Elective C-Section Stories please!

[abbymeg]

I'm getting nervous - I had emergency section with DD. I'm not relishing the thought of having the epidural AND spinal put in cold (without contractions and gas and air to distract me). I've yet to have a pre-op; it's a few weeks away so I don't know much about what they do and when. If anyone has a positive elective section story then I would really appreciate it - although don't cover up any nasty bits as I'd rather know than not.

Also, I don't know whether I'm supposed to do a birth plan?

Thanks for any help. It is really appreciated.

I had an emergency cs with ds which was a bit pants because it was all such a rush but in no way traumatic.

I opted for a planned cs with dd 2.5 years later. It was as lovely as major abdominal surgery can get. The staff were amazing. I had problems with my epidural during the first labour which they were aware of and were just so reassuring. It went in very easily and with only slight discomfort. The theatre was not stuffed with staff, I think there were 4 there including the surgeon. I experienced strong nausea at one point so they adjusted something and it disappeared immediately. They knew I was expecting a girl and I had no specific requests about a post birth plan. She was given to me immediately.

I found the second experience so much more relaxed and easy. It was wonderful to be able to plan childcare for my pfb and my excitement and nerves were immense the night before. The downside was the night I had to spend on the ward. Being quite immobile, catheterised and very hot is not a good combination with a newborn around but I was up and about immediately the next morning and out the following day.

Oh, one tip, if they tell you to call the ward on the morning you are booked in, call as early as you can. They told me to call from 6am which I thought was a bit ridiculous but when I called, they told me to come in but I would be the last admitted that day! Scary that I might have been all geared up for it and told they had no room but call again tomorrow.

I'm once again up at some ridiculous time as a certain baby doesn't seem to want to let me sleep past 4.30am. Roll on maternity leave!

I just wanted to say another huge thank you to everyone who has posted. It is reassuring to read about positive experiences, and I'm sure that other people looking on MN, booked in for c-sections, will find benefit from this thread too.

My elective CS was surreal but a great experience. DS was in a horrible position and estimated to be big (actually only 8lb, the rest was double deckers ) so was booked in for section at 41 wks.

V strange 'knowing' you're having a baby that day, but had a laugh with everyone in theatre (it was a bit like the green wing!) and I think the fact that you're not knackered from labour means you recover quicker. Spinal was fine, far worse was them trying to find a vein in my hand to put the canula in.

Got given DS to hold as soon as he was checked over and BF in recovery without any probs...

Had him on the Friday at 11 and was home by 3 on Sunday. I should have pushed for more morphine in the first 24 hours (allergic to their preferred voltarol, so had the paracetamol too - really? for major surgery?!) but took Arnica 200 tabs which helped and my scar is tiny (MW commented that the the senior reg had been v kind!)

Hope this helps - not sure if I'd even bother trying for a VBAC next time....

have been kindly directed here from another thread. i am to be booked in for a c section due to shoulder dystocia with ds. completely terrified. had major panics earlier on, partly due to trauma of last birth resurfacing, and am completely terrified of c section. managed to block it out for last few months due to few problems with baby (soft markers) but now its getting closer i am scared again. also hormones not helping as crying my eyes out reading this thread!
great to hear so many positive experiences though. especilaly the whole holding your baby, s2s contact and bf as had none of those things last time. ds was not breathing so resuccitated and taken straight to scbu. only bf 6 hours later when he was handed to me and then i was left alone with no clue what i was doing.
only managed to bf for 8 weeks last time. can anyone tell me how cs affects this and what you do until your milk comes in? do you substitue with formula? big baby expected again (ds was 9lb 2).
also any tips on how to cope with ds1 when ds2 arrives after c section? did you let them come to hospital straight away? how did they manage with you not being able to lift them?

qumps sorry to hear you had a scary experience last time, try not to worry.

in terms of milk supply, i was told by a midwife/reflexologist that if they put the IV canula (sp) on the back of hand it will affect milk supply... this is exactly where i had mine located with ds and i struggled with(i had big baby too), and thinking back my fellow c-section (emerg and elect) all had probs too! i wonder how true this is with those on this thread??

anyway i will be asking my anesthetiology (sp) on the day if they can put it elsewhere and i have milkmaid tea on standby to take that i hear helps supply...

i have my mum coming to stay 3 weeks to help out with ds and baby while i recover....

How old is DS1, qumps?

DD was 2.5 when DS was born by el-cs. DS was born late morning and my parents brought DD in to see us late afternoon. She was fine but being a toddler had a fairly short attention span and couldn't stay too long before she was trying to climb over/under beds/curtains etc.

Re not being able to lift DD - I just tried to make up for it with lots of cuddles. I explained that mummy couldn't carry her but we could walk holding hands and have sitting down cuddles. Also, we told her mummy had a sore tummy and she was really good about not climbing over me which I was worried she would do.

DH was at home for just over a week and my mum helped aswell but we also did the following:

For meals, we'd got DD a v cheap little table and chairs from Ikea so I didn't have to lift her up to the table and for baths she used her little step-stool to climb in and out, just holding on to me for balance.
A friend also lent me a clever little baby bath which went across the top of the bath so that I didn't have to lean right over the side to bath DS.

As for bfing, my milk came in as usual and there was no problem but neither of mine were big babies at birth.

ds will be 19 months when baby due. too little to really understnad what is happening and i am sure he thinks the baby is my belly button and not the actual bump!
step sounds like a great idea. might get a couple and put by the sofa too so he can climb up there. luckily i have lots of fantastic family who will ne on hand to help out and dh should be home for a few weeks. still have the whole guilt of ruining ds1 life by haing a second child(!) and want to be able to stay as close to him as possible.
i have never heard about the tube in the hand affecting milk flow but have heard thats the most painful bit! where else can they stick it?! not heard of milkmaid tea - what is it and where do you get it?

Sazzles, good to hear I'm not the only one to play games making my heart rate go lower when I see it on a monitor. I did find that this only worked for a while though, once the drugs started to kick in it went a lot higher and I had no control over it.

I had an elective C-section first time round, and although all the staff we absolutely brilliant and did everything they could to make it as dignififed and stress free as possible, I'm afraid I still find the fact that I had to have the c-section difficult to come to terms with. Its taken me all day to reply to this thread.

On the positive side though:

• very little pain at any stage, although I couldn't tell you what pain killers I had.
• no problems with the milk coming in.

My only regret was that I didn't ask to have the screen removed. I would have much rather seen my baby being born. I think I would have felt a bit more invovled in the process then.

Qumps - I also had the guilt about turning DD's life upside down by having another child (amazing what those irrational pg hormones can do to an otherwise quite normal brain! ) until my mum pointed out that DD had had over 2 years of me all to herself which DC2 would never have - put like that, I felt a lot better about it.

Hi! I've had 2 em sections and an elective in July this year. I was MORE nervous about the elective one than the emergency ones, which I couldn't really get my head round for a while.

But it was a good experience, and as said before, the anaesthetic staff were fab and put me at ease with relaxing banter. they put the drip in the back of my hand (sometimes they try in the big vein near the base of the thumb), but I breastfed straight away with no problems, and my milk came in before 48hrs (hungry demanding baby boy!!).

My best memory was them showing me 'him', as we didn't know the sex (and a total shock as I was convinced he was a girl like his 2 sisters!!), lovely moment with lots of tears.

Good luck. Cass.

Just wanted to say "thank you" to everyone who has posted positive stories on this thread. I am booked for an elective c/s on 25th November due to an extremely traumatic and physically damaging first birth and have found myself getting more and more apprehensive as it gets closer.

I am particularly interested to hear about the pain levels and recovery after the birth. I had lots of tearing with DD and was in pain for more than six months... from what people are saying here it looks like it will be a bit more manageable with the c/s. I hope so!

Do you have to get the 200x arnica? Boots don't do it on the shelf (I looked!) just the 6x and 30x... not sure if it makes a difference. >goes off to put peppermint teabags in hospital bag

Voltarol: the bringer of diarrhoea.

I had this as a painkiller atfer emergency cs. I had such bad runs I asked for an immodium as was struggling to walk to the only working loo on the ward every 30 seconds. They then gave me co-codamol. I had hallucinations in hospital, but didn't realise I was having them until I'd recovered weeks later. Cocodamol can constipate you, as can iron tablets. So I stopped taking them

Long story of horrific constipation and anaemia leading to awful recovery and verge of blood transfusion.

Beware the painkillers, and talk to your nearest and dearest first so they can spot the problem early. That's what I'll be doing if I do opt for an elective this time round!

Can i just do a quick highjack please!?
I had an EC with DS due to him 'not progressing' and have been fretting that if i was to ask for an elective c section next time that i would be frowned upon by MW etc. But after reading all you posts it seems this is not as unusual as i thought... so did you ladies ask for elective c section or were you advised to have one?
Thank you and sorry for highjack and woffling!

Sazzles, I feel that I want an elective, as my planned water birth / active birth just didn't happen.
I now feel that I want an elective this time, but I'm a bit shy of saying so, as MySonIs..... says, as I feel the midwife and doctors I've seen so far want me to try for the 75% chance of a 'normal' delivery. I just don't want to go through a 24 hour false start folloewd by 36 hours failing to progress followed by an emergency CS again.

I am s**t scared of having a cs whilst fully undrugged or exhausted, but really don't want to go through all that again!

Just be clear about what you want. If you see them and you are undecided you will most likely find yourself agreeing to a vbac, whether you want to or not. I was very certain that I would be having an ec this time, was advised by surgeon immediately after last time, but midwife still tried to talk me into vbac, very persuasive. I explained I had been told it would actually be dangerous for me, but she was still keen...grr

Anyway I said that if I had thought for a minute I'd have to have a vbac I would never have got pg again. She seemed to accept that. It's funny I have seen 3 consultants and each one has been utterly fine and positive about the ec, it was only the midwife when I swapped hospitals who had a bee in her bonnet.

As long as you are totally aware of the dangers of surgery and the longer recovery time, it is your choice once you have had a c-section before.

Mysoniseatinghissock I was nervous that I would be turned down for section, or I would have to argue for one. I had another thread on here a couple of months ago asking this very question. Most people had no issues at all, and I'm pleased to say that my consultant was very respectful of my wishes. Hence the investigations of the elective experience in this thread! Good luck.

Another thank you for all of the brilliant posts.

Did any of you have anything to calm your nerves, I may end up having CS after failure to prog then em cs last time. I went under GA as I was too scared to face the operation awake

By the time they did my emergency Cs if they'd said " alright Mrs, we're just going to chuck a big hook up you and yank the baby out, is that ok?" I wouldn't have cared.

I am very worried by idea of being fully 'with it' for an elective. (or as with it as a heavily pregnant me can be!)

I had em c/s with first and elective with second.

Elective was very positive. You're well rested - dinner at home the night before and a good nights sleep (instead of horrific long labour!).

I bf no problems. stayed in hospital 48 hours. Recovery much easier after elective because you're not exhausted from hours of labour. Also you don't have the mental shock of birth not going according to plan.

Spinal was OK - it's the thought of it (like any injection) is worse than the reality!

MySonIs...., just because its an elective section it doesn't mean you have any choice in the matter. I wasn't given an option, and if I was mad enough to have refused I wouldn't have found anyone willing to deliver the baby naturally. Sometimes they know the complications in advance so you have chance to have a c-section without it being an emergency. I know some poeple did actually choose to have a c-section but it certainly wouldn't have been my first choice. I just don't like the fact that I have a child but have no idea what a contraction is like, never mind full labour.

I had my first section (elective) on 17 Oct and it was great !

I did a birth plan and amongst other things asked for the screen to be down throughout, the lights to be dimmed as he was born, and a CD to be played all of which they were happy to go along with.

It was very relaxed and jovial, I had no pain or even discomfort at any time, before during or after and I made a fantastic recovery coming home after two nights and out pushing the pram on day five.

In brief, I wouldn't have it any other way, I will be booking in for a repeat next time and looking forward to it without any trepidation !

Good luck with yours and try not to worry - it'll be fab :0