Cesarean birth support circle #8 - Page 5

[sparklemum]

oh yes! and narcotics are a constipating thing in and of themselves...sheesh!

they gave me the stool softener - didn't do anything for me...prunes, baby...prunes!

[3bees~1flower]

my favorite combo for pain control is motrin 800 mg (which they give around the clock anyway) and 1-2 Darvocet...that is an awesome combo and not a very strong one at that, but it works great. also my hospital gives MOM routinely to all post-partum moms...now THAT is some nasty stuff, but it seems to work.

[its_our_family]

With my first c/b I was given stool softener almost right away. this time I was only given one at night. The day i was going to leave (day 2 post c/b) I hadn't had a bowel mvmnt yet so I got a suppository. I wanted to go home and that def did the trick. I tried prune juice but it didn't do anything.

My first meal post c/b was about 3 hours later (Bryce was in special care and i was still numb waist down so I was all alone). It was a chicken sandwich and fries, jello and yogurt. It was a pretty good lunch. They also had a wonderful fridge full of all kinds of goodies!! I like making that trip to the fridge every couple hours. We were encouraged to eat well but to still be careful. Or at least I was. My friend Debbie had her c/b there 2 weeks previous with the same ob and wasn't allowed solids for a day until she "proved" herself. Maybe the difference was it was my second c/b and her first :

[Henry's_Mamma]

I guess the only thing moderately "progressive" about my hospital is that I was allowed to eat about 12 hours after c/b. I had ice chips in recovery (although dh had a bottle of water and was giving me some of that -- my logic was that the ice melts into water, so why not just drink it). I told him I would stop if I felt sick (never did -- I was so thirsty, after a long labor and surgery). Somewhere around 5am (c/b was at 8pm), I was actually given a pitcher of water which I downed in about 5 minutes.

When my roommate got breakfast the next morning and I didn't (I hadn't eaten in 36 hours), I made a huge stink and I got a tray. Get this -- corn flakes (those tiny boxes), skim milk, coffee, apple juice, and a diet blueberry muffin. Um, how about some protein? I ate the cereal and that was about it. I called dh and he brought me a piece of apple pie (I had made an apple pie the night before I went into labor). Damn it was good! I ate like a pig the rest of the time in the hospital.

My hospital provided stool softeners and anti-gas meds at the bedside. The nurses encouraged you to take them and I did. They worked great. I think I had a bowel movement 3 days post-c/b. I never really had a lot of gas, but maybe that's b/c I took my simethicone.

Am I crazy or am I the only one who only needed motrin (600 mg, or whatever is equivalent to 3 Advil) for pain relief? That's all I took since I hate the way Percocet makes me feel (and that's all I was offered other than motrin).

[sparklemum]

i was pretty fond of the motrin...i really loved the toradol (sp?) - that was the best...i had to take the percocet to get any sleep...i was almost manic in the hospital, if that makes sense...very edgy, very uncomfortable...very out of my element...it was strange being so dopey, yet having a baby roomed in and being expected to get her if she cried...that was bizarre...

once i got home, i took 1/2 a viodin in the morning, but that was it...i hate the way it makes me feel, too...yuck

[rainbowmoon]

wow I guess I will consider myself lucky that I didn't have the gas pains at all! (I was waiting for it, as I knew beforehand from doula training that this happens, but it never did)

I would definitly take a stool softner, they were giving it to me at the hospital and I'm still taking them (with a fiber laxative) as my sysytem has been all messed up since my 2nd hospitaliztion. : fortunatley they don't make you have a BM at our hospital before discharging you. (they just make you fill up the toilet hat w/ pee)

they also gave me the percocet and ibuprofin which both made me feel really sick.

Henry's mama-I hear you about the hospital food! The first *real* thing I got to eat after my c/b was toast and after my bout with pancreatitis it was string beans, a roll and a fruit salad...yuck. I don't kniow if your a veggie (I am ) but they definitly don't susbsitute for any proteins in our hospital...grrr.

[its_our_family]

What about relative pain?? Did you guys have that? As soon as Bryce was born I got this horrid pain. it is probably the most excruciating thing I have ever felt!! It was like someone was stabbing me in the shoulder and lasted for about 3 hours. No pain meds relieved that pain!!

[Peppermint]

Do you mean deferred pain? That is what my anesthesiologist called it with my dd's birth, they took her out and suddenly my shoulders were killing me, I had to ask for some major pain med, and I'm not sure what he put in my IV, but, I fell asleep and woke up in recovery. Is that the pain you are talking about?

[its_our_family]

YES! deferred pain..not relative pain..where is my brain???

[KKmama]

Y'know, when I've referred to gas pain, it's that pain in the shoulder that I'm talking about. When they open you up, some air gets inside your body, and for whatever reason, it seems to migrate up toward your shoulders. And yes, simethicone helps it to diminish (and so did the vicodin).

Except for an incident or 2 of out of control gas pain or afterbirth pain, I was off the narcotics after the 1st full day, I think. Onto the very large advils...

[UD_CHICK]

I'm about 4 weeks out from my c-section - and I'm still feeling pretty poorly. I had to give up the motrin last week because it was starting to eat my stomach.

I know I've been doing too much - but I don't have a personal assistant to help me at home.

I had quite a few complications (went in with the Norwalk virus, got a kidney infection, got cellulitus in my abdomen - was in the hospital 10 days total - treated with IV antibiotics at home for 5 days after that), so I'm wondering if any of you remember how long you went before you stopped feeling really painful pulling in your abdomen.

The doctor who did the section also told me that I had severe scarring and adhesions from my last cbirth, and that she tried to repair them - so I'm wondering if that's why I still feel so poorly.

Any words of wisdom (or encouragement) are welcome!

Thanks!

deb

[3bees~1flower]

UD_CHICK -- i would have to say that the scar tissue is the culprit of your continued discomfort. if she had to work a bit to get through that then that would lead to quite a bit of discomfort simply from the pulling and what not. you also could have formed new adhesions (scar tissure) that may be contributing to the pain as well.

my third section, he had to really work to get through the scar tissue, so i'm wondering how my 4th will be this Oct.

hope you start to feel better soon!

[quiltinglance]

UD Chick,

Could you be anemic? Is it fatigue AND the pulling in your tummy? I just remember feeling so bad after my c/b....the pulling seemed to be the worst but my blood count was a bit low and my whole recovery seemed long. In your case you MUST give yourself more time. You've been assaulted on many physical levels, not to mention the long trial of antibiotics....can you get to a good health food store and talk to them about what you've gone through?

Hang in there. Sleep when you can and like you said, you know you are doing too much......

Congratulations on having such a great attitude after all you've gone through.

Kim
Mom to Lance, Wife to Michal, edd 3/25:LOL

[OnTheFence]

Originally posted by UD_CHICK
I'm wondering if any of you remember how long you went before you stopped feeling really painful pulling in your abdomen.

The doctor who did the section also told me that I had severe scarring and adhesions from my last cbirth, and that she tried to repair them - so I'm wondering if that's why I still feel so poorly.

Any words of wisdom (or encouragement) are welcome!

Thanks!

deb

Deb,

sorry you are feeling so bad honey!
My first csection took me a good year to heal. I still had pretty severe pain at times for months afterwards.

My last birth, well I was in full swing at a week. I was lucky that my dad as a baby gift gave me a maid and I did a lot of crock pot cooking. I had my daughter in preschool and I just reigned in the 17 month old. I also had repairs done.

Now, get this. In the last week I have started having pain in the right side of incision. It also itches. It has been two years.

I wish I could be there to help you!

[Henry's_Mamma]

Deb ... I'm about 4.5 mons. post 1st c/b and it took me a good month to not feel the stretching/pulling sensations almost constantly. I still get them on occasion, and it hurts when I get kicked or bump the laundry basket there, but the pulling has stopped. I hope that's a good sign. I just wish it would stop itching!

BTW ... and sorry if TMI ... when does the hair grow back and will it ever be as thick (not that I want it to be .. just wondering)?

[UD_CHICK]

Thanks for your support ladies. It's nice to know I'm not alone. Today we're doing better.

I've realized I've had a lot of junk in my diet of late, so that's probably contributing to my fatigue. I went to the natural food store today and got a bunch of good stuff - and good munchies - so that if I"m tempted, I'll at least not have too much sugar or preservatives in my system. I also have to be good about taking my vitamins.

The doctor said that I'm healing well. I asked if there is any way to look at my insides to see if everything is healing well (and to see if we're ok for another pregnancy) and she said nope - she said it's up to our generation - or our kids' to come up with that technology.

I think another key is to get that nap in each day when dd naps. I took one today and felt like a new woman (almost) when I woke up. Sleep depravation really affects me.


Thanks for your words of support - I'll keep plugging along!

Henry's_Mamma - when my hair grew back after CB#1 - it was exactly the same as pre-CB.

[Henry's_Mamma]

Random thoughts as I sort through some feelings I've been having ...

I was doing so well with how I felt about my c/b. And now all of a sudden, I'm angry and hurt and sad again. I don't know why. Although now that I think of it, maybe it has something to do with hearing other women's wonderful v/b stories recently and my being jealous.

I guess I've been thinking a lot about the conflicting attitudes I get about birth, especially c/b. On MDC and via other likeminded people/places, I feel like a total failure, that my birth was some how less of a birth, that I am somehow not a complete woman. What makes me feel worse is that, somewhere deep down inside, I really do feel that my c/b could've been avoided if x, y or z happened or didn't happen, etc. (e.g., if I had a doula, or if dh remembered anything that he read The Thinking Woman's Guide, etc.). Then I just get mad at the world. I've even had fleeting angry at dh, though he is in no way to blame for any of this.

On the other hand, since I live in a place where AP and natural living are in the minority (and I know exactly 3 people IRL who are even moderately AP), most of my friends, etc. seem to think a c/s is perfectly normal and epidurals are the way to go, etc. I've been beating myself up of late over my epidural as I think that was the beginning of the end for me -- the first turn on the road to my c/b. None of these friends (or my dh, for that matter) understand this. My dh (practical, rational guy that he is) keeps saying that, under the circumstances, what was I to do. -- i.e., I made the best decision I could make at the time.

I know all of these feelings are somewhat irrational. I guess what I don't understand is why we as a society have to make such a big deal over the method of birth. Why does it matter so bloody much about the way in which a woman births her babes? I know there are a lot of very unncecessary c/b (and I'm really beginning to feel that I was one of them which is probably why this is irking me so much), but in all honesty, in this day and age, does it really, really matter and is it really necesarry to put so much value on the experience? For those of us that had c/b's (especially those of us for whom a c/b was unplanned), I think it just prolongs the healing process by causing us a lot of unncessary guilt and pain. Isn't the whole point of birth to ensure that baby arrives healthy and strong, and if the best way for that based on reasonable intuition and medical evidence is via c/b, then who cares?

Maybe I'm just missing the point or something but this has really been driving me nuts these last couple of days. I guess I'm just really mad that I didn't get the birth experience I wanted, but I'm also mad that I place (and feel like the world places) so much weight on the birth experience. Didn't my birth lead to a beautiful, healthy, baby boy? Who cares how he got here? Why can't I accept that?

Forgive my ramblings ... I'm still working through this and I'm not even sure I know what I mean. :

[ladylee]

UDC and HM-

[rainbowmoon]

is there any way to prevent scar tissure from forming?

Henry's_mamma- wow, what you wrote is exactly how I've been feeling today! my c/b was actually a really positive experience, I made my decision for my surgery (and interventions) based on how I felt at the time, not what I planned for my birth at all. it's so easy to say you could have done something different but we all do what we can with the knowledge we have at that moment. I did all I could do to have a natural birth but it just wasn't going to happen. I am starting to really process it and question it all though, as well as grieve for my lost (ideal) birth experience. I think it's really important to feel the wide range of emotions over it all and know it's really ok to feel the way you're feeling. you are not a failure at all mama.

[Peppermint]

UD_Chick- I am sorry your recovery is so very hard, I am sure it is due to all the illness that led to your C-birth, give yourself some time to recover and keep taking those naps.

HM- - I found that reading this forum a lot, or even anything from the Natural Birth Activists really got me down and did absolutely no good, just when I was feeling ok with it all, I would read something and get to feeling depressed about my births. I think there is a time and place to get back into the Natural birth reading, like during your next pregnancy, when it might actually help you, instead of now, when all it is doing is making you feel badly.