Csection, suddenly terrified

[HelpBabyComeOut88]

I have a C section next week. First pregnancy. It's been a really rough 9-10 months and I've been so focused on surviving from one week to the next while watching videos of cute babies on Instagram, I hadn't quite grasped that I'm having surgery. I met with the obgyn and we went through what will happen on the day etc and it sounds awful.

I'm terrible with pain. I had to take tramadol for 12 months and do tons of physio after an injury a few years ago and it was awful. Awful. And pethidine sounds like tramadol's awful brother.

I hate even having my bloods taken, they say it doesn't hurt but sometimes it really does!

And the catheter? Wtf is that fresh hell?

And then I have to hold a newborn and breastfeed him but I've just had surgery. How??? Does it not put pressure on the stitches? I do really want to breastfeed and have paid £££ on a lactation consultant already (first appointment was lovely and I have lots of colostrum for baby in the freezer already).

Please I need some encouragement from weak people like me 😥

Take a deep breath, you are going to be ok. It’s all going to be ok.

To answer some of your questions, the catheter you usually get after the spinal block/epidural. So you won’t feel it going in, at all. Coming out it’s like a burny wee. Nothing to write home about.

Breast feeding straight after surgery is not a problem. The baby is truly tiny, the stitches are right down on the pubic hairline and you’ll likely not be fully upright either.

Pain relief wise, you’re having a planned section so that should go smoothly too. I admit it didn’t with my first who was an emergency caeser. I was very worried 2!: time around, but turns out when everything is planned and it isn’t 2am it works much better!

The biggest thing while recovering is sitting up, I found, try get a nurse to give you a pulley - that helps. But also you learn to move without using those muscles.

And on breast feeding, with any luck your baby and body will be a natural, and if not (like me) the lactation consultant will earn their money - they helped me through. And also, if it doesn’t work, fed is best. Your baby will be just fine on formula.

I’m not going to lie, it isn’t easy and it might not go to plan, but you will be ok, you can do this.

What at CatsandDogs22 said. Also it is pretty normal to feel terrified leading up to birth the first time. I was terrified too. But everything was ok and I made it through and had my beautiful baby.

you mention OBGYN, are you in the US?

not sure how it works there but assuming because it’s private care you will be supported and looked after really well?

To reassure you, I breast fed after both my sections very soon after the procedure (taught myself, no help for that here). I’m not in the US.
catheter came out as soon as I got sensation back from the spinal wearing off and I was up to the toilet and shower (wobbling) quite quickly. Layered pain killers to allow for up d out of that bed as quickly as possible.
I was home in 24 hours after delivering because they need the beds here and then pushing the pram through the snow 2 weeks later as my husband was back to work and I had to get my older child to school.

It was a really lovely experience actually as it was so calm with it being planned.

It is normal to get The Fear at this stage. Honestly I've had 3 sections and never found the pain to be unbearable. Remember to take painkillers for the first few days on time- because you don't want to wait until you are in pain. And then don't overdo it when you feel better because that's when you can make yourself a bit uncomfortable (walking ages pushing a buggy or anything else using your core).

Make sure they give you some painkillers (a consultant anesthetist gave a more junior one a massive telling off as he tried to discharge me after 24 hours with no painkillers). If you can get something to prescribed to keep your bowels moving. After a couple of days you'll likely find you don't need anything more than paracetamol/ ibuprofen.

Congratulations- it will be worth it.

hey, i had a c-sec with my third pregnancy due to twin 1 being breech, and honestly it was great, the worst part was the local anaesthetic before they do the spine block, and the cannula in your hand, the catheter like pp said is put in after you’re numb and feels a bit uncomfortable but not painful coming out, the only other thing i found a bit uncomfortable was as they sew you up they pump morphine through your cannula and that made me feel a bit woozy and my heartrate picked up quite high, had to hand my dd over to dad incase i was sick lol oh and some bloody twin study woman wondered off with one of the operating tools (she collected cord samples) so had to wait till she got back with the tool before they could sew me up lol recovery after was fine, i was in hospital for 3 nights but only due to twins being in hotcots, i was alone without dad for the 2 nights as he had to go home to look after older 2 children, slow careful movements so nothing pulls, paracetamol/ ibuprofen although with so many tabs it was starting to make my stomach hurt more than the c-sec itself so i stopped taking them by day 4 once i was out of the hospital, my scar felt alot better once i got the bandage off i swear that thing pinches and makes you feel like your stitches are pulling more than they actually are, by about a week after i was back on my feet doing school runs, i avoided anything that uses stomach muscles too much like hoovering/mopping, pushing trolly/buggy until 2/3 weeks post section but not because it was painful but OH insisted lol i had a worse/longer recovery after my first vaginal birth xx

Thank you everyone! After a good night sleep and these replies, I feel a lot better! I really appreciate the very factual descriptions, it makes me feel better to know what to expect from real women as I sometimes fear doctors are a bit too optimistic in their descriptions 😅and it's all a lot less daunting in the light of day.

@Brandnewskytohangyourstarsupon I'm in a British Overseas Territory. I'll be in a government hospital but with a private obgyn (who has extensive NHS experience and is super lovely). So the C Section itself should go smoothly as the Dr is great but after that I'll be on a ward by myself, partners not allowed at night, and the midwives are not great here apparently, they're not as experienced or as helpful as UK midwives. It's why I paid for a private midwife who specialises in lactation to come visit me in hospital to help with breastfeeding.

So I was panicking a bit about what happens after the section, how I can take care of baby if I can't pick him up etc but the responses here have helped a lot! I'll just have to get on with it ha! I'm feeling a lot braver today!

@CatsandDogs22 thank you so much! Your reply is exactly what I needed!

I had a planned c section and it was such a lovely experience that I've asked straight away for one with my second.

Places all do it differently but for mine I had a numbing spray on my back which meant I barely felt anything when I had a local anaesthetic injected - and didn't feel anything at all when the spinal block went in! Nothing else will happen until they have checked and triple checked that you're completely numb. I was scared at this point just in case I felt something, but I wasn't even aware that they'd done the catheter 😂 (no burny sensation for me when it came out either, I hardly felt a thing and it was a 2 second job). The worst feeling was the very last bit before baby came out as it felt like pressure (no pain), but it's over so quickly.
Recovery wise, yes it's sore, but it's a predictable pain, unlike with natural labour where anything can happen. You'll get round the clock pain killers which lessen the pain but you still have to be gentle with yourself. I was able to get in and out of bed slowly the first night by myself to care for baby.
After 3 days I was taking a slow walk outside with the pram 🥰