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Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

Original poster

Did you feel relief after c section?

31 replies

Boohoo123456 · 24/05/2024 22:15

Those that had C section, did you feel the post birth lightness and relief of not being pregnant anymore or was that overpowered by not being able to move because of the stitches etc?

Also did you have a post birth high ?

OP posts:
Echobelly · 24/05/2024 22:24

I don't think you're rendered any less mobile by the stitches anymore than you are by the aftereffects of a vaginal birth TBH. People seem to have this idea that you'll be really hampered and disabled by a C-section but wasn't my experience at all - maybe if you've had an emergency one after being in labour for hours, I can imagine that would be debilitating, but planned feels quite easy on you really.

I had to have two planned C-sections and I can't imagine I felt 'not being pregnant anymore' less and I've never really heard of a post birth high, so I can't comment. I've experienced an almost 'high' feeling on recovering from awful headaches or terrible stomach pain so I can imagine you might get a sensation like that from no longer having contraction or pushing a baby out of you!

JusWunderin · 24/05/2024 22:32

I was given some lovely drugs after my first c section that had me asking when my mum was bringing her dog to see the baby in hospital.

My second c section I was ready to get up and leave a couple hours after. I knew what to expect and was a lot less scared to get up and start plodding about. Then DH got sent home with Covid and wasn’t allowed back (after making a bloody mess of the bags too!) and no midwives would come in my bay, I had to kick our car keys to one of them to give to my DH so he could get home 😂 so I knew I wasn’t going to be getting any more help. So I packed out bags and asked to be discharged.. no surprise they happily agreed 😂 - the day after I got home they announced they were no longer testing visitors and partners for Covid anyway! 😒

Dingo33 · 25/05/2024 08:46

I had a vaginal birth and don't remember feeling this relief! I just felt sore, tired and flabby (oh and sticky from the milk).

mondaytosunday · 25/05/2024 09:48

Post birth high? Is that a thing?
No, I mean I was happy the weight was gone but having a newborn is so overwhelming the post operative but was just something to get through.

Brandnewskytohangyourstarsupon · 25/05/2024 09:53

Can’t say I did. Also didn’t experience any post birth high.
As soon as the spinal wore off (within a few hours) I was up, showering, catheter out busy breast feeding my delicious little cherub.
Home in about 24 hours.
That was freeing, getting home and not hanging around the hospital.
Physically I took the pain killers and was great by week 2.

SkeletonBatsflyatnight · 25/05/2024 09:56

For my second emcs, I was flying until my milk came in on day 3 causing my mood to crash. I watched her emerge (they dropped the curtain) and I fell instantly in love with her grumpy little face.

I also had no problem moving after either emcs. Went out for lunch when dc2 was 2 days old.

TreesWelliesKnees · 25/05/2024 09:58

The morphine did the job initially!

I remember feeling disappointed a few days later that I hadn't had the birth I wanted. But now, many years on, I'm very grateful for the strength of my pelvic floor.

YellowCloud · 25/05/2024 09:59

Yes I felt relief.
Yes I felt a post-birth high.

1 EMCS, 1 elective. The elective was the most amazing stress-free birth you could imagine. Turned up at 7.30am, by 10.30am I had baby in my arms.

I also found recovery easy for both. It’s not as bad as people make out. I was out and about on Day 3 with both babies.

Babyboomtastic · 25/05/2024 10:01

I totally felt a high both times :-)
I wasn't in any pain, wasn't tired from the birth and was just very eager to get on with life with my new baby. No issues with mobility after three first 24-48hrs and it and about straight from coming home.

I don't think I came down for several months.

AllThePotatoesAreSinging · 25/05/2024 10:03

I had SPD in pregnancy. I felt brilliant after C section (pain relief was paracetamol and ibuprofen both times as I am allergic to opiates).

InTheRainOnATrain · 25/05/2024 10:07

Yes felt amazing afterwards and was up and moving around within about 3 hours. Definitely had the high. I still remember the cheese sandwich I had for lunch after as one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten.

LetsGoRoundTheRoundabout · 25/05/2024 10:09

The moment they put the catheter in was the first time in months I hadn’t felt the need to pee every ten minutes 😂

I don’t think it’s a direct comparison really. Both vaginal birth and c sections affect people differently. I remember being bed still, with a catheter, a HCA brought breakfast to me. The woman next to me had a vaginal birth and had to hobble slowly down the hall to collect her own. I suspect we both felt sorry for the other.

The “unable to move” feeling was only a few hours. After that moving is fine and important, I was just slow and stiff.

YouveGotAFastCar · 25/05/2024 12:19

No, but I also wasn’t unable to move and had my catheter removed and was walking around three hours later.

I suspect the hormonal part of vaginal will be responsible for the highs, but they’re not a given for every woman - if you haven’t had them before, you may not get them however you give birth.

TeaPleaseX · 26/05/2024 00:24

I remember once I gave birth and looked at myself in the mirror feeling really happy and buzzing to get my body back. I felt so tiny and light! I'm not a skinny person or too slim but just all that heaviness was gone. I felt so happy to just be able to hold my baby instead of having to constantly carry her around. Also felt so happy even though the birth was quite shit.

Ponderingwindow · 26/05/2024 00:32

I was barely moving from my c-section. Because of allergies I had very limited pain relief and even the numbing they used from the surgery itself was designed to wear off fully almost immediately. The good news was I wasn’t completely immobilized for hours like some
women, the bad news was that I moved at a snails pace and couldn’t sit up without assistance for days. It was weeks before I could walk well.

there were never any highs.

userxz · 26/05/2024 00:34

Personally no, I just felt a whole load of pain

elliejjtiny · 26/05/2024 00:52

I've had 3 vaginal births, 1 elcs and 1 emcs.

3 vaginal births I practically skipped to the shower afterwards as I felt so light compared with late pregnancy. And I was high as a kite until my hormones crashed and the tiredness kicked in on day 3.

after my c-sections I just felt tired, stiff and in so much pain. My emcs was in the middle of the night so with that one the tiredness was really hard. I was in hdu so I was hooked up to drips etc and every time I got comfy an alarm would go off. I was worried about the baby in nicu as well so I was scared to go to sleep in case I missed someone telling me how he was. In the end the midwife gave me 30mg of oramorph and I was able to get a bit of sleep.

BestZebbie · 26/05/2024 01:05

I felt incredibly glad that the ongoing excruciating pain of non-productive contractions had stopped and labour was finally over! Do not underestimate that! (And I was obviously excited about the baby, but I assume I would have felt that through vaginal birth too....)

The aftermath wasn't especially different to other abdominal surgeries I've had, painwise (appendix, gallbladder) - and perfectly doable as long as you don't need to walk very far in the first couple of weeks. For example, after the first 24hrs of moderate immobility I was fine pottering around the house with paracetamol, but couldn't have nipped to the local corner shop and carried a bag of groceries home for a while.

toomanytonotice · 26/05/2024 01:11

No. I felt huge and flabby and stiff.

stomach muscles sore from the post section vomiting. Dizzy, headachy, pain at the spinal site. Vomiting up the painkillers too.

Felt awful for days.

TMess · 26/05/2024 01:28

No, I didn’t experience that as I did with my four vaginal births, and I also did not have any of the oxytocin high you normally get after birth. I just felt tired and sore and a little dozy.

SwingVote · 26/05/2024 01:36

Lightness. Immediately after yes but thinks that because the surgery drugs are good. After they wore off I had liquid morphine which provided occasional lightness but I don’t think that’s what you mean 🤣

Likewise with the highs. I think I was high as a kite for about a week. I would remember drinking tea and being like ooo warm. Same with getting in the shower. At one stage my MIL was holding the baby and I was like ooo cool. Baby. And then realised it was mine! That was about 48 hours after birth 🤣

allfurcoatnoknickers · 26/05/2024 02:06

I was cracked off my tits on fentanyl, so I absolutely had a post birth high. I'm not in the UK, so got sent home with OxyContin and basically spent the first week staring at DS/DD thinking "wow a baby....OMG my baby! They let me take this baby home!"

I had HG with both pregnancies, but I remember feeling AMAZING after DS was out in the world. I didn't feel sick! I felt totally normal! I could taste food again! I felt fantastic.

Lavender14 · 26/05/2024 02:14

Absolutely such a high! I was in a bubble and even though I was sore and had an infection after, nothing could have popped it! I was just so in awe of ds that nothing else mattered.

I found that I needed help for the first two weeks to do anything that would otherwise involve bending/ using tummy muscles but after that I could do most things as long as I was careful about it.

Also just to say op, there's no one right way or one normal way to feel after a baby regardless of the way they come into the world, some people are in shock for a few days, some feel detached or neutral or down or whatever - everything is valid. So I'd say that the question you're probably better asking is what recovery was like and how people managed it because you'll always get a range of feelings. Plus some people will have had a section as part of what was maybe quite a traumatic birth which could affect their experiences.

Mine was planned, went super smoothly and it was a wonderful experience. I had a difficult pregnancy with a lot of scares so for me it felt like relief that I had a healthy baby safely in my arms.

Disturbia81 · 26/05/2024 10:00

Yes experienced it both times, the morphine helped! 😆

alpinia · 26/05/2024 10:06

Aside from the first few hours after the spinal wore off which were a bit painful I felt great. Up and about the next morning (baby born late the previous day) with not much difficulties, don't know if I'd describe it as a high though but very happy to not be pregnant any more and to have a cute baby to cuddle finally.