Positive ELCS stories please!

[Bubbles021]

So my elective section is coming up in just under 2 weeks. Had my final antenatal appointment with my midwife today and left feeling quite scared! I know she just wanted me to feel informed, but it's kicked off my anxiety and whether I'm making the right decision.
Can I get some positive stories to help put my mind back on track!
Also, did anyone go into labour before their section and still get the section? Would love to hear those experiences too! Thank you! 💙

Mine was originally going to be an ELCS which became a necessity due to baby being breech. Overall it’s been a positive experience even if the first week was quite tough. Make sure you have support in place for that time. The thing is you can never know what the outcome of a VB would be - I imagine recovery could have been better without much tearing or worse with lots of stitches down below. I went into labour spontaneously 2 days before scheduled and got the feeling they would have encouraged me to go natural if she had turned. Regardless you can still push for what you want if you still want the section but you might be quite low on the priority list depending on what else is going on. I waited 8 hr for my C-section after my waters broke.

Check out the birth forum too - there are lots of related posts that I read while trying to make the decision.

@trrk thank you 🥰

Hi @Bubbles021

My ELCS was planned for Wednesday at 39+5 weeks as they had no other dates before that but on Monday morning I woke up with brown spotting (same type of spotting when my period starts) so I called triage (I had spotting from week 8-16 and after that been in quite a few times with reduced/changes movement) and they said to come in as I had 2 hours after the spotting started with no movement. On the way to hospital baby started moving a little bit.
Came in to hospital and was checked by midwife, baby’s heartbeat was fine then midwife gave me breakfast a couple of hours later then about 15 minutes after the doctor came to see me and asked what happened, I told her and she said I need to have an emergency c-section asap as there had been no movement in the morning and the spotting (and I had no other symptoms of labor so they didn’t know labour was starting or not). As I had already eaten I had to wait 6 hours. Anesthetist came to see me, I went down to theatre about 8 hours after. I was very very nervous but staff were brilliant.. had the spinal block, then the consultant performed the c-section and baby was out within 5 minutes.
Was transferred to recovery about half an hour after where I was monitored then to the ward. I will not lie to you about the following things as you need to be prepared, about 4 hours after arriving on ward the pain killers weaned off and then the pain in the wound kicks in, they gave me Paracetamol and Codeine which I vomited after having, then they wanted me to stand up I tried but felt very dizzy and then the bleeding started. I was shattered had no sleep that night. In the morning they took the catheter out and when I went for a wee a lot of small blood clots came out which is normal. They gave me paracetamol and I had pain in the wound for about a week, and bleeding for about 6 weeks. Take your own paracetamol with you as it can take a while for midwife’s to come to you. I’m all recovered now and baby is gorgeous ❤️
Beat of luck 👍🏻🙏🏻🌸

*best of luck

and btw it was a positive experience just wanted to inform you about the pain, bleeding etc.

@K2012 thank you! I appreciate you telling me, I'm a complete panicker so I would rather go in expecting these things to happen than to be taken by surprise!
I'm so glad it was an overall positive experience for you though 😊

@Bubbles021 Don’t panick. Make sure you take enough maternity pads and underwear with you to hospital and expect to stay in hospital for about 1-3 days after the c-section.
Also don’t expect to get any sleep in hospital, there’s so much noise all the time I literally didn’t get any sleep for 3 days. The babies sleep throughout the noise lol

My experience is 10 years ago now, but I'll tell you anyway!

With my first dc, I was an 'older mother'. I had pre eclampsia and had to have an emergency c section.

When it came to dc2 - and being even older! -I wanted an ELCS and I was told 'yes'. I really wanted to have control over the situation and go straight to C section (which I saw as inevitable anyway). I didn't want to faff around with attempting a VB when it seemed that so many bumps along the way would lead to a CS anyway.

Anyhow, dc2 had other ideas. She decided to make an appearance 10 days before the elcs and she was so quick. There was no time for anything apart from gas and air. And you know what? It was absolutely fine. She was fine. I was a bit in shock at the speed of it all, but didn't tear or anything. And the recovery was so much quicker than with my first.

You asked for positive stories and this is mine. It perhaps sounds a bit scary but we came out the other end smiling!

The ELCS itself was fine. I did feel a bit sick but I wasn't and the feeling came back fine. On my feet less than 12 hours later and able to get myself up the next day. Healed well and was driving 3 weeks later. Good luck.

I’ve had an emcs and an elcs. Recovery from both was fine (you do have to take it easy though!) and the actual surgery was ok too. I was a bit out of it for the emcs after hours of labour, but it still felt calm. I absolutely loved my elcs. It’s nerve wracking walking to theatre but it was a really lovely experience. DD2 was on my chest in no time, and I was back on the ward eating toast within an hour and a half. Home within 24 hours (though they were happy for me to stay if I’d wanted).

Mine was at 39 weeks. It was semi elective in that they didn’t want me to go past 39 weeks due to BP and growth concerns and induction wasn’t recommended due to previous failure/ CS, but there was no reason I couldn’t try for a VBAC if I’d gone into labour before then. I was told if I did end up going into labour before my date they still would have done the CS if that’s what I wanted.

Hope you have the lovely positive experience I did.

Place marking :)

Most beautiful, serene experience of my life

I daydream about it often and wish I could relive it again

Mine was a really positive experience! The NHS seems to really enjoy hamming up the risks of a caesarean but unless you have contra-indications for surgery, a first elective section is as safe if not safer than a VB (yes there is peer reviewed evidence of this, my sister is an obstetrician). So please do not worry!

I bet the midwife didn’t spend long on the many risks of VB like 4th degree tears, did she? There is no right or wrong way to give birth and if you’ve chosen this way then don’t let her make you doubt yourself. There are risks of course, but the likelihood is that your experience of this routine operation will be that it goes smoothly.

Recovery for me was a breeze. I didn’t like the injections but otherwise I was fine, and didn’t really feel any pain despite moving to paracetamol the day after. You will need support though as you will need to rest and not lift/drive etc.

Best of luck and enjoy your baby!

Positive experience here too. Nice to be able to prepare. Procedure itself was painless and quick. One bit of advice would be don't overdo it afterwards. I did too much too soon and consequently ended up with a wound that didn't heal properly. All good now though and even with the difficulties I still recovered quicker than my friend who had a VB and stitches.

Good luck!

I've had 2 after an emergency CS with my first DC. That one felt a bit like an elective too as it wasn't a medical emergency just a decision eventually reached after a long labour not progressing.

They were years ago but all positive experiences. Recovered quickly, healed quickly. I'd say my top tips are to be up and about as soon as you can as I'm sure that helped me (but don't do too much!) Keep on top of painkillers, taking them at regular intervals even if you start to feel like you don't need them.

Happy to answer any questions if you think of them. I was disappointed at the time not to have experienced 'natural' birth at least once but now with 3 teens I couldn't care less and look back on them as great experiences. Good luck!

Thank you all for such useful/positive experiences! I much prefer hearing actual stories and experiences, so thank you 😊

I’ve had an emergency, an elective and planning a 3rd elective (currently 17 weeks). The first poo after was the worst bit for me! Pain was manageable and I was up and about relatively quickly. Procedure itself both times absolutely fine and easy.
my sister gave me the best bit of advice which was each day after gets significantly better so remember that rather than freaking out that the discomfort/lack of movement in those first days will last forever, it really doesn’t. Good luck!

Have had an EMCS and an ELCS. Off my tits on various drugs and sleep deprivation for the EMCS, so it was almost good fun.

ELCS was so unbelievably run of the mill. I'd say it warrants a description of mildly interesting at most. The most uncomfortable things I recall were the lying completely flat, feeling nauseous because I hadn't eaten anything since midnight (when I explained that an empty stomach made me wretch and vomit they put me in first!).

I took a reaction to something so was vomiting a couple of times on my way out of surgery and in recovery - the stitches hold exceptionally well and you feel nothing because the spinal is still in effect.

If you are nervous, don't feel the need to put on a brave face. I did, and the anaesthetist was flummoxed when I nearly went in to hysterics when she was going to place the cannula in my hand because she took my bravado at face value!! She then said "I've got something for that" and did a local on my hand before the cannula then I'm pretty sure some sedatives.

Healed up really well. Didn't even finish my prescribed codeine afterwards.

It's surgery, so I wouldn't describe it as "great", but I'd take it over and above half the meetings I have at work...

Good luck!!

I had my DD by EMCS two years ago and just had my DS by ELCS 7 weeks ago. DS was looking big so he came at 39+1 weighting 10lbs! Recovery for both was absolutely fine, slightly harder second time around as had a toddler but honestly it took me by surprise! The worst part for me was the blood thinning injections afterwards which you have to do at home for 10 days.

The ELCS was almost surreal! Went in and it was so run of the mill, the surgeons were chatting away about their colleagues whilst doing the op 🤣 then when he was born they all clapped! It was lovely! DDs was much more stressful and the staff were in a rush but honestly an ELCS is fine.

theatre is a bit daunting but the staff will make you feel so at ease.

I've just remembered a random thing - I was really itchy after one of mine and this can happen as a reaction to the anesthetic. You can ask for an antihistamine to stop it happening. Might be worth knowing.

I was also very thirsty which I think was less the CS and more being in an overheated hospital for a while. I found having individual bottles of water and some squash really helped.

I have bored the internet to tears with my positive csection story again and again so I won’t put it here again but basically it was a non event and after a little nip for the cannula to go in my hand I took nothing to do with it and was handed a baby a minute into the operation 😂

I found watching YouTube videos really helped. My two favourites that I watched over and over were by Jennifer joy and eilidh wells. I also loved a podcast by anna Williamson on maybe baby when she takes you through so clearly her uneventful csecrion and it’s exactly as she says. I was reliving hers in my head as mine was happening and it made me more relaxed. When you actually get in there you aren’t as scared as you have been in the lead up weirdly. I kind of forgot I was actually there to meet a baby because I’d built the whole operation up so much in my head 😂 I nearly didn’t have a child because I was so scared of giving birth but I’m now thinking of another next year and I won’t even flinch about the section next time! Feel free to ask any questions, good luck!

Thank you all again so much 🥰 it's so lovely to hear such positive and empowering stories. I was feeling so anxious earlier and now I honestly just can't wait to meet my little girl! Thank you! 💖

@Bubbles021 how did it go?

@K2012 it went really well! Our little girl was born yesterday morning. The procedure itself was very relaxed. The scariest part for myself was definitely the spinal. The pressure from that hurt (and I'm feeling the bruising now!) Our daughter was out within 5 minutes and the rest was honestly just a whirlwind because I was too focused on her!

I has a C sec but DS 6 months ago - it wasn’t planned but it was brilliant. I’d hands down have another. It took minutes.. I think on my records it was something like ‘decision C sec 08:20am… birth 08:23am’ 😂 i had already gone into labour, waters broken but no baby arriving. So had an epidural and the C sec. It was great honestly! I remember going in there and they had some lovely jazz playing and I felt like it was a party all for me!!! Really friendly team just chatting their way through it with us and then our gorgeous bubba arrived! He went off with my DH for a bit, came back & latched on, then I went off to recovery for an hour and when I came back into my room DH was there holding our sleeping bubba and we sat there & had a cuppa, watching the world go to work on their Monday morning! It was surreal & lovely. Physical recovery was easier than I thought. I took ages to go for a wee though and they were a bit pushy about that but it was fine once anaesthetic wore off. Enjoy!! My only negative is I still hate my post baby body 6 months on!! Xx

Oh just saw you had your baby - congrats!!!! Lovely update Xxxx