Please share with me your experience of Planned C Sections?

[BlueButTrue]

I’m honestly quite terrified of it all.

Natural birth not an option, too many complications to sensibly do it. Not keen on induction and my consultant agrees, also not the best idea because of complications.

Is it really all a horror story? My consultant is trying to tell me Emergency sections are usually the worst ones. She’s also of the opinion that for me, an emergency section will be likely if I go for induction and then recovery will be much harder because not only would it be a major op but i would also be exhausted from labouring for however long.

With this one I will be in at 7am to have section at about 9am.

I’m here waiting for my official date to be put in but it’ll be between 38/39 weeks. I’m 37 weeks now.

No fuss, know what to expect more and a plan that can be stuck to a lot more will be put into place for me.

Are there any positive stories of PLANNED ones?

This is my 1st baby

Had two, so calm. Such a wonderful moment when you see/hear the baby! Recovery takes a while but amazing how well you feel after ten days. Will write more later, my baby is into everything and is wreaking havoc

I had a planned CS and it was great. I’d do it again in a flash. I was so nervous about it but didn’t need to be. I felt amazingly good after only a couple of days and almost no pain at all. Feel free to message me with any questions you may have x

I had a planned CS and it was great. I’d do it again in a flash. I was so nervous about it but didn’t need to be. I felt amazingly good after only a couple of days and almost no pain at all. Feel free to message me with any questions you may have x

Thanks so much ladies

It was the recovery I was dreading!

Reason I say this is because I know it’ll be painful but I thought it’d feel like someone slicing me 24/7 for a few weeks

I had a planned c-section - it was great! Recovery was not bad at all either.

I had an emergency cs and then a planned one. Planned was great. Recovery took about 10 days. I was driving in 3 weeks and if I was having more children (I'm not) I'd happily have another planned. I was much more exhausted after 5 days in labour the first time round.

I have had 3 planned c-sections. All for different reasons. Once I got my head round the fact I needed them they were very positive experiences. Some waiting around as you get ‘bumped’ for emergencies but once in it is very calm and relaxed. The worst bit for me was the thought of the epidural but that is done fairly quickly. I was well looked after in recovery then the midwives were busy but caring on the ward. I only stayed in 2 days with my third as I wanted to get home for my eldest’s birthday! My tip is to get up and about fairly quickly but take it easy. Gentle walking with lots of rest but try and get up and have a shower as soon as the midwives advice. Take all the pain killers offered and eat and drink well! Once at home I had my dm or dh for the first couple of weeks but with my third we went shopping for a washing machine the day after I got out of hospital! Good luck!

I had a planned c-section recently.
Compared to the first (an emergency CS) it was a breeze.
Dc delivered at about 10am, I was up and sitting in a chair by 5pm and Home the next afternoon.

Since this is your first, you may end up with 2 nights in hospital for support if you need to.

The trick is to plan for afterwards - your plan when at home should be to do as little as possible that is not baby related. So no housework, no cooking etc. And having someone to help lift the baby / do nappy changes etc for the first week / 10 days as this will mean your recovery time is quicker.

My wound healed (at least stopped oozing at the edges) by day 5.
Pain is controlled easily at the moment - I’m still taking paracetamol regularly because there are no prizes for being in pain, and I’m just making sure my pain is controlled. I’ll probably start to wean that down in a few days.

Oh and prunes and all bran are your friends post c-section.. avoid constipation at all costs!

I had a planned CS with my twins as one was transverse. I understand your worries as I was very nervous.

However, it was all so much better than anticipated. Nowhere near as painful, obv a bit sore, but I was up and about quickly, holding both babies and doing lots for them. The horror stories I read about being bed bound for days - it was nothing like that.

I even rearranged their nursery when I got home 4 days later, moving furniture, as DH had put it in the wrong place - I wouldn't recommend this though .

Best of luck, it'll be fine. I also think it is far less stressful for the baby.

Some really positive experiences on the thread

I’m a showerholic so quite fearful of not showering because of a section but consultant said I can have one that evening if I really wanted to. (I know people think it’s ridiculous but I’m incredibly funny about it, think it’s a psychological thing).

I’m also very cleaning obsessed (I love it), but accept I have to take a back seat and let DH crack on with me cracking out orders from the bed

BigSandy Don’t encourages me to move furniture —I will need to be stopped—

I had an EMCS after three failed induction attempts. At the time it was my worst nightmare and not something I was prepared for.

DS was born on the Sunday evening and on the Monday morning they helped me out of bed and into a chair. By lunchtime I’d had the catheter and cannulas taken out and was able to walk to the bathroom, pee and wipe myself. My husband asked the midwife when she thought I’d be going home and it was up to me if I wanted to stay another night. I did but more to do with the shock of the c section and the sleepless first night high on baby hormones!

When we did come home I kept taking the medication - paracetamol and ibuprofen every two hours alternating. I didn’t do any lifting and I kept nappies, Muslims, clothes etc downstairs so I only had to do the stairs once a day if that’s all I could do.

A week after he was born we went out for the first time and I walked about town a little. I did find when I was out and about my bleeding (lochia) would be heavy after but I felt no pain or discomfort, I just kept moving about gently and regularly.

Friends have horror stories of stitches opening, infections, all sorts. But mine healed really nicely. The worst but I remember was scooting down the bed to get up as DS was in a bedside crib. Not painful though, just undignified!

My planned section was a far more positive experience than I was expecting. I was terrified but it was really nowhere near as bad as I thought and over very quickly. The recovery took longer than I was expecting and YY to what a PP said about planning in advance for a peaceful, restful time postpartum.

I've had one, it was fine. Recovery was OK. I found that once I'd figured out how to walk/sit/stand comfortably, I felt much better. And then gradually I was able to move more and more. At no point was there any pain or discomfort that was unbearable. I was in hospital for four days (for the baby rather than me) and then managed a walk out of the house when the baby was about 10 days old. My would healed fine with no complications.

Just take it easy as much as possible afterwards. Try and keep the essentials (water, snack, remote, phone etc) to hand so you don't need to move as much. Oh, and a pillow can be good to press against your stomach if you need to cough or sneeze.

Mine was great, OP. I was in the pub having lunch (admittedly sitting on the toilet floor trying to breastfeed for some of it!) about a week later. V little pain, healed promptly, it was all good. I'm having another with Dc2, all being well.

Lots of luck whatever you choose.