Elective C Section Experiences

[Negangirlxx]

Hi ladies! 👋🏻

My elective c section is just a few weeks away. Can you please share your elective c section experiences?

I’m very nervous, as this will be my first time ever going under the knife, but I’m also very excited to meet my baby.

Any advice on how I can prepare, or any essentials you recommend for the hospital bag?

Thanks in advance!

Pants with high waist, I still wear them 6 weeks on as incision is sensitive. The frida mom single use ones were great in the weeks just after.

Breastfeeding? Do lots of skin to skin. Be prepared to have baby on the boob 24/7 and the milk takes longer to come than vaginal birth, it took me 5 days. Take colostrum with you, if you can express some.

Be prepared to do NOTHING. Your DP has to do everything. Nappy changes, food, outfit changes, burping, just absolutely everything you can think of. Especially after a c section, your job is to recover and feed baby. I couldn't walk for 12 hours and even after that, only VERY slowly and to bathroom and back.

For that first poop, around day 2 - you want to eat lots of prunes and drink lots of water. Take a pillow to press against incision and something to rest your feet on to bring them up a bit.

Also, the c section itself was super quick and painless. The spinal hurt but it was the worst bit, totally fine afterwards. A bit shakey and cold during the procedure. I also got VERY emotional and started sobbing half way, I don't know why. I got to meet baby and kiss him straight after.

I ended up being put to sleep after my spinal didn't work so it's worth preparing yourself for the slim chance of not being awake !
I found it a great experience though , everyone is very calm and relaxed .

I found Recovery was pretty easy ( or atleast compared to my previous difficult birth ) . I was happy to potter about a day or so later really but also had lots of rest time too .
The trickiest bit for me was just getting out of bed , I slept sat up for the first few nights as laying down felt too difficult.

You want to pack high waisted everything so nothing sits on the scar , if your partner has to go home at night time make sure they leave everything you will need in reaching distance including snacks !

My C section was amazing, I would highly recommend it if consultants advise. Everyone in theatre was so lovely and although I was terrified when they took me down, my nerves soon passed, it was very fast from going into theatre to holding my little girl in my arms and after that I didn't pay much attention to the surgeons stitching me back together. It was actually a very peaceful, calm, wonderful experience. If I were to describe it I would say, yes they numb your nerves so you can't feel any pain, but you can feel what they are doing, in terms of pulling, tugging you, it feels like someone is rummaging around inside your stomach, which I guess is pretty much what they are doing but there is no pain. For me personally even the spinal epidural I didn't find painful, they give you a local anestesia so you can't feel the spinal going in, pain wise, it just feels a bit like someone is hammering your lower back but without pain. I was also very lucky that my lovely community midwife came along to support me too, which was amazing and so kind of her, she was brilliant throughout my pregnancy, birth and aftercare.
This was my last baby but I have now given birth vía natural vaginal birth, emergency c section and planned c section, my natural vaginal birth was the best, it went very smoothly with no problems and a quick recovery. My planned section was also very good and recovery for me personally was fairly easy. I was up and walking about within 10 hours of coming out of theatre, I was home 35 hours after arriving in hospital, I was climbing 2 flights of stairs to our 3rd floor bedroom a week post op.
I didn't breast feed, I personally don't think it's the best option, I have found it much better to bottle feed, know how much baby is getting, she was always happy and content, compared to the baby in the next cubical, who was breast fed and pretty much cried continuously. I did pump my milk out for a few days after getting home to give baby the goodness but it certainly wasn't her main form of milk. I think it's very much each to their own on this. Good luck for your section, try not to worry, you'll be absolutely fine

I had my elective c section 5 months ago, and it was a very relaxed great experience. Every step of the way from going into theatre to recovery is explained, and it was over so quickly. The worse part of recovery for me was the extremely itchy nose I had for the first couple of hours after surgery, which apparently can be a thing due to the drugs.

Recovery wise, prepare to take it easy the first couple or weeks at least and rely on others. But I was up and walking around the ward and picking up baby within 12 hours.

Make sure you have a good playlist of songs for theatre, it really takes your mind off it! High waisted pants are a must, and I would recommend a mini portable fan for the ward, they like to keep the post natal wards hot!

Thank you all so much guys.
Reading positive accounts like these really helps to settle my mind and my worries.

I have already compiled a playlist as the midwife recommended that. I’ll definitely look into the Frida items mentioned too.

I think DP has already had it drummed into him that he will need to help me out a lot, so hopefully he’s been paying attention haha!

In addition to all of the above advice I also took arnica tablets before and after for internal healing. Obviously ask ur midwife but they were recommended to me

Arnica comes with some risks to the baby if you’re breastfeeding (and to mothers with funky platelets).

Got me ELEC in a few weeks too! 2nd time round.

First elec was exactly how others have described it calm and quick! I'm more nervous about recovery but by week 2 j was feeling fine so holding onto that! as long as you keep on top of pain killers and rest all should be well 🙏

Getting my husband to set alarms on his phone for medication so I don't miss out on any during the hecticness of a newborn and a toddler!

all the best!

Thank you.
I’m glad that the most common response seems to be that it’s a calm experience. It definitely helps settle the nerves!