Preparing For A C-Section - Page 2

[holyhelianthus]

Originally Posted by felix23

It also made me very sleepy, gave me horrle headaches, and made me constipated. I took it for HG and I hated it. It didn't even work that well for me, I still felt sick all the time.

Oh my gosh I forgot about the constipation!!!! it's sent straight from hell!!!

It also didn't help me very well. I always figured it's because they took so long giving it to me and I was already really really bad off.

[felix23]

Originally Posted by magstphil

Oh my gosh I forgot about the constipation!!!! it's sent straight from hell!!!

It also didn't help me very well. I always figured it's because they took so long giving it to me and I was already really really bad off.

I've heard a lot of people say it caused horrible constipation. There is no way I would take it after a c-section.

My one advice for after a c-section is REST!!!! With my second one I didn't and it really made my recovery much harder. I ended up pulling my incision open a little bit the weekend after I had it, because I was not resting and trying to clean the house and go to Thanksgiving events. Next time I'm staying in bed, curled up with the baby, ignoring my dirty house.

Also drink a ton of water.

[maxmama]

Pregnancy causes horrible constipation.

[felix23]

Originally Posted by maxmama

Pregnancy causes horrible constipation.

I wasn't constipated till I took Zophran, and the constipation stopped when I quit taking it. The dr. even told me that was a side effect along with the horrible headaches.

[liseux]

I think the nausea that comes with HG is much harder to treat than typical nausea associated with the narcotics in a c section, that's why Zofran works better for c sections and is probably a smaller, one time dose.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by liseux

Storm Bride, I forgot to thank you for the suggestion about eating fruit. It sounds so obvious, but I didn't do it before & suffered slow motility so I will definitely do it now.

I try to make sure I get that one out there. I didn't think of it until my third section, and it made a huge difference.

[AlexisT]

I would second the suggestion of an anesthesia consult if you have any questions or concerns. I had one last time, although I didn't have a planned CS (the OB asked if I was planning on an epidural, I said I had no idea but I couldn't rule it out, she took a look at my spine, hmmed, and referred me for a consult). Ironically I was better informed about the epidural than I was about the surgery, though most of what we talked about was in relation to labor epidurals rather than surgical.

I'm planning on requesting a consult again next time. The anesthesiologist had a great deal of difficulty placing my epidural and couldn't do combined spinal-epidural, and I want to make sure I won't have any problems if I require a second section. I did not have the problems some women experience--my block was excellent and I didn't even feel them tugging.

Other than that, I agree with a lot of the other points. You can't control much about the surgery but you can control a lot of the other stuff. You can ask them not to announce the sex if you don't already know and want to see for yourself, also. If your DH can stay with you in the hospital, DO! Even in the best hospital the nurses are busy, and you won't be able to do much for yourself. Don't try to butch it out on the pain meds. Take them before the pain gets awful; they work better.

[Norasmomma]

Well my last c/s was an emergency-get the baby out now type of scenario after a long labor and pushing with my DD getting extremely stuck. I have to say it was not that bad, even with going through a 30 hour labor and then the emergency c/s.

I do believe that getting up and also being in good physical condition is important for recovery. My recovery was much better than my nephews wife who had been on bedrest, which for me is not surprising. I also echo the pain med rec, don't forget to take them.

My Dh was amazing, he cleaned the entire house when we got home. I wasn't allowed to go up our stairs because due to my DD's positioning being so low I have a T-incision internally which made things more fragile than most c/s incisions. We moved a bed downstairs and we'll do the same this time.

If you can MAKE FOOD now. Freeze it, that helps if you have a c/s or not.

I also echo that this is your baby's birth, it may not be exactly what you had hoped for, but it still is special.

The chit-chat thing for me was bizarro, my DH was/is fascinated by the whole procedure and was craning his neck to watch from a sitting position. The surgeon noticed and asked if he wanted to stand, DH said oh yes. They then went into everything that they were doing, and why. That was a little weird, but honestly after being up for about 40 hours and exhausted and drugged up I really didn't care. Our awesome L&D nurse took pics of DD, and I am happy to see them. We did let her take her to our room, our hospital is baby friendly, so we have rooming in, pro bf and she was told to not let ANY one touch her. She guarded that baby like a pit bull. Dh didn't want to leave me while I was being stitched up, we were comfortable with this, some people wouldn't be. Our nurse was great and so is our hospital. We have loads of pics of DD in an incubator for a few minutes.

I am having another c/s performed by the same team. I would love to VBAC, but due to my T-I am just not a good candidate, so this will be a planned r c/s. I am ok with it, I recovered easily, this time I will need more help because I also will have a very active 3 y/o on my hands, but I have a super supportive DH and family nearby. Having resources is great.

Making things easy on yourself is the best thing.

[Storm Bride]

re: pain meds. Take what I say with a grain of salt, because I think I may be a minority of one.

They suck. It still hurts like hell, but not quite as much as it "should". I tore out a staple after I had ds2, and I'm pretty sure it was because the meds made me underestimate how hard I was pushing the area when I moved. That torn stapled ended up in a section of my incision not closing promptly...and getting infected. It didn't close for well over a month. I hate pain meds, and will take as few of them as I can possibly get by with this time...basically only to let me sleep. I like pain better than medication.

[Norasmomma]

I never needed more than 1/2 of one of my vicodin/tylenol, but they did make me feel better. When I went too long between though I felt way worse.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by Norasmomma

I never needed more than 1/2 of one of my vicodin/tylenol, but they did make me feel better. When I went too long between though I felt way worse.

I think I'm a little weird about pain. I don't like it - not at all. But, there are so many things that are worse. I hate being numb. I hate feeling fuzzy-headed. I hate being nauseated. I hate being itchy (if they give me that morphine-related crap again, I may tear someone's face off - not a word of a lie). I'd rather be in post-op pain than any of those things. I'm willing to concede that numbness, horrible as it is, is better than experiencing the actual surgery without medication would be, but I really don't like the effects of most painkillers. Besides...I'm still in pain, even with them, so I don't really see the point in just taking the edge off, yk?

[holyhelianthus]

Originally Posted by maxmama

Pregnancy causes horrible constipation.

Yes but not as bad as Zofran. I am talking crying on the toilet praying to God to let it just pass and having to deal with a torn up bum from it.