder, bouncer and caregiver by a huge margin since day one. Good luck, i hope.its amazing!

That’s a shame about the vaginal breech not being an option. I’m a midwife in the U.K. and we would offer it.

I had an emergency c section after a loooong labour failed to progress and I actually enjoyed the whole experience. I didn’t actually find it very painful after the section unless I was up and about, and often didn’t even feel like I needed to take the pain relief offered. It was only painful if coughing/sneezing/laughing or when trying to get up to move for the first few days, but I think the days in labour also contributed to how long I couldn’t move much post labour.
I was able to hold my baby straight away whilst sitting down. It took a couple days before I could lift him myself, and maybe a week at least until I felt comfortable doing stairs whilst carrying him.

Recommend getting really huge granny pants- like horrendously ugly pants that will comfortably go above your belly button. Some big elastic banded trousers too.
Peppermint tea for bloating. And dried fruits (apricots) for getting things moving again after surgery.

Just take it easy and let people do things for you post surgery, whilst you focus on you and baby.