Planned Section Tomorrow

[Infertilitylife]

Hello everyone :)

I know this has been posted about many, many times but I have my planned c-section tomorrow and I’m so nervous!!

Any tips/words of encouragement/positive stories would be amazing right now :)

Well I am excited for you! Have you had a section before? I rate them.

@Ididivfama Thank you. Nope, never! This is our first baby :)

The night before my emcs we had a lovely meal out, elder DD stayed at grandmas for the night so had a lovely nights sleep. Up early and straight to the hospital early doors, 1st on the list. It was wonderful. Baby born healthily with our music playlist going in theatre. Cuddles Willett being sewn up and first fed in recovery room, home the next day . It was a world apart from my first, it helped heal a lot of hurt from that first time

I ad an emcs , but not so e that had to be rushed straight into theatre under epidural. No pain whatsoever ever. I felt a slight weird tugging sensation , but no pain at all. Obviously afterward I wasn't as mobile as those who did not have one , and immediately afterwards was a bit debilitated but just carefully does it for a while , unfortunately after getting back from hospital it was to go home to a house where our bedroom was on the 3rd floor , but then fine. I was told don't lift anything heavier than a kettle for a few weeks and no driving for 6 . Honestly ( and way too late for me now , I'd have another ) . Mine was 27 years ago so I may be a bit hazy on detail , but honestly , honestly I would not worry about the procedure . All the very best for tomorrow & how lovely & exciting for you.

Yey! Your life is about to change in the most amazing way.

I've had 2 c sections. They were emergencies but I found recovery fine, as long as I stayed on top of the pain relief.

First few weeks of having baba can be a Real blur but I'd advise taking lots of photos and videos.

Well then I am very excited for you! Mine was an emergency but cat 3 and went well. Elective should be even nicer. Have you been given much info about how it will be? It can feel very strange especially being all numb. Breathing exercises can help if you are feeling nervous, but getting the baby out is quite quick. Then he/she should be on you which is lovely.

I found it weird how big the surgery room was and how many people in there! That can feel overwhelming but not if you’re prepared. Also good to know there are so many people there if needed which makes it feel very safe and like everything is in control.

make sure you get photos

I agree it’s so nice having a baby with no pain haha! I did feel sick after but absolutely nothing compared to going through labour and I loved how calm and predictable it was.

Oh and another weird thing - did they tell you to shave? If not then they will do and it’s weird! Obviously you can’t see but you know they’re doing it 🤣 just one of those funny things no one talks about.

I had two (well, the second was officially an emergency as I went into labour 12 hours before the planned one after all the preliminary checks!)

I found both really positive - DH joked how weird it was that we basically had a time at the hospital and when we came out, we'd have a baby 😆I loved being able to have music I wanted playing when both of mine were born. Lots of chatting with the medics while it was all going on - I remember with my first one the anaesthetist was also a classical music fan so we were talking about my choice of composer

Pain was very manageable and I found recovery pretty easy - a planned c-section is much easier to recover from than one that's happened as an emergency after hours and hours of active labour.

My top tip, as I discovered after first one, is don't send partner out to make lots of phonecalls to everyone when you're in the recovery room - you'll have your brand new baby in your arms and be feeling kind of woozy and overwhelmed (albeit in a good way) , so you'll want company!

I agree with @Ididivfama - there are a lot of people in the room, so be prepared for that.

Oh yes! Take your time, the moment is for you.

Thank you everyone. It’s really lovely to hear positive news. I’m not generally an anxious person and I know it will be fine as soon as it’s in motion, it’s the unknown that is most scary.

@Ididivfama They didn’t mention shaving but I have been googling and there’s lots of conflicting information 😂I had a tidy up last week lol so might just leave it as it is now.

@Alloveragain3 Thank you :) I’ll definitely keep on top of the pain relief, I have some ready and packed in my bag just in case the midwives don’t come round in time etc.

Every place seems different! The good thing about leaving the shaving is that they do it how they want and means less infection risk so that’s good.

@Echobelly Thanks so much. I’ve read how a lot of people find them a lovely, calming environment to have a baby in. So hopefully I feel the same!

I had an emergency one 2 weeks ago and had the best experience. It was an ‘emergency’ but fairly relaxed as it was mainly due to failure to progress.

There’s a lot of people in the room but everyone introduced themselves and explained what was going to happen.

The spinal injection is the worst bit imo - it doesn’t hurt really just feels really weird and a bit uncomfortable. Once that was done it was so quick! Baby was out in a few mins and we had lovely cuddles whilst I was being stitched up.

top tip - get a sick bowl for recovery (I threw up about 6 hours afterwards and DH had to run around locating one!). Other than that, stay on top of pain relief. you’ll also be on blood thinning injections when you get home which do sting and are a bit rubbish.

2 weeks later I feel fine, just a slight tenderness around the scar. I’ve been for lots of big walks, and have been completely fine around the house.

Enjoy! I think next time I would choose a c section from the start, it was a great experience and the scar is already barely noticeable.

Agree that spinal is the worst bit, but it's very quick.

Also about the funny tugging sensation - one friend described it quite accurately as 'like someone doing washing up in your abdomen' 😂

@Ididivfama - ha ha - the birth was painless but I had been in labour ( induced ) for a long while before then . @Mushroo Mine was the same - officially emergency but do lack of failure to progress

@Infertilitylife The two surgeons doing mine were chatting about motorbikes when they did mine. DH was thinking - hang on this is important - but actually it was so reassuring they were just doing it as a part of their everyday jobs - it felt calming they were just chatting away. Anaesthetist was lovely and he was chatting to me.

We had a nice meal of chicken parmigiana and spaghetti that DD still insists on having in her birthday eve though it has gone from chicken to halloumi to tofu as she went veggie then vegan.

I found cannulas the worst part and had two (one for antibiotics one in case I needed blood transfusion due to low lying placenta) and the injection to stop blood clots and you can’t move until it has worn off and catheter taken out

liked the chatting when being sewn up

oh I did briefly panic that DD had no eyes as she refused to open them for awhile when she saw the bright lights. She was very indignant when she was born (a trait she still has) and still doesn’t like bright lights!

DH had to dress her though when he took her when I was sewn up but that might have chamged

This sounds incredibly similar to mine! And yes with the sick bowl! Although I wonder if op will be ok as she’ll have had anti sickness meds due to it being elective?

Thank you everyone. It was a really surreal experience but baby boy arrived on the 10th a January. We are home and he’s currently fast asleep next to me. Thank you for the reassurance.

Wonderful news! Wishing you both all the very best.