This might be long.
We arrived at the hospital at 7am and waited with the other people who were booked in that day. When the wee ward was ready for us they took us round. They did a pre-op blood test first thing and because I hadn't completed my consent form I did that too. Then the anaesthesiologist came round to each of us too to tell us what the spinal would be like and how they would place it, she was the same person that placed my cannula. I have bad veins and she managed easily. They then went away and chose an order for us, I was first.
There was a slight delay while they waited for a possible emergency but we were sat quite happily chatting away to the other mums, one of which I'm good friends with now. They gave me my gown and left me to get changed.
I went down to theatre around 9:30. I walked down, well hobbled, I had PGP. DH stayed on the ward and was given scrubs to change into. They placed my spinal which was the least pleasant part of the experience as I'm quite overweight and obviously they have to be sure they're putting it in the right place. Once it's in the feeling doesn't all go at once. I lay down on the bed and they made sure I was hooked up to all the right things. The person you speak to most is the anaesthesiologist. They put up the wee curtain at this point and started to check that the spinal was working properly. To do this they spray a really cold spray on you and you tell them when you feel it cold. You can kind of feel that something is happening but you don't feel it cold, by the time I could feel it cold it was around my bust.
DH was then allowed in and came and sat up by my right side. The anaesthesiologist told me to tell her if I felt queasy and she could administer anti nausea medication through the cannula but I didn't feel sick at all. I was a little nervous before they started but once it was underway and I knew it didn't hurt I was fine.
They'd only been operating for 10/15 mins when DS was born. You feel pressure of people moving you around and DS was a big boy (10lbs 10oz) so they had to pull a bit to get him out. He was born at 10:02. They took him over, put a nappy on him and a hat and wrapped him in a blanket. He was placed on my chest and they did all that they needed to do which I assume was deliver the placenta and close me up but I wasn't paying attention. DS was on me and wiggling about and I just stared at him. Once they were done they took DS and popped him into his cot. They moved me over from the operating table to my bed and gave DS back to me and wheeled us through to recovery which was the same room we came from.
We had some time just drinking him in then the midwife cane back to measure and weight DS. I had a blood pressure cuff that took regular readings and bleeped like a bastard if it was low. I also had a drip of fluids and a catheter that was placed in surgery so I couldn't move too far but the midwives were a great help if I needed anything at all. They helped me get DS to latch as I was trying to breastfeed.
I got the feeling back into my legs quite quickly and could lift them myself before lunch.
We stayed in recovery for most of the day just looking at him and DH took loads of pictures. They had a space for me in postnatal at about 4:30 so I was up in time for dinner. They wheeled me there in my bed while a midwife wheeled DS in his cot.
They took out my catheter at about 5. And if I hadn't had my mum visiting I'd have been up then, I got up after she left and had a shower. Remember not to lock the door because if you need help they have to be able to get in to you.
When I was up it was a funny feeling but not one I'd call sore, just uncomfortable. They were pretty good with painkillers, I took paracetamol and ibuprofen regularly for about 2/3 weeks. They gave me some dihydracodiene to take as required, I'm sure I still have some kicking about upstairs.
The only issue I ran into was my blood pressure was a bit low so I had to be careful not to over do it, i felt fine after a couple of days. I lost a bit of blood so needed iron supplements which they gave me.
Once the catheter was removed I struggled to pee the next morning, I went to a quiet loo and was able to relax properly while a midwife watched DS and by lunch time the day after I felt much better. I would have been home that day but I was trying to breastfeed and I needed some extra help but that's a whole other story.
C-sections can delay your milk coming in, mine took 5 days which nobody told me about in advance.
Sorry that was an essay.