Positive C section stories, please?

[mariee]

I really need to hear some positive C section stories.  If you have had a positive, peaceful and reassuring experience, please tell me about it!

I'm finding myself in a place where I may need one and I'm very uncomfortable with the whole idea. I need some reassurance.   

Please, I don't have any emotional space left to be questioned, instructed, or hear a negative or painful experience.  I posted this request in a different forum and people actually responded with their horror stories instead positive experiences, which I think has done more damage to my emotions in the last 24 hours.....  

If you can help, I'd really appreciate it :)

[olive&pimiento]

A friend of mine was planning a home birth when she found out at 37 weeks that her baby was breech.  She tried all the rotation tricks, including ECV with no luck.  She ended up deciding on a c-sec and had a wonderful ob.  She raved about the entire experience.  The hospital staff helped her nurse in the recovery room and gave complete support for all of her decisions.  It is very possible to have a wonderful birth experience with a c-sec and I hope that if this is the route you end up going that you find it so.  Good luck!

[harmie0515]

I have had 3 c-sections. My easiest recovery was the one I didn't labor before the surgery.  I have been able to send my husband with the baby while I was being sewn up, and the longest I had to wait without them was 1 hour (but they took longer to sew me up and I healed beautifully.)  My babies have always latched on right away and our nursing relationship always had a great start.  

I've always been up and walking within a couple hours, and I've never had infections along my scar.  

The things I've really learned are :

Double layer closure uterus  (especially if you want more kids and want to VBAC)

Staples are much less comfortable that being sewn up or glued together

A boppy is great to help hold baby up (especially at first in a hospital bed)

A blow dryer is a super easy way to dry off your incision after a shower

I am so grateful there is a way for me to grow babies and birth them with us all living to tell the tale. I was saddened by some of my family that really pitied me for having a c-section, but (without details) they were medically necessary and we were just so happy to have a healthy baby. 

Best of luck to you!

[sbgrace]

I had labor/pushing that ended with a c section. My section recovery was a breeze. It really was. I took gas medicine and pain medicine as instructed. I was told you want to stay ahead of pain. Morphine made me itchy so they did something else pretty quickly. I really had an easy and uncomplicated recovery from that section. I wish we hadn't done the whole pushing part first!

I had a friend who had a similar experience as I did (long pushing ending in section) and had her 2nd with a planned c section. She said the planned was very, very smooth.

[mariee]

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your feedback.  And I especially appreciate those of you who left out the more complicated or negative details.  I just really need to hear that a c sec can be ok, I think.

Good tip about the suturing vs. staples.  I had heard something about that and you reminded me that I need to address that.  

I'm hoping that I won't need to have one, but I think that I will do much better if I emotionally prepare for it now!

[heatherfd]

I had both my children by cesars .

The first I was a prim breech where not evne the breech engaged .

I was able to feed my son in theatre & was up showering the next day .

Here in Australia , NSAID suppositories are used for post-op pain , that and some paracetamol.

For my second baby i was 43 , assisted conception with gestational diabetes and severe pre-ecplampsia , so VBAC wasnt an option

( well not a safe one ) .

Again I had a cesar under spinal aneasthesia and was up & walking 4 hours post-op .

Can I recommend disposable panties , the hairdryer trick & yes staples seem more copmfortable .

Most Obs do a 2 layer closure anyway ( Im a Ob myslef) so you shouldnt need to worry about that .

Good luck & rememeber , it can be a very positive experience !

PS No one mentioned aneasthetic so far but a spinal gives a much denser albeit shorter duration block , and as it uses a smaller needle , ( rather than the cannula needed for an epidural ) it has less side effects eg headahce etc . Plus its in & out so less risk of infection .
 

[yenta esther]

I have had 2 of my 5 children via c/sec. I loved all the extra attention the nurses gave me. And I am weird but I loved the catheter in my bladder overnight b/c I was able to nurse my infant and not leave the bed to pee.

[ckny]

If it's not too late, Mariee, my husband and I still rave about our perfect C Section experience!  We were disappointed when my OBGYN said that I needed to have one due to my large fibroids near my cervix, in addition to other issues.  I had specifically chosen to have my baby in the UK instead of the US closer to my family thinking that I would be more likely to have a natural birth in the UK, but at the end, I was happy with how things turned out.  

I spoke to a few friends who had had emergency CS, which weren't positive experiences for them, but this helped me know what to expect and research.  There are so many surprises that happen during birth, but I still felt it necessary to write a realistic and concise BIRTH PLAN both for a CS and a natural birth.  (My doctor made a deal with me:  if the baby dropped and/or I went into labor before the due date, we could try a natural birth).  

I'm not sure how things work in the US hospitals, but it's worth discussing your preferences with your doctor in advance, though I had discussed them with the midwife in the hospital the day of, and she actually remembered everything!  In my CS birth plan I insisted that my husband stay in the room with me at all times.  I had an epidural (which was the scariest part of the whole thing because I hate needles, though the anesthesiologist was the most comforting to me!)   I asked them to lower the screen when the baby was born and to place the baby directly on my chest before taking him anywhere else.  Immediately after they closed me up, they took us all to the recovery room where I was able to breast feed (more successfully than the weeks after!)  I also mentioned little things in my plan like "no music" b/c I wanted everyone to understand what was being said with all the various accents in the room! :)  

The actual surgery was SO quick, though it was the sewing up that took a little longer.  At that point our little guy was born so I was distracted by him and not what the doctors were doing.  

I found it very helpful to my recovery that I had done Pilates EVERY day during my pregnancy (due to previous back issues).  A lot of the exercises we did in the hospital and later were practically the same moves I did with my Pilates instructor and at home, so perhaps you could talk with someone in advance to start doing some of those exercises before your due date. (Simple things like ankle circles, knee drops, etc.)  Any other exercises that you already do to keep you strong are probably just as useful. 

I took Arnica globules the day of the surgery (though some recommended the day before) to help the bruising go down quickly.  I didn't feel any pain after the surgery due to the pain killers, but there was some numbness on an off for a few months around the scar area which no one warned me about, I guess because each person's body reacts differently.  

Finally, my lovely SIL came from Germany to help us move home (!!!) a week after the birth and she cooked and did housework for a week so that I could recover.  

Please feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions about the birth plan...

[krst234]

Not a c-section mom myself. But I've seen some very nice mother-baby practices employed at c-sections. I know not all hospitals are this progressive... but some are. And they do a really good job keeping mom and baby together - is this an option for you? I've found there are OB nurses that will go out of their way to help moms and babies stay together, breastfeed within the first hour, and not separate the two during recovery if it's not necessary.

Ask questions of everyone in your care team: the doc, the anesthesiologist, the nurses - you know, to them, they do a lot of surgery and it can become routine, I think it helps for them to hear from the patient's perspective - it's not only a surgery - most importantly, it's the birth of your child! It's a big deal in so many ways.

Can you have a doula or a friend with you to take photos? I would want to have with me a doula who's familiar with being in the OR. It helps to have a lot of the things/sounds/procedures explained.

Recovery is different that with a vaginal birth - make sure to take extra care of yourself - and to allow others to help you. Ask lots of questions of your OB nurses postpartum - these ladies are a wealth of knowledge!

I've found that if your providers know you're nervous, they'll take some extra time and make effort to help you feel safe.

A c-section is most importantly A BIRTH. And should be celebrated and honored as such. It's just as magical to hear a baby's first cry at a c-birth as it is a vaginal birth - I promise!
 

[Dia]

Hey Marie,
I'm sorry you need to have a c-section. I just had my first baby one month ago and this was my biggest fear. After a long natural labor at home, it ended up being the way he needed to come unto the world. I can honestly tell you it was okay - it was not the horrible experience I thought it would be.
It was very quick
I wasn't in pain
Breast feeding has been a breeze -very successful
I'm healing amazingly well. I pretty much am back to my pp size, and the scar is tiny and no big deal (even at just one month)
I hope that this is some comfort. I wish you peace and a great birth experience.

[owlhowl]

I have had 3 cesarean births and two of them were amazing! DS2's birth was empowering (!!!! I know, weird for a c-section ) & DS3's birth was so peaceful.

My 3rd was the only one I had planned. I highly recommend hypnobabies course for cesareans. Knowing you are going to have a cesarean is a blessing!

[Ayame]

I was hoping for a natural birth with midwives in a hospital but ended up needing an unplanned c-section.  It wasn't the birth experience that I wanted, but everyone (midwives, nurses, OB, etc) was really sensitive and helpful.  I knew that it was necessary because I trusted my midwives and knew that together we had really tried everything first, so that helped me feel at peace about having to have the c section. 

My husband was with me during the surgery holding my hand and we had a few minutes with our baby that were really amazing before he and the baby went to the recovery room.  I joined them as soon as I was stitched up.  I felt a bit lonely being left behind when they left but the anesthesiologist was friendly and chatted with me while I was being sewed up so that helped.

I think you're in a better position knowing in advance that it may be necessary - it gives you a chance to learn about hospital policies ahead of time and plan.  For example, can your doula (if you have one) also be in the surgery room?  I would've loved to have had her there with me after my husband and baby left.  Can you have your baby skin to skin and breastfeed right away after the surgery instead of waiting till your sewed up and in the recovery room?  (I've read of this being possible in books but didn't even have the presence of mind to ask after my surgery.)  Just think about what you need to know about the surgery to feel comfortable and find out the answers.

And for the recovery - at first it was hard for me but really, every day is so much better than the day before, so remind yourself of that if you have a hard day. 

About pain medication - I didn't realize that my pain meds were supposed to be on demand, so I was waiting for nurses to give them to me and they were waiting for me to ask, so I suffered a little unnecessary pain at first.  If you make sure that is clear, you can avoid that happening!

Anyway, that all happened 11 weeks ago and now I am just happy to be here with my son (he's sleeping in my lap right now).  I feel like the way he was born really isn't that important to me now - what is important is that he's here with us now. 

[cynthiamoon]

Thank you for requesting this thread, and thank you all who replied in the proper spirit!

I was worried about placenta previa for a while and found it really hard to deal with all the negativity around c-sections. I want to be prepared for anything so that if it has to happen, I don't just fall apart.