Can you talk me through your c section?

[crazychemist]

Hi All,

I’ve seen lots of threads where people have discussed their recovery etc, or have compared elective c section to vaginal birth.... but I’m feeling a bit clueless about how a c section actually works!

I had a vaginal birth for DD1 nearly 4 years ago, which I was very happy with and fully understood - I’d been to the NCT classes and knew about stages of labour, pain relief, skin to skin afterwards etc. That won’t be how it’s going to go this time - almost certainly going to be a c section (identical twins sharing a placenta which is not ideally placed, so consultant says outcome for twin 2 might be poor with vaginal birth)

Can you talk me through what happens? I’ve got some specific questions, but any guidance would be wonderful, I’ve not seen my midwife since I found out it was twins (lockdown) and I didn’t feel comfortable asking the consultant this kind of question!

An epidural is a spinal injection. Do they do this once you are in theatre, or does it take a while to kick in? Can they tell if it’s wearing off, or does it suddenly just start hurting? (Bit nervous about this)

How soon after they’ve finished are you able to get up and move? I assume the epidural had to wear off enough that you can feel your legs?

When do they put the catheter in? Does it hurt when they do it? How long does it stay in after and does that hurt?

Are you able to do skin to skin? Do the midwives look after the baby while the doctors finish up, or can you hold them? How soon can you breastfeed? With DD1 the midwife encouraged it immediately and said it would help trigger further contractions to push placenta out and then help uterus to shrink, but this sounds like it might be a bad idea to have things moving quickly if I’ve just been stitched up.

How long does it take from when they start cutting to when the baby and placenta are out?

As you can tell, I’m feeling pretty clueless, so anything you can think of that I should know, please do share it!

[Wishing56]

@crazychemist in respect of shaving they told me don't shave less than 1 week before but to be honest with a huge twin bump no chance i was going near there with a razor. I did get something called woo woo intimate hair removal cream which worked great (so much better than veet) as didnt fancy being shaved by the midwives. Just had to place a strategic mirror to be able to see lol

[crazychemist]

Thank you all so much for your experiences, I feel like I understand much more about the process now, and it does make me feel more confident.

Wow to the thought of shaving down there in advance.... I suppose I could probably trim a bit to tidy up, but there’s no way I’ll be able to see well enough to risk a razor down there!!!

Very useful to hear about things like anaesthetic making people feeling shaky/cold. I’ve never had anything other than paracetamol/gas and air so I don’t know how I’ll respond, it’s good to know the sorts of things to expect.

@TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams DH didn’t ever do leaping out of bed at 3am with DD1 as he sleeps like the dead (lucky bastard!), but with twins and c section wound I think he won’t be given a choice this time round!

[FirstTimeBumps]

I did not have the easiest section, emergency after 32 hours of waters gone, merconium, and discovery he was breech but it was all very calm and didn't feel "emergency" at all. As others have said the prep was the same, and the spinal. They said my other half would.wait outside until the spinal was done but they brought him into theatre at the same time as me. I genuinely didn't even notice them doing it and thought it would be awful. I did have issues with the spinal and am waiting on a consult this pregnancy to figure if there's a possibility of issues this time around. I felt sick and dizzy, like I couldn't breathe, and did have pain sensations although not sure how much or it was actual pain or if it was my brain interpreting the sensations as such. The anaesthetist was up by my head and offered to put me to sleep if I needed but I refused and got through on gas and air but it does mean I don't remember anything from my LB being born until being wheeled to recovery (may as well have been under - I think I may have been given more than just G&A).

I'm not posting this to be negative, I'm opting for a RSC this time so it wasn't that horrific. I'm posting my experience just to reiterate that they have all bases covered. I was reassured and given options throughout, and medication which counteracted some of the side effects. But I'd advise that if you feel anything even slightly unpleasant you let them know as soon as and they can counteract it. Recovery wise I had an awesome recovery. Was up on my feet cathather out within 4 hours if surgery, discharged the next day

Good luck x

[TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams]

Lots of detail already on the process so I won't bother.
When you get home:
You will feel (with painkillers) as though you've done a killer abs gym session. You know on day 2 when it hurts if you laugh? There's about a week of this gradually getting better but you will suddenly become aware of just how much you engage yourself stomach muscles to adjust your sitting position, reach for something or adjust a feeding baby.
If you are feeding, try to get yourself into a bolt upright position before someone hands you the baby. Easier to slide down into a comfy position after you have a good latch.
Maternity clothing eg jeans with a fat elastic waistband will land right on your scar. I lived in a regular (not maternity) pair of yoga pants for a couple of weeks. They have a deep waistband which gives support without pressure and you can just roll them up over what's left of your bump if your trousers are in danger of slipping down
All going well you will be very mobile within a couple of weeks, take all the meds offered for the first week. Don't be a hero.
In short the impact of the surgery leaves you as though you are back in the latter stages of pregnancy. You will need to lower yourself into an armchair and will struggle greatly to get out of one. We had a handy wingback chair which I never normally used but was that bit higher up and easier to get in and out of especially for overnight feeds unless your partner is the sort to spring out of bed at 3am and hand you the baby (never met one of these).
Best of luck - it was far easier and a shorter recovery than my vbac.

[SnugglySnerd]

We arrived at 7am and there were 3 other planned sections that day. The surgeon introduced herself, scanned all the mums and decided what order to work in. I was first - bonus of having twins is that they need all those extra midwives etc to get out of theatre and back to the ward/delivery room and so on so they tend to do twin sections first. That's what they told me anyway!

[Wishing56]

In terms of timings i had to arrive for 7am and I was second on the list. I walked down to theatre at 10.55am and spinal went in at 11.03am, incision was made 11.32am, twin 1 born 11.39am and twin 2 11.40am.

[Wishing56]

Hiya i had identical twins in January this year via planned section at 36+4.


Spinal went in when i arrived in theatre and only took minutes to start working.
It took 9mins from first incision to getting twin 1 out and twin 2 followed 1 minute later. They were taken over to the resucitare to be checked over and my OH 'trimmed' their cords. The staff got them dressed in theatre as they were little and they wanted their temperatures to be maintained.


In theatre there were alot of staff (3 surgeons, 2 runners, 3 midwives, 2 anesthestists, 4 paediatric doctors). The anesthestist was amazing! I didnt even feel the spinal go in and she constantly checked on me throughout the surgery to see if i needed anything. She also talked me through what was happening as i couldnt feel a thing! I asked when it was starting and she said we are nearly at the first baby!


The midwives then brought the babies over to me. My OH held Twin 1 whilst i held Twin 2. They were stitching me up whilst I held Twin 2. I started to feel a bit sick so I asked them to take the baby back for a minute. My OH then went through to recovery with the twins whilst I was finished being stitched. My section took just under an hour from start to finish.
Once I was in recovery the midwives helped me put the twins to the breast and they latched straight away. I was moved to labour ward so I could have some additional monitoring due to excess blood loss. Once I was on labour ward I did skin to skin with the babies and so did my OH.


They put the catheter in when the spinal had taken effect. They took it out 7hrs later when I first got out of bed. They helped me out of bed and helped me to the shower.

The staff were amazing and helped me picking up and handling the twins overnight. As I had twins it meant i got a private side room rather than being on main post natal ward.

I can honestly say I loved the section experience and would do it again. My recovery was really good.

If you have any questions either csection or twin related don't hesitate to ask.

[AAkim]

I just wanted to add to the many comments; some people have mentioned shaving. This is not advised- it can increase the risk of infection in the wound post operatively, which unfortunately can be a risk with c-sections. They will use special trimmers in theatre as routine practice so you don't have to struggle!

[MamaDane]

Oh right. I forgot about the catheter. I had that for 3 days because I couldn't walk to the bathroom because of the pain 😳. You don't actually feel the catheter as they put it in after your epidural. You feel it after though and it's annoying to have but mostly just unpleasant when they take it out.

[MamaDane]

Hey OP. I had twins via cesarean last August.

My experience was:
Fasting from midnight and thirsting from 6 am with the scheduled cesarean at 9 am.

First speaking to the anesthesiologist who asked a few questions and explained a bit.

Then entering the theatre where everyone introduced themselves. There were a fuckton of people 😂 Midwives, surgeons, nurses, anesthesiologist, students etc. I lost count tbh.

So I laid down and they put iv in my hands, which hurt, not gonna lie. Especially because they had difficulty with my left hands vein 😳 at the same time they monitored the babies heartbeats and my blood pressure and more (lots going on).

I remember shaking non stop. It was most likely a mixture of nerves but also the medicine in the iv drop.

The surgeons scanned my stomach to see just specifically how the twins were positioned.

Then I had the epidural and I had feared it so badly, and while the anaesthesiologist first asked me to be on my side I knew I would scream in pain (hadn't laid on my side since first trimester because of horrible girdle pelvic pain) but I was allowed to sit instead bent over. And so I did while holding my partner's hands. A few stings in the back at it was all over. I was shocked at how little I felt it. It really was no biggie.

Then I laid back down, they tested if I could feel pain, I couldn't feel pain but I could feel "something", which is exactly what they want. Then they started the procedure and it honestly felt like an inside massage. It was WEIRD and not entirely comfortable but don't worry, not at all painful.

Suddenly there was a small cry and twin A was born, they let me kiss him before giving him oxygen and cleaning him on a small desk/table/cradle?.. Just 2 minutes later Twin B was born, again kiss, oxygen and clean up. They took the babies away with my partner and left to the NICU. Meanwhile I was stitched up and put in the recovery ward. In the recovery ward I was very drowsy. I got loads of morphine because of after birth contractions (that still happens with cesareans).

After some hours had gone by they made me stand up, chew chewing gum (to get the bowels going because you may have difficulty passing gas and using the toilet after) and finally see my kids in NICU. I was quite drowsy the rest of the day.

After the cesarean, I'm not going to lie. It was painful to get up. I had iv morphine as well as tablets and it did nothing for me when I tried to walk at day 2. I took morphine pills for.. At least a week. But after 3 days i could use the bathroom (with assistance) and after about a week I could properly walk around without too much trouble. But your story may be different from mine as I was incredibly ill (and admitted to the hospital for weeks) while pregnant, so I was also recovering from that (pre-eclampsia was just one of the many issues).

One thing though, it is a bit difficult to breastfeed twins after a cesarean. My stomach was so bruised it was entirely yellow lol I actually thought it was the antiseptic that just kept staying on my skin 😂 kept wondering why it hurt like hell.

Good luck OP! ☺️

[grandmasterstitch]

Much the same as above for me. They sprayed something really really cold on me to test numbness and adjusted accordingly.

I found the closing up incredibly uncomfortable to the point of being painful. The anaesthetist offered me gas and air so if you're in pain don't be afraid to ask (when I say pain I don't mean a "they've sliced me open and I know about it" pain but more in a "it feels like someone is jumping up and down on my stomach" pain.

My tip is don't be afraid to ask what they're doing. I wanted to know why they were taking so long to close me up and they explained what was happening.

Mine was an emergency but I'll have an elective next time

[Sevo7]

First one I can’t really remember as it was an emergency after 5 days labour.

2nd one was 20 months ago after a failed Vbac although classed again as an emergency it was more like an elective in that I walked down to theatre and it was very calm. I was given the spinal in the operating room and then they laid me down and put the sheets up and the catheter in, which I didn’t notice. I was completely numb to start with and DD came out about 5 minutes later. I asked for delayed cord clamping but I’m sure they only left it 30 seconds before cutting it and showing her to me over the curtain. She seemed to be gone ages even though nothing was wrong with her and I remember I kept asking if she was ok as my partner was with her. It seemed to take ages to sew me up (probably as it was a 2nd section) and I remember it started to feel sore which made me panic even though it wasn’t actually that painful. Because of this they gave me fentanyl through my drip line and tbh the rest of it was a blur.

I know I had skin to skin with her in the recovery room and put her on the breast as she was rooting. They then gave me oral morphine and I literally can’t remember a thing until 5 hours later which I feel sad about.

They removed the catheter after about 12 hours and I stood up and went to the loo but found it really painful and then I refused to get out of bed until the next day as I wanted to rest my scar. After 12 hours I realised I still had no desire to urinate despite drinking lots but when I forced myself to go it happened but with no feeling which was very odd. Because I’d done too much after my first section and got infection and it popped open I rested as much as I could and made a quick recovery this time. I did have a bad reaction to the spinal where I felt very dizzy and hung over but that subsided after about 3 days.

[SnugglySnerd]

I think the nail varnish thing is so they can see if you are turning blue or something!

I breastfed dd1 for 14 months without problems after emcs. I have to admit I gave up much sooner with the dts due to complete exhaustion and needing dh to help. Friends have mine have managed it though.

[SamMil]

I had an emergency c-section after labour.

I'd already had an epidural (which took ages to kick in. I was convinced it wasnt working but it did eventually!). Once in theatre, they sprayed me with the cold spray but I could still feel it so they did a spinal too which did the trick.

I think mine took around 50 minutes from start to finish. Most of the time spent was after the baby was out. I had a bleed too so they had to sort that. The actual csection didn't hurt at all, just a weird feeling!

My baby was born in the early hours and it was about 9am the following day that they took my catheter up and let me walk around, so over 24 hours. I don't really remember them putting the catheter in, but it didn't hurt.

I wasn't able to do skin to skin as baby and I both turned out to be quite ill, but husband had a cuddle and brought her over to meet me before they took her away. I was also shaking loads as a side effect of the spinal so don't think I would have been able to hold her anyway! I was able to breastfeed a few hours later.

[GirlCalledJames]

I watched some YouTube videos of sections from the surgeon’s perspective before mine, it was really helpful for understanding what was going on (probably don’t do it if you’re squeamish though).
It’s very easy in the sense that there is always someone telling you what to do and all the people are following a routine they know well.
I had a very high risk preterm delivery and there was never anything but calm in the room (baby was fine).

[TooExtraImmatureCheddar]

Oh, and randomly, they’ll tell you not to wear nail varnish on fingers/toes so they can see the colour of your nail beds!

[TooExtraImmatureCheddar]

Not much to add, except that you might need to bear in mind that you might be delayed by emergencies, if you’re an elective. The first C section, I was actually sitting on the table bending forward for the spinal when there was a call to say that an emergency was coming in, so I was hustled out with a sheet wrapped round me! Then another one came in, so I waited about 3 hours before they were ready for me. That time they got the spinal in as quickly as possible so as to prevent any more emergencies taking over.

Tell the anaesthetist if you feel weird in any way - I started feeling breathless and it was because the anaesthetic was creeping too far up my body (I think!) so he had to dial it down slightly. He was very friendly and calm, but he did tell me to warn any future anaesthetists that that had happened!

[ShrimpingViolet]

That aspect was a bit scary @crazychemist but honestly it was all fine. Helps that they tell you beforehand that it's common for blood pressure to drop during the actual procedure, and that everyone is so calm in the room.

The radio was on for mine and there was a lot of laughing and joking between the midwives and doctors. There was meconium when they went in caused by my blood pressure dropping and the impact on DD, so they said they needed to get her out "right now" but even that was very calm and measured and not scary.

You'll be absolutely fine. Good tip from a previous poster about taking a pillow for the journey home too, that was sore.

[girlfrombackthen]

Hi OP

I had an emergency c-section. I loved the epidural after hours of labour with just a paracetamol for pain relief (but that's another story). The oddest thing was seeing my own legs appear in front of me in stirrups!

I just wanted to share as my experience was slightly different to others - DS was delivered, they reassured me he was fine but because of concerns about his distress during labour (and a whole lot of meconium) he had to be checked over by paediatrician (and presumably hosed down as he was returned as clean as a whistle). That meant I was not able to do skin to skin... My DP and I were then able to introduce ourselves before DP and DS went through to recovery while they stitched me up. So it wasn't until I was in recovery 30/45 mins later that I was able to breastfeed. (Ended up BF until 15 months!)

I suppose like any birth plan, there may be reasons why things don't quite work out how you imagined so it is worth having that in mind.

I second the PP who mentioned shaving. I was already convinced that the dressing was the only thing holding my belly together and effectively having a brutal wax when it was removed did not help at all!

[SnugglySnerd]

I'm trying to remember anything else twin-specific for you now!!

One other thing I remembered is that another woman on the ward (c section only ward) kept vomiting, apparently this is a common effect of anaesthetic. I was unaffected, in fact I was desperate for a cup of tea!

[Hubstar]

I’ve read everyone being in pain after

I didn’t even have paracetamol!

It’s all relative. It was a bit sore. For sure. But i wouldn’t of said painful. For me

Some women don’t get out of bed for 4 days.

I also got cellulitis in my wound. It also op Ned up. Again neither were painful.

I thought it was fine!

[Mummysgonetobed]

I’ve had 3 sections and all been similar stories to the previous posters.

Only thing from me would be to be aware how you feel when you first lay down after the spinal block. Your blood pressure drops as you do and it can make you feel very odd. Mine plummets very quickly it seems and I was hot, clammy, dizzy, felt like I couldn’t breathe. Was really really scared at that point. It only lasted a couple of minutes til they gave me meds to sort it though.

But I spoke to the anaesthetist before my 3rd section and she had prepared some lovely drugs to give me as I laid down and it really helped.

Also morphine can make you itch so ask after for anti histamine if you need it.

And for the trapped wind in your shoulders, drink peppermint tea, works wonders.

Good luck!

[crazychemist]

Wow, this is so helpful, thank you everyone! I feel much better prepared already, and a lot less worried.

@SnugglySnerd, it’s particularly useful to hear a twin delivery story. Sounds like there will be a lot of people in the room! That’s oddly comforting, especially the thought of their being 3 midwives. I really want to be able to hold my babies as soon as possible, but I’m comforted to know that there will be experienced hands around if I can’t manage.

@user1493413286 thanks for the info about breastfeeding being painful. I thought it would be with a wound, and I hope I can cope with the pain, but it’s good to know that it’s not doing damage to do it even if it hurts.

@ShrimpingViolet, that sounds quite scary about your blood pressure! I felt pretty woozy after I’d had DD1, and I thought I was going to pass out the first time I went to the loo, so will be watching out for these things this time round. Nice to think the anaesthetist is just there.

[RowboatsinDisguise]

I had an emergency caesarean (I hate calling it that, it was a cat 2 because he was a bit stuck but tbh it all felt very relaxed and fine. It wasn’t a big drama at all) a coupe of years ago and have also been in theatre for countless cesareans as a midwife.

For an elective procedure the spinal block is done in theatre with you sitting up in the operating table which is just like a narrow bed. They usually get you to curl round a pillow to get into a good position. Once it’s in, it works very quickly. The catheter is usually put in once everyone is happy that you are numb. For ladies who already have an epidural on board they will usually ‘convert’ the epidural to a spinal. The anaesthetist and ODP will stay with you at the head end throughout the procedure and if you start to have any pain at all (sensations like someone rummaging round in your insides are normal, pain isn’t!) they will give you additional medication, try tilting the bed, or as a very last resort put you under a general anaesthetic if they are unable to manage your pain. I had some lovely morphine whilst they were stitching me up as it started to get a bit stingy - it was great!

Getting the baby(babies) out is very quick. Usually from ‘knife to skin’ to birth is about 5 minutes. I asked for the surgeon to delay cord clamping when my son was born, so they held him for a couple of minutes before cutting the cord and bringing him straight onto my chest. They also dropped the drapes so we could see him being born. These are things that can usually be accommodated if you ask for them but sadly aren’t always part of standard practise currently. Sometimes if babies need a little bit of help, or there are concerns about what condition a baby will be born in, the baby will need to be taken to a resuscitare for a paediatrician to check them over. Speak to your midwife on the day of your operation about whether they think they will need this to happen or whether you can have immediate skin to skin (obviously emergencies can occur that mean this option may not be viable). I made sure I had an arm out of my gown when I went in to theatre so that it was easy to tuck DS in with me. Babies usually take a little whilst to wake up properly after being born so don’t tend to feed straight away, although some do and they can feed in theatre if they will! The ‘putting everything back together and sewing you up’ stage usually takes 30 mins or so and you can usually just enjoy cuddles at this time. Your birth partner can take one or both twins if you feel unwell.

My legs came back about 3 or 4 hours post-surgery and I was fully mobile by about 5 hours. I got up and walked around at 6 hours. The sooner you can be mobile, the better really. In my experience this really aids recovery. Obviously don’t go mad but a little potter around your bed is good. Do let someone know before you plan to get up though! Your catheter can usually come out 12 hours after the op so you do have to drag a bag round for a bit! It doesn’t hurt at all to be removed, and once the balloon inside your bladder is deflated it just sort of slides out.

I was out of hospital 24 hours later and honestly felt fine, if a bit battered.

[Hubstar]

Hi. I’ve had 2. Both emergencies.

Both were fine. I was up and walking within 4 hrs. I also walked near on a a mile within 6 hrs. (Both children taken to neo natal). Bloody miles away!

Umm. I was worried about the spinal. Doesn’t hurt. Though I tried to turn to talk to my anaesthesiologist. Got shouted at. Very loudly by about 16 people!