How to prepare for inevitable C section - Page 2

[MamaJenese]

Another one here for stiches over staple. DS I had staples and they were awful. DD I had stiches and I soo much more comnfortable. My Cath was out 2 hours after surgery. I kept my baby with me in the OR, rode with me to recovery and then right to my room. Talk to them if you wish to have your baby remain with you. Also I asked them not to announce the sex. It was cute the nurses and Docs got a little giddy over that, they had not had anyone ask that before. Then my DH really killed them by saying as the face came out "oh the baby looks just like Elliot,,,,but holy SH** she has a vagina!" No sweet it's s girl! But he did follow with some really sweet things!

[hildare]

i may be facing this, too, eventually..
you can still write a birth plan that includes things like:
skin to skin
partner to cut cord
delayed cord cutting (possibly)
hands free (not strapped down)
a nurse or someone to photograph the birth
your partner to announce the gender of the babe

also, as i learned - happily- this c section go-round, you can still retain the placenta if that's of interest/value to you!
good luck with your birth.

[FireWithin]

I had a breech baby and needed to have a c-section. I was heartbroken about it. I had the most wonderful midwife help me through it. She was on my right and my DH was on my left.

I had restrictions that were upsetting, so I had to work around them.

The midwife talked me through the birth, telling me what was happening. I asked her not to use the word cut. She was really nurturing telling me how brave I was. The OBs were not great even though I know the main one really fought for me in many ways. My midwife helped me feel taken care of and loved.

Would a doula or midwife be able to help you through it?

[fmajor84]

Thanks for all the responses. I'll definitely take what all of you have said into consideration. Sadly, the father is not in the picture, but I'm going to have my mother with me when I deliver so I've got a a familiar face. I'll ask her if she wants to cut the cord, though.

[Boot]

I just had my second emergency c section. Due to uterine rupture, any subsequent pregnancies will have to be scheduled sections.

Although it wasn't what I'd planned (AT ALL!) there were some great things about my baby's birth. They lowered the drape and asked DH to tell us the sex (girl!), DH got to cut the cord (not the initial cut but the second one to shorten it) and best of all they brought her too me and put her skin to skin with a heated blanket over us both. That was amazing. Then DH took her to recovery and also had her skin to skin while they finished up with me. In recovery the nurse helped me get her latched on straight away. Things I would like to have been different were the fact that I couldn't see her once they took her out. They seemed to spend ages weighing and checking her before they brought her to me. I don't see why that has to happen first.

Other tips - take the pain meds! I am SO not a person to take anything normally but you really need it after surgery. I tried to tough it out at first. BAD idea. Have food in the freezer. Have a really nice shower gel. You can't take baths at first and you will want to take lots of showers.

This may sound strange, but it might not be a bad idea to work on your arm and leg strength if you know you're having a section. You can't use your core muscles so you have to push and pull yourself around at first.

I agree that I would prefer to go into labour myself first. If that were not possible (like in my case) I would talk to the baby and explain what is going to happen.

The positives of a c section are that your lady parts are still intact, you probably won't get hemorrhoids and your baby will have a lovely round head and unsquished features!

[Ashes]

I suggest getting as much sleep as possible the two nights before the c-section. I had an emergency one after 42 hours of labour and no sleep... this time I know to sleep before my c-section.

Obviously other plusses are - no vaginal tearing, no labour, no going back and forth to the hospital, more planning...

Lots of women do it, so you won't be rare or alone.

[Ashes]

Originally Posted by liseux

A catheter has to stay in for 24 hours afterwards, this seems like a real bummer & it can be, but...I also really enjoyed the fact that after so many months of peeing constantly I didn't have to get out of bed to pee at all for that 24 hrs.

YES TO THIS!!!!

[Ashes]

Originally Posted by kltroy

FWIW, I have no idea whether this is typical, but I had staples for 3 days and then they were removed and replaced with steri-strips. So they were out before I left the hospital and did not leave any sort of scar at all. I didn't think they were too big of a deal except for how freaky they looked. And anyway, I wasn't given any choice in the matter so I made my peace with them.

Same scenario for me. I didn't think the staples were that bad. And I had never had surgery before. The public health nurse came the day after I got home from the hospital and removed them. It wasn't even painful really... just the thought of it was gross is all.

[Storm Bride]

Never mind. There is no point.

OP: If I think of anything else, I'll PM you.

[Sudonk]

I haven't needed a c-section myself, but I have several friends who had to have them for medical reasons that presented early enough that they knew they'd be having surgery in advance. Most of them used the Hypnobabies CDs that are specifically designed to help moms prepare for their c-sections in advance. (In fact, they worked so well for the first mom who got them that the same CDs were passed around among our group of friends, to rave reviews.) As I said, I haven't needed them, so I haven't listened to the CDs, but I know the moms said it helped them feel more mentally and emotionally prepared (since they were all moms who would have opted for NCB if they hadn't needed surgery), and helped the recover more quickly. I don't have more details than that, but still thought it might be something you'd find worth looking into.