C/S recovery & support thread

[JTA Mom]

After reading through the 'c/s forum' thread, it was suggested that we start a thread on c/s.

So here it is.

I'd like to keep it open to those who have issues with their c/s and those that don't. Hopefully we can support each other as we heal.

Right now, I'm almost on day 12 post-op. Feel a lot better, physically, after this c/s than with the c/s with ds. No idea why. I have to force myself to take it easy though. There were a few days when I pushed myself too far and things didn't go well, ER visit and all.

Mentally, I am between being okay of having had a failed VBAC since ds was not doing well, but then again, not. I feel, in some big way, broken. I am joking around with people, saying that well, at least my breasts work. Carrying a child to term or birthing them, that's iffy. But the boobs, they works.

Ami

[MamitaM]

I'm 17 days post c/s with my son! I don't think I feel broken or that I failed at anything. I tried very hard for a natural med free,intervention free birth. The main goal of my birth though was to have an experience where the nurses and doctor listened to me and respected me and my choices. I went in to the hospital well informed with a great birth plan and a very supportive doula. I felt respected the whole time. I felt empowered the whole time. They gave me as much time as they could before suggesting a c-section. My son was in distress though and the 2nd time they suggested it,they were very firm about it and I knew I had to say yes. I feel I made the right choice.

I read recently on MDC a very good post about how maybe a womans body doesn't let her progress enough to have that natural vaginal birth as a way to protect her and her baby from a danger that no one can see,but the body does. So I'm glad to have the c-section if that's true and I like to think it is. My body knew what it was doing and it knew it needed help from the doctors and modern science.

[Drummer's Wife]

Congrats to both of you! Hope the rest of your recovery (physically and emotionally) goes well.

My last c-section was 3.5 years ago, so I'm pretty far out from it all by now, but I've had a total of four (2 after laboring - including a vba2c attempt - and 2 scheduled 'elective').

I'd love to have at least one more baby (have been TTC for 2 years now), so I'm subbing to this thread. Thanks for starting it. Hopefully those who have had c-sections or who will be having one feel comfortable sharing and asking questions here.

[JTA Mom]

Originally Posted by MamitaM

I read recently on MDC a very good post about how maybe a womans body doesn't let her progress enough to have that natural vaginal birth as a way to protect her and her baby from a danger that no one can see,but the body does. So I'm glad to have the c-section if that's true and I like to think it is. My body knew what it was doing and it knew it needed help from the doctors and modern science.

I completely feel that this was the case with Elias, my new little one. My first pregnancy ended at 16 weeks when I went into spontaneous labor. Baby was fine, no one knows why I went into labor. Just did. 3.5hrs later, he was born.

With ds2, I had an unnecessarean. Completely. I was dilating, but slowly. It was a darn induction for a first time full term mama, and they tried to c/s me at 8hrs into it. I made it to 22hrs before they took me to the OR.

With Elias, I just felt that something wasn't quite right. I started labor Sunday morning. Took an entire day for contractions to reach 5 min apart. Even then, I only dilated to a 3. Went in, got admitted, 7hrs later, dilated to a 4. Intense back/pelvic pain. Holy moly, I went without pain meds for 10 hrs of my pitocin induced labor--THAT was bearable. Also, even with a bit of a pitocin boost at 40 some odd hours into it, my contractions wouldn't get any closer than 3min apart, and space back out to 5 min. And the closer they got, the worse Elias did. He also couldn't get into position.

I feel like my biggest feelings of being broken/failure is because of the bias against trying for a VBA2C and people's looks of sympathy when hearing I've had yet another c/s. And then the comments about getting dh fixed, of stopping after Elias, etc. I want at least 2 more kids. And the way people talk, it makes me feel like I am so broken, that I should throw away all those desires.

Anyone else get this 'vibe'?

Ami

[MamitaM]

Ami I don't think you are broken and I don't think you failed. Birth is never completely in your control so you can't really blame yourself for "failing" when it doesn't go as you wanted. You did try. If you'd gone in and said "ok my water broke time for the c/s" then you can't say you tried to have a VBAC or natural birth.

I tired so hard for a natural birth. I waited close to 48 hours after my water broke to visit the hospital. My contractions weren't strong enough and I knew they'd want to give me pit right away if I went that Friday night. I didn't want that or ANY interventions. So I waited until Monday morning. My contractions had been strong,but not to close the night before,but stalled by the time I went,but I knew I had to go in b/c I had serious kidney pain.

They of course tried to get me to take the antibiotics and I kept saying no explaining I knew the risks of not taking them. I had to say yes to the cath though since I tried so hard for about 2 hours to pee and couldn't. Later on they suggested some IV fluids b/c I was dehydrated and my doula agreed that I should take it,but I said no. I later told them it was time for the fluids after getting sick 4 times. So much for the coconut juice I'd just drank to help me out. These 2 interventions seemed pretty natural to me and much needed so I said yes when I was ready for them.

I'd been there quite a while before they offered the pit,a few times and I kept saying no and explained my reasons for not wanting it. They explained my baby was in distress and I needed to move things along and fast,they gave me 30 minutes to start my own contractions,but that didn't help much so I said yes to the pit. They didn't offer me any pain meds though,they knew I'd ask if I wanted them. They knew not to offer them. The contractions got painful,but I handled them well enough. I'll have to ask my doula how long it went on before they talked about a c-section. It felt like forever.

I didn't dilate at all. I arrived at 3 1/2 cm and only got to 4 1/2 close to 24 hours later,even with the pit. They said it was time for the OB to come and talk to me about a s-section,they didn't ask me that time like they had a few hours before. They still didn't force me though,but they were firm and reminded me my baby was in distress and had been for a while. They all said I did well and that it was ok to have the section and if I did it would all be over soon. They all understood how tired I was and how frustrated I was getting.

I don't feel there is anything I could have done to make myself dilate any faster. Maybe I could have waited at home more,but I knew that if I couldn't pee or if I had a kidney infection and stayed home with it things could have been worse for me and the baby. I only went to the hospital b/c I followed my instinct.

I do sorta think that if I birthed vaginally I'd feel different though. I don't know how to explain it. I didn't get to see or feel my son come into the world. I only heard him cry as they pulled him out of me. I miss not being able to reach down and feel the top of his head,the nurses had felt his head during cervical checks though. Maybe I'm a bit envious they did and I didn't. I'm sad I didn't get to see his first mother,the placenta. I really wanted to touch her and take pictures of her. In the OR I didn't even think about that.

[shells_n_cheese]

Congrats to both MamitaM and JTA mom! I wish very speedy and uneventful recoveries.

I had my c/s almost 4 years ago, for the birth of my 1st child. It was quite unexpected and at the time it was pretty traumatic for me. I did have a VBAC 2 yrs later with the homebirth of my daughter, but needless to say it was pretty traumatic, too. I'd say more so than my c/s. When we have our
3rd and final child, I still am not quite sure if I will attempt another vaginal birth (in the hospital), or just sign up for a cesarean.

Thank you for starting this thread, JTA. I hope it stays here, if you KWIM.

[Altair]

I had a c-sec after a 65-70 hr active labor at home, and 15 hours of involuntary and voluntary pushing. There wasn't a chance in heck my boy's enormous coconut head was moving even an inch. I was a HB doula and quite cocky in my views of believing in a woman's ability to birth naturally. I had every bit of strength I needed, there was no wimping out... but at the end of my third watching the sun rise and set, I made the decision to transfer. That boy was STUCK and my body was convulsing and going crazy trying to fight against that fact.

The emotional recovery was made that much harder by the natural childbirth community.

[shells_n_cheese]

Originally Posted by MamitaM

Ami I don't think you are broken and I don't think you failed. Birth is never completely in your control so you can't really blame yourself for "failing" when it doesn't go as you wanted. You did try.

YES.

I often called myself "broken" or "a failure" after my c/s. I thought my HBAC would "heal" me... and it did. But in ways I NEVER would have dreamed of.

My VBAC made me realize I really don't have a lot of control over how the birth will go -- even at home away from all the interventions and OB protocols. You just do it and you hope for the best.

If I needed or elected a c/s for my next child, I wouldn't think of myself as a failure. Just a mother who is about to meet her baby. I try not to put too much emphasis on the actual birth anymore. If all goes well next time, I will consider it a bonus.

[JTA Mom]

Originally Posted by MamitaM

Ami I don't think you are broken and I don't think you failed. Birth is never completely in your control so you can't really blame yourself for "failing" when it doesn't go as you wanted. You did try. If you'd gone in and said "ok my water broke time for the c/s" then you can't say you tried to have a VBAC or natural birth.

Thank you for saying this, Mamita. I have tears in my eyes. I think that after the fluke way of losing Joseph, then the pre-eclampsia with ds2 and then 2 c/s, those around me see me as 'broken'. I mean, how many 'bad' side of the stats can one woman be?

I am also a perfectionist. I am not used to giving it my all and then not reaching my goals. Hence the feeling of failure. But you are right, birth is not something we can control. We can only do so much, but then the rest is out of our hands.

It's interesting though, that my Grandmother, who I am named after, also had childbearing issues. Her first child, my aunt, was delivered by c/s (way back in the 50s, in Greece too, so super antiquated stuff). Her second baby was miscarried around Joseph's gestation (16 weeks) and it was a boy. She had a severe scare with a car nearly hitting her, and went into labor. She then had my mother, also a c/s--however, she ruptured and had to be rushed to the mainland hospital. My mother was in an incubator and my Grandmother had to stay in the hospital the entire year afterwards due to the issues with that.

Sometimes I wonder if it's something with this name. Totally stupid and superstitious but still. It's not a common name, even in Greece. So who knows. Maybe it's a way for me to try to explain what is normally just chaos.

Originally Posted by shells_n_cheese

Congrats to both MamitaM and JTA mom! I wish very speedy and uneventful recoveries.

I had my c/s almost 4 years ago, for the birth of my 1st child. It was quite unexpected and at the time it was pretty traumatic for me. I did have a VBAC 2 yrs later with the homebirth of my daughter, but needless to say it was pretty traumatic, too. I'd say more so than my c/s. When we have our
3rd and final child, I still am not quite sure if I will attempt another vaginal birth (in the hospital), or just sign up for a cesarean.

Thank you for starting this thread, JTA. I hope it stays here, if you KWIM.

Thanks for the well wishes! I don't know if it's okay for you to share, but how was your homebirth traumatic?

I am considering having a HBA2C with my next baby. I don't like hospitals at all, and am much more comfy at home. Who knows though.

My issue with the c/s, the main one, is that we want to have at least 2 more kids. And while some women have many c/s, it's not the 'norm'. I guess, I am scared of having someone else tell me when I should stop having kids. This time around, the surgeon said my uterus looked perfect--no issues. But who knows next time. And while this c/s was tons better (got a better anesthesiologist, so was awake this time--apparently I'm a light weight when it comes to that stuff) I still had to breathe through some of it. Just knowing they were cutting me open, moving stuff around, makes me a bit ill just thinking about it right now. At the time, I wanted to get up and run away!

Originally Posted by Altair

I had a c-sec after a 65-70 hr active labor at home, and 15 hours of involuntary and voluntary pushing. There wasn't a chance in heck my boy's enormous coconut head was moving even an inch. I was a HB doula and quite cocky in my views of believing in a woman's ability to birth naturally. I had every bit of strength I needed, there was no wimping out... but at the end of my third watching the sun rise and set, I made the decision to transfer. That boy was STUCK and my body was convulsing and going crazy trying to fight against that fact.

The emotional recovery was made that much harder by the natural childbirth community.

I lol'ed at the coconut head comment!

I agree with the last part. Sometimes I wonder if I just wasn't strong enough. But shoot, both of us have had DAYS of labor. Even Mamita had days worth of labor.

I get so mad when others, who have had less than one day's worth of labor, tell me that I just didn't give it enough time. I'm sorry, but after 30hrs + of regular contractions, I was EXHAUSTED. There was no 'sleeping through' those suckers, k?

But then my perfectionist side perks up, and goes 'told ya so'. Didn't give it enough time. Maybe if you had waited until 24hrs after your water broke (so if I had decided to labor for 14 more hours) until given no choice, or if you had waited until Elias had really started to crash, you would have done all you can.

But, then the other part of me, the part that could think still, saw that I only had 2 choices, really. One was an emergency c/s--knock me out and literally rip Elias out. OR I could suck it up, give them enough time to put in a working epidural, get properly sedated and give the surgeon time to do a proper c/s.

And as hard as a c/s is, I remember hating how 'out of it' I was with ds2. And how I hated that I didn't get to see him until 24hrs after the birth. And how about the first 6-8 hrs after surgery, I don't remember much, if anything. I actually REMEMBER the surgery, the recovery room and, the most beautiful part, Elias' cry. I missed hearing ds2's cry. There's no way I was doing that again.

It was odd too. I was instantly bonded to Joseph when he was born vaginally. I was instantly bonded to Elias as soon as dh brought him to me. With Stephen, it took time to be bonded. I don't have the memory of feeling him leave my body, of seeing him withing minutes of that like with my other two sons. I think it's a huge reason why my first c/s was so traumatic. I mentally *knew* I had given birth, but the animalistic side, the 'mama bear' side, couldn't make sense of it for a while.

Sorry for going on and on and on. I just feel like getting this all out is helpful. And it's hard to talk to those around me who haven't btdt. I don't know anyone else who's had a c/s. And I don't think many people get it, with regards to recovery. Even the nurses in the hospital were callous. I mean, the day after surgery, I can't exactly move around well, so getting up out of bed, standing up and taking my crying baby out of the bassinet--I need help with that. Help I wasn't getting. And they didn't allow dh or anyone else to stay overnight. I am torn though--their surgeons are excellent, since it's a HUGE public hospital, so if I need another c/s, I definitely want to go there. Afterwards though, I want a different hospital to recuperate in!

Ami

[shells_n_cheese]

JTA Mom, we had a shoulder dystocia.

[GoBecGo]

Thread crashing (i know! Rude!) just to nod in agreement about the natural birth community second-guessing and/or judging. I've been very lucky with my births but it does wear me out when people dress that luck up as "good effort" or "skill". I was lucky. I have had 4 miscarriages, so please don't tell me about how my body works perfectly or i was made to birth babies. More of my children have died in this womb than been safely delivered from it. I'm very grateful that i haven't had a c-s, but i was born by c-s and i know my mum didn't fail me, quite the opposite - she loved me so desperately she faced some massive fears and submitted to painful surgery and recovery to get me here. She was made of IRON, her motto was always "have plan B" - she was always the one for "what's the next viable alternative?", sure she didn't always get to do things the easy or "right" (according to other peoples opinions) way, but her flexibility got 6 kids raised (4 of whom she raised as a single mama), meant she was never without a way to earn money, and got her 7 years of life AFTER she was given 6-12months when her cancer was diagnosed.

When i think of the things so many women front up to and bear out, only to be told by others they have failed It makes me so sad and angry.

I'm not wording any of this very well, but i just wanted to tell you that i think you are amazing, not failures. I hate how as women society can fail us, medicine can fail us, plain old LUCK can fail us, and at the end there will be a blame and it will be rested heavily onto the shoulders of the individual. For me a good mother is courageous, a good mother is flexible, a good mother is loving. Arguably many of you were more courageous, flexible and loving on the day your babies were born than i was after a year of motherhood.

[MoonStarFalling]

she loved me so desperately she faced some massive fears and submitted to painful surgery and recovery to get me here.

This made me tear up. This is just how my last birth went. I was really let down when my birth community couldn't recognize what an amazing thing I had just done...even if it wasn't roaring out a baby at home.

shells_n_cheese, yes and yes. Actually my second c/s ended up being very healing. Totally changed my thinking and my focus for this coming birth.

I'm 3 years out from my HBAC transfer. I still had lots to process during this pregnancy.

[JTA Mom]

Originally Posted by GoBecGo

- she loved me so desperately she faced some massive fears and submitted to painful surgery and recovery to get me here.

Thank you for saying this!

I am TERRIFIED of surgery. Always have been. I was sobbing with ds2. SOBBING.

This time around, when I saw Elias' heart rate plummeting, over and over, having to roll around jiggling my belly to keep him above 90, I *knew* what I was facing. And I was still terrified. I didn't tell anyone (you all are the first to hear this) but as they were wheeling me to the OR and prepping me, all I could think of was that I might die on the table. I could just bleed out. Or worse, after surgery, get a huge infection. These thought were constantly running through my head. It doesn't help that my maternal Grandparents had to have surgeries, and it didn't work out well for them. They never got better and my Grandma, at least, died from an embolism due to her last surgery. So, yea, the terror of surgery runs deep. Even my mom, seeing her grandson's heartrate, didn't want me to go in. In fact, during surgery, while they were stitching me up, she was saying that we should stop at the two we have, because of the major surgeries I had to go through.

-----------------------------------------------

Have any of you c/s mamas found that most people brush off how major a surgery a c/s is? I find that I have to remind people I am barely 13 days out of having had major surgery, so my energy/abilities are not in the 'normal' range. It's hard enough for me to take care of my newborn and my toddler (thank goodness for Netflix on demand!), much less make sure I eat/drink enough during the day to keep from passing out at the end of the day.

It's a weird disconnect. Also, those of you with more than one older child, how do you do it? I am having a lot of family help right now, but I'm not sure of having the same amount of help if we are blessed with another one. How do you keep from falling apart?

Ami

[shells_n_cheese]

Originally Posted by JTA Mom

Have any of you c/s mamas found that most people brush off how major a surgery a c/s is? I find that I have to remind people I am barely 13 days out of having had major surgery, so my energy/abilities are not in the 'normal' range. It's hard enough for me to take care of my newborn and my toddler (thank goodness for Netflix on demand!), much less make sure I eat/drink enough during the day to keep from passing out at the end of the day.

It's a weird disconnect. Also, those of you with more than one older child, how do you do it? I am having a lot of family help right now, but I'm not sure of having the same amount of help if we are blessed with another one. How do you keep from falling apart?

I am also afraid of surgery. I was really naive going into the induction, and didn't even think a c/s was a real possibility (I know, ridiculous), so when my OB told me, "We need to do a c/s", it was like being hit with a Mac truck. I think I went into shock after that.

YES! People brush off c/s all the time! It's like they simply equate it with the process of having a child--and totally have amnesia about the major surgery part. It is very irritating. Example: a few weeks after my c/s, I was at a get-together at my parents' house. My sister had dental surgery a few days prior, and my father asked her how she was feeling, etc. etc. I was hurt and angry. He NEVER ONCE asked me how I was after the c/s, and it is major surgery! I also had dental surgery before, and it was NOTHING like having and recovering from a c/s. No one (besides DH) asked me how I was. The only thing I was asked by my family was to see my incision, as they had never seen a c/s incision -- I felt like a figgen circus freak!

After I had my c/s, I only had the one child, so I haven't had to take care of multiple children after surgery. It was tough with one though, but I also had NO help. My family was across the state, my DH went back to work a few days after the birth, and we had just moved to the town so we knew no one.

Hang in there Ami. Keep trying to take it easy and taking advantage of Netflix! I can't imagine more than one to care for with no help.

[First Time Mama]

I had a c/s three years ago. I was convinced I was going to have a homebirth, I had been a doula and a midwifery student prior. I planned a hombirth, labored at home for a long time, and my son never descended and ended up getting stuck in a posterior position. I pushed for many hours, off an on throughout a night, before I made the decision to transfer in the early morning hours. Having a c section was emotionally devastating for me, and I did feel like a failure for a long time, although I don't feel that way anymore. I think that my c section may have been avoidable if things had been handled differently during my early labor, but that by the time we got to the hospital it was probably the best choice. However, it has taken me a long time to feel that way, and the c section was traumatic for me. I am planning my HBAC, and trying really hard to have faith in birth again, but as much as I think you can put in effort and be educated and make the right choices for yourself, and that all of those things increase the odds of a good experience, I know ultimately the outcome of labor is not something that can be controlled, and I hope if I have another c/s that I it can be better last time , and I won't feel traumatized.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by JTA Mom

Have any of you c/s mamas found that most people brush off how major a surgery a c/s is?

Yes...almost everybody. When I was getting prepped for my fifth (and last!!) c-section last year, the anesthesiologist came in, and looked at the IV that had been placed. She immediately said it wasn't adequate and needed to be replaced, because it wouldn't take a transfusion fast enough if something went wrong. She then said, "I don't expect anything to go wrong, but this is major surgery, as much as we try to pretend it isn't". I wanted to kiss her. Over the course of five c-sections, with five different medical teams (one OB did two of them, and my family doctor assisted at the same two...but everyone else was different), she's the only medpro to acknowledge that. As for the general public? Forget it. I've been told that I'm lucky I didn't have to push a baby out, that I "got off easy" and and that I "cheated". The fact that this is surgery seems to right past people's heads.

[Snapdragon]

Thanks for starting this thread! Lots of people on mdc have been talking about how we need a thread like this
I am pretty well healed from my c section 6 months or so ago. Now I am scared of birth though- as my birth did not go as I had thought. So now that is a factor in if I want another child or not (not the main factor though- the main factor is do we want a second child! but it is on my mind) Scared of a c section, scared of a vaginal birth - just scared of it in general after my last experience.

[JTA Mom]

Originally Posted by shells_n_cheese

YES! People brush off c/s all the time! It's like they simply equate it with the process of having a child--and totally have amnesia about the major surgery part. It is very irritating.

I am sorry about the shoulder dystocia. Sometimes I feel that we mamas who have had a c/s deserve much calmer, easier births afterwards. I mean, seriously, can't *one* go well?

Originally Posted by First Time Mama

I am planning my HBAC, and trying really hard to have faith in birth again, but as much as I think you can put in effort and be educated and make the right choices for yourself, and that all of those things increase the odds of a good experience, I know ultimately the outcome of labor is not something that can be controlled, and I hope if I have another c/s that I it can be better last time , and I won't feel traumatized.

I don't remember where in my journey I've read it, but somewhere someone said birth is like swimming the english channel. Sometimes, it's a clear, sunny day, and you have the wind at your back. Other days, it's dark and stormy, and you get a leg cramp halfway through. For some reason, we've had the dark & stormy days. I hope, for you, that you get a nice clear, sunny day for your HBAC!

Originally Posted by Storm Bride

Yes...almost everybody. When I was getting prepped for my fifth (and last!!) c-section last year, the anesthesiologist came in, and looked at the IV that had been placed. She immediately said it wasn't adequate and needed to be replaced, because it wouldn't take a transfusion fast enough if something went wrong. She then said, "I don't expect anything to go wrong, but this is major surgery, as much as we try to pretend it isn't". I wanted to kiss her. Over the course of five c-sections, with five different medical teams (one OB did two of them, and my family doctor assisted at the same two...but everyone else was different), she's the only medpro to acknowledge that. As for the general public? Forget it. I've been told that I'm lucky I didn't have to push a baby out, that I "got off easy" and and that I "cheated". The fact that this is surgery seems to right past people's heads.

Thank goodness she said that! I had a nurse chastise me when I told her how bad I was feeling 2 days post-op and I was angry for feeling that way. She said, and I quote "you've just been through major surgery. Did you just think you'd be like normal the next day? If you had had bladder surgery, no one would have half the expectations of you as they do now".

And it's so true. Even the other nurses there, they didn't really help me. There was no nursery for ds to go back to. Honestly, it was hellish. For the first 2 days I couldn't pick up my son from his bassinet. Or change him. Or do anything other than bf. And the nurses did not help me pick him up at all. In fact, during the night once, he started screaming, and I paged a nurse, asking for help because I couldn't pick him up. NO ONE CAME. Thank God for the mother rooming in with me--she got up and helped me get my baby. The feeling of helplessness, of hearing my baby screaming and not being able to get to him, is horrible. Even now, I feel like I push myself a lot because if I don't, who will take care of my babies? When ds2 is hungry, I have to get him food. When both have poopy diapers, I have to change them. If I don't wash clothes every couple days, we'd be walking around naked.

Oh, and those people saying I 'cheated' or got the easy way out. Honestly, sometimes I want to take a scalpel and cut them open, stitch them up and then 1) sleep deprive them, 2) force them to pump every 30min to 2hrs (randomly too, and sometimes in chunks back to back), 3) make them walk around, changing clothes/diapers/etc. Then ask them how 'easy' it is.

Originally Posted by Snapdragon

Now I am scared of birth though- as my birth did not go as I had thought. So now that is a factor in if I want another child or not (not the main factor though- the main factor is do we want a second child! but it is on my mind) Scared of a c section, scared of a vaginal birth - just scared of it in general after my last experience.

As scary as this second c/s is, I too want another baby. It's crazy how even through all that fear, the desire for another baby is still there. If you want to tell more about your birth, just to get it out, feel free to. As you can see, I've been letting it all hang out in this thread. I need to talk about it openly, to others who've btdt, to process it. And it has helped. Knowing I can come here and just lay it out and have women who get it--oh, geez, does that ever help.

Ami

[happyblessedmama]

So I'm 1 month (and 2 days!) post c/s... joining because I feel like it can't hurt and can only help! I am not tooooo emotionally torn up about it because I do think mine was necessary... baby was transverse in active labor with a cord presenting. Not much you can do about that...

re: sympathy expression - people do that to me because I had 5 vaginal deliveries and then this c/s. I don't look at it as something to be "sorry" about, there wasn't really another way about it so I had to take the ride, KWIM?

I don't think I've necessarily had an easy recovery. I still can't do a lot of the stuff I want to do! I'm still taking ibuprofin and other rx meds (which I'm almost out of)... because I still have pain if I do "too much"... but I don't hit "too much" until it's too late!

I'm hoping soon... soon the pain will be completely gone?

[palmgal]

Hi everyone, what a great idea I am 24 weeks pregnant and preparing for my second c-section, third birth. My first birth was a drug-free natural birth with few complications until the very end. I had a pretty bad shoulder dystocia which was resolved when the OB reached in twisted (and broke) her collarbone and pulled her out. The alarms were going off, doctors were running into the room, and although she is fine now it was pretty touch and go for awhile, she had an apgar of 1 when she was delivered.

With my second, I was diagnosed with gestational (actually type 1) diabetes at 9 weeks. I was placed with a high risk practice and was told fro the very beginning that I should expect a section. Of course, I fought this the whole pregnancy. The doctor explained that I was at high risk for another dystocia because of my previous dystocia, this time I was diabetic, and this baby was a boy and would likely be heavier and broader in the shoulders. As I got closer to birth I got less and less brave, as I started to remember how terrifying it was during an actual birth emergency. I finally consented to the section. The actual section went much better than I imagined, I had a quick recovery and no complications.

Now I am starting to freak out about the whole process again. I remember how long it took to start feeling "normal" again after the surgery. I remember how scared I was being rolled into surgery. Not looking forward to it!

I do have some questions for those who have recently gone through it. My son had low blood sugar after birth (not shocking since my blood sugar went sky-high during surgery and they really lagged providing me insulin). The had to supplement him with formula at first, but they did not even offer him to me to nurse (presumably because his sugar was quite low). This time I am planning on pre-pumping colostrum prior to delivery. I would of course, rather nurse him right away. Did any c-section mamas get to nurse immediately (i.e. while they were still completing the operation), and was it difficult positioning the baby?

Thanks!