C section question (please don't flame me) - Page 3

[egoldber]

that this is actually an archaic rule and it is actually better to eat soon after the surgery to help things get moving

What I have seen is that telling patients not to eat after surgery has no benefit vs allowing them to resume a normal diet. With my first cesarean, I was allowed only clear fluids by mouth until I had bowel activity (gas). With my second cesarean (different hospital, different OB), I was allowed to eat as soon as I wanted. In general, I liked being able to eat sooner, but honestly I should have made smarter food choices (hard in the hospital though). I had SEVERE gas pains for several days and didn't have a bowel movement for almost a week after my surgery and it was PAINFUL. So ask your OB about eating post-surgery, but make sure to have some good food on hand.

[intorainbowz]

Bicitra

OP, So far no one has mentioned the "fun" that Bicitra is. They give you this small cup of nasty liquid to drink. For some reason, they added fake grape flavoring to this. The liquid neutralizes the acid in your stomach, so it/WHEN you throw up, the acid is gone. However, I can no longer STAND fake grape flavorings. No more grape Popsicles for me, as I threw up fake grape flavoring for a couple of hours.

I threw up a lot afterward. When I have my next baby, I will be very aggressive about having ZOFRAN given to me every 4 hours, not on request. I threw up a lot the day I had her. I wanted mints, but for some reason only wanted to such the outside off of white Tic Tacs, then I spit them out.

My OB did not require the gas passing stuff, so normal meals were brought to me that very day. I did not eat because of the nausea, but I could of. The next morning I was starving, and ate just fine.

Another thing to look out for is constipation. From the Zofran, narcs, etc, I got very constipated. A nurse gave me a suppository, which relieved that problem. I was given a stool softener while in the hospital.

Drink warm Chamomile tea. Try to avoid cold drinks, they mess with your insides. The tea helps get things going. Also drinking lots of water will help flush the meds out, and helps with breast feeding.

I had a spinal, and had no complaints. I had duramorph put into the spinal, which was a life saver as I did not feel the throwing up, which I bet would have been agony. It did make me itch, itch, itch. If you are breast feeding, I'd advise against taking the benadryl they will offer, it dried up a friend of mine's milk. I had no sedatives, and did not need them.

DH and I talked through the whole thing. He saw her come out. At one point I felt like I could not breathe, and my OB reminded me I could, as I was talking. We held hands. My other hand had a blood pressure cuff on it. I was not tied down, and Only one arm was stuck out, the other hand DH held.

I felt movement, not pain. It felt like they were scrubbing my belly, or jiggling my fat, if that makes sense. Make sure they put the catheter in AFTER the spinal, no one needs to feel that.

DH was with me the whole time. He helped hold me when the spinal went in. I would not want it any other way. He saw her be born. He did not leave my side.

The battle to keep your contacts in is very worth it. My Ob was fine with it, but the prep nurse wanted me to take them out. I refused. Then the anesthesiologist came in to do the history, I told him about them, and told him that I am wearing the kind approved for extended wear. He had no problems with me leaving them in. Oh, DH was there for all the prep too. I had no problems with him being there. The nurse suggested he leave, but I told her I was not embarrassed with him being there.

Umm... Sensitive subject, but shave yourself. She scraped at me with water and a one blade razor. I could have done a much better job at home with my usual razor and some good shaving cream. You only need to shave about half way down, if you get my meaning.

I found a link with a "What to expect with a c-section" theme video here.

I did not get a spinal headache, but I know people who have. Take your pain meds they will help you manage.

I was up walking about 4 hours after, I had the great motivation of wanting to see my baby in the NICU. The next morning after I was tube free, I got myself up and was walking around. It hurt most getting up or down, once I was in bed or standing or sitting, I was fine. I drove a week later.

Get up as soon as you can. I've been told that's why my recovery was so easy. Yes, I used the word easy. I felt so rotten while pregnant, that the next day, I felt wonderful. It was not all peaches and cream, but still very manageable by my experience, but YMMW.

Slip on slippers are essential. You won't be bending to put on shoes for a while.

When you remove your bandage, request adhesive remover. The tape burns I experienced from removing the bandage were WORSE than my incision. I did not have too much bleeding, but the ice pack pads were really nice to put on my incision. I put washcloths in between my fold to keep the incision dry, when I did not have an ice pack pad in there.

After the baby is born, you will shake. I was cold, but the shaking continued even after I was warm. My Ob said it was hormonal. They will give you pitocin, but I did not feel the cramps, because of the spinal.

The spinal completely wore off about 10 hours later, but I was up walking about 4 hours later. I will admit I lied about how ready I was to get up because I wanted to see my baby, but I was able to get to the toilet across the room. I needed help bathing for about a week, because I could not bend to wash my legs. DH was wonderful.

Bring your own pillows and maybe a blanket from home. Nothing felt as nice as being settled into my own comfy pillows and my own blanket that smelled like home with warm blankets too. I was very cold after. Hospital pillows are nasty.

PM me if you want more info. Good luck.

[BookGoddess]

My c-section went ok as they go, I suppose. I was in labor for over 20 hours, dilated to 10cm, pushed for several hours with no luck and ended up having a c-section.

I had a spinal block. I had violent shivering afterwards but thankfully no headache. DH once had a spinal tap done and he developed a horrendous headache from it. The blood patch fixed his headache right away and I'm assuming it will work for a headache from the spinal anesthesia just as well.

The worst part of the c-section, other than not seeing my DD for the first hour, was the horrendous gas pain. I still shudder when I think about it. I felt like I was dying. Seriously, I did. I told my brother who called me long-distance that I was in excruciating pain from trapped gas in my abdomen. It was my own fault. I told the nurse that I had passed gas when I hadn't so she would allow me to eat solids. I was sick of the Jello and the broth. I wanted real food. Well, I paid a price. The solid food brough all this gas that distended my stomach. I looked like I still had DD inside me! I don't recommend lying to the nurse about the passing gas. I had to take Reglan and a stool softner for several days before I passed the gas. It's a bit embarassing but everyone cheered when I announced I had farted.

Walking the day after the surgery was very painful. Just getting up was hard. I didn't really walk. I shuffled along like an elderly person (no offense). I didn't realize how often I used the muscles in my mid-section. Flabby they might have been but they worked well. I appreciated my body much more after the c-section.

I was offered prescription painkillers but I took them only for 3 days. After that good old Advil worked just as well.

I recovered pretty fast from the operation. By 6 weeks I was well enough to be given the ok to exercise and resume normal activities though I didn't. I started going back to exercising when DD was around 3 months old. My incision is very thin. It doesn't hurt. It was numb for a while but not anymore. From time to time it itches but I'm not sure if it's just normal itching or something particular to the incision.

Good luck! Feel free to PM me if you want more details.

[treemom2]

Another thing I haven't seen mentioned, maybe other moms haven't had this, but I had pp bleading for the entire 6 weeks--was still spotting pretty heavily at my postpartum checkup. After the HBAC--only bled for about a week. Other moms have this?

[intorainbowz]

Actually, my bleeding was down to panty liner maneagable by the time I went home. I bought all sorts of huge pads but never used them. I think this is a YMMW thing as well.

I was off the narcs and onto Advil 4 days later when I went home, as well.

[wifeandmom]

Originally Posted by intorainbowz

Actually, my bleeding was down to panty liner maneagable by the time I went home. I bought all sorts of huge pads but never used them. I think this is a YMMW thing as well.

How much you bleed after a c-section will depend in large part upon how well they clean out the uterus after delivering the baby and placenta.

If it is an emergnecy/emergent section, it is unlikely that they'll take much time to meticulously scrape the lining of the uterus more than absolutely necessary. This is usually to decrease the time you spend on the table.

If the OR/doc/staff or any combination of those is needed for another surgery, they are going to do the bare minimum (cleaning out the uterus after delivering the placenta is NOT necessary medically) to get you out of there so whomever else needs the OR/doc/staff can be dealt with.

Sometimes it just depends on the particular doctor as to how much they do.

It also makes a difference how well and how quickly your body heals itself where they detach the placenta.

I was very lucky both times. Never bled a single drop the first time around, however this was attributed in most part to the fact that they cleaned out my uterus VERY well to demonstrate how it was done to the med student who was present for my surgery.

The second time, I mentioned to my OB (different doc/hospital) how nice it was to not bleed for weeks on end, and she said as long as I was stable and nobody had any other pressing needs for her to tend to, she'd be happy to clean me out really well.

I ended up spotting that time for about 3 days, enough for a pantiliner.


Also, if at all possible, getting UP and out of the bed as.soon.as.possible. is critical to making recovery easier. I was up walking within 4-6 hours both times, something I don't think a lot of women typically do til 12 or so hours after surgery. I'm not sure why they came so soon after my first section, but I got up on my own (make sure you have at least two adults, one on each side, JUST IN CASE you pass out or think you're going to fall...better safe than sorry!) very quickly after my second section cause I knew it hadn't hurt the first time around.

Really though, MOVING is what's important, even if it's just bending your legs in the bed as soon as possible. This is also very important to reduce the risk of blood clot formation after surgery.

[marieandchris]

Hi...the following is my c-section birth plan, which I used for my second section, a breech just like her older brother. I hope this helps you with your section and for the planning of it, just in case....



Birth Plan – C-section for breech delivery

General preferences: We are a family who is very familiar with hospital protocols surrounding c-sections, having already had one section due to a breech presentation three years ago of my older son (at Bryn Mawr Hospital.) Chris and I feel it is vital to our baby’s and our health and well-being that we are not separated from our baby at any point from the time of birth until we are released from Lankenau’s care (provided that there is no emergency situation requiring a separation.) The following are specific requests that we are submitting in advance of our arrival:

Pre-operative care for Marie:
• We request that Chris be allowed to be present for Marie’s spinal. Bryn Mawr Hospital allowed this request, and it was very much appreciated by both of us.
• Please administer the bladder catheter to Marie after the spinal has been completed. While a seemingly minor request, catheter insertion is very uncomfortable.
• Please allow one of my midwives to be present during the operation to assist both me and my husband.
• Please use a 2-layer uterine closer.
• Please, if it is at all possible, close the external incision with sutures instead of staples.
Neo-natal care for Sadie, including immediately post-partum
• Sadie should never leave our care. Immediately after her birth (after Apgar scores, etc.) she should be given to Chris, who will hold her in a separate, darkened room (skin-to-skin) while Marie is being closed. In recovery, we will initiate breastfeeding and mom/baby bonding. It is our overwhelming preference that the initial well-baby visit should be done in our room, but if for some reason this is an impossible scenerio, dad and baby will go to the nursery together for this initial visit. We would agree to this only after breastfeeding and initial bonding has been established between mom and baby. (Dad will also visit with Sadie in the nursery for the hearing test if the equipment is too bulky to move into the room.)
• We will bathe Sadie in our room.
• No antibiotic eye gel should be administered
• No Hepatitis B shot
• No Vitamin K shot (we will provide oral Vitamin K through our pediatrician)
• Sadie is to be exclusively breastfed. Absolutely no sugar water or formula should be given to Sadie at any time during our hospital stay. If, for some reason (dangerously low blood sugar count, excessive biliruben, etc.), it is mandatory that she receive something other than mom’s colostrum, we will provide expressed breastmilk for this purpose.
• Nothing should be done to the baby without our expressed consent. If for some reason she turns out (miraculously) to be a boy, that includes circumcision.
Post-partum care for Marie
• Since we have excellent midwifery care and an extraordinarily large support system at home, my request is that I be released as soon as it is safe to do so. (My last hospital stay was less than 48 hours…)
• I really hate IV’s, so I respectfully ask that mine be removed as soon as possible.
• I will need to have assistance in my room overnight for all nights of my stay. My husband will probably need to stay with my 3 year old son overnight, so I wish to have one friend/midwife with me overnights instead of my husband.

[maxmama]

Originally Posted by treemom2

This part was awful too! First they don't let you eat during labor, then you get a c-sec and they won't let you eat till you pass gas. For me this was two days after the surgery--I was so hungry and grouchy--I hadn't eaten in almost three days. Yeh, they brought me jello and clear soup--blech!!! I actually read someplace, I can't remember right now--but will try and find it, that this is actually an archaic rule and it is actually better to eat soon after the surgery to help things get moving. Let me see where I found this. . .anyone know?

We feed our section patients as soon as they're not nauseated, even if that takes meds. Most are eating in recovery. They do very well. There's a lot of nursing research on early eating and ambulation after surgery in general and the decreased risk of ileus.

[maxmama]

Originally Posted by BookGoddess

My c-section went ok as they go, I suppose. I was in labor for over 20 hours, dilated to 10cm, pushed for several hours with no luck and ended up having a c-section.

I had a spinal block. I had violent shivering afterwards but thankfully no headache. DH once had a spinal tap done and he developed a horrendous headache from it. The blood patch fixed his headache right away and I'm assuming it will work for a headache from the spinal anesthesia just as well.

The worst part of the c-section, other than not seeing my DD for the first hour, was the horrendous gas pain. I still shudder when I think about it. I felt like I was dying. Seriously, I did. I told my brother who called me long-distance that I was in excruciating pain from trapped gas in my abdomen. It was my own fault. I told the nurse that I had passed gas when I hadn't so she would allow me to eat solids. I was sick of the Jello and the broth. I wanted real food. Well, I paid a price. The solid food brough all this gas that distended my stomach. I looked like I still had DD inside me! I don't recommend lying to the nurse about the passing gas. I had to take Reglan and a stool softner for several days before I passed the gas. It's a bit embarassing but everyone cheered when I announced I had farted.

Walking the day after the surgery was very painful. Just getting up was hard. I didn't really walk. I shuffled along like an elderly person (no offense). I didn't realize how often I used the muscles in my mid-section. Flabby they might have been but they worked well. I appreciated my body much more after the c-section.

I was offered prescription painkillers but I took them only for 3 days. After that good old Advil worked just as well.

I recovered pretty fast from the operation. By 6 weeks I was well enough to be given the ok to exercise and resume normal activities though I didn't. I started going back to exercising when DD was around 3 months old. My incision is very thin. It doesn't hurt. It was numb for a while but not anymore. From time to time it itches but I'm not sure if it's just normal itching or something particular to the incision.

Good luck! Feel free to PM me if you want more details.

Walking is actually much mroe important in avoiding gas and an ileus than avoiding food until you pass gas. It hurts. You need to walk at least three times a day, no kidding, for ten minutes or so at a time. Take enough pain meds that you can do this, because walking will do more to hasten recovery than anything else.

[maxmama]

Originally Posted by caned & able

So it must be the patient's fault.

Guess what? I'm a very difficult epidural placement due to scoliosis. I don't take it personally. It's not my fault. It's not anyone's fault, and the best anesthesiologist in the world will have trouble getting a good block in me. It's not all about fault and blaming. Get over that idea. People are different, and some people are more difficult to block than others. No one blames them for that, but there are small differences that can make the difference between a completely adequate block and a crappy one.

[caned & able]

Wow!

Let me just say that if the OP needs a caesarean, then she simply needs to recognize the simple fact that one intervention will lead to the next, and not all will fit.

The OP asked not to flame her, but some of you like to flame others for simply sharing information. My experience is that few people ask the right questions, get treated poorly or experience too many surprises only to end up blaming the hospital staff and doctors for the poor outcome. P.I. attorneys are busy with these.

I did congratulate the OP for having the intelligence to investigate the possibility. The rest of you need to chill.

[MommyToElla]

If you know you're going to have a C-section here are 2 good books to read: The Essential C-Section Guide: Pain Control, Healing at Home, Getting Your Body Back and Everything Else You Need to Know About A Cesarean Birth
Maureen Connolly, Dana Sullivan
and
What if I Have a C-Section? A Mom-to-Be's Guide to Understanding Her Options on the Big Day
by Rita Rubin

I planned a totally natural birth and ending up having a C-section. I knew for a couple weeks before, though, so I had lots of time to research. Thankfully I already had a doula and she had been through every type of childbirth from natural to C-section, so she really gave me a lot of information.

I think what really helped was knowing EXACTLY what was going to happen and that gets you prepared and you can tell them EXACTLY what you want to happen from beginning to end.

[treemom2]

The VBAC companion by Korte has a chapter on having a c-sec that has a lot of good suggestions in it for if this is going to happen.

[intorainbowz]

ITA on knowing what exactly to expect. Do you know anyone who has had a c/s at the hospital you are going to deliver at? I would suggest that you talk to them. While doctors vary, hospital procedures usually are the same. My friend had a baby at the other hospital in town, and it was different than my experience was. See if you can talk to someone who had one at the same place.

Oh, request an early am delivery. You have to fast from midnight whenever your surgery is, so 6am is much closer to that than 2pm. Good Luck.

[wifeandmom]

Originally Posted by intorainbowz

Oh, request an early am delivery. You have to fast from midnight whenever your surgery is, so 6am is much closer to that than 2pm. Good Luck.

Fasting prior to surgery is an anesethetic requirement (if at all possible since they'd obviously do surgery regardless if it was a life and death situation). It is ideal to fast 8 hours prior to surgery, so if your surgery is first thing in the morning, midnight is the standard cut-off. However, if your surgery isn't scheduled til 2pm, you could get up and have a light breakfast at 5am or so, start fasting at 6am, and still be within the 8 hour guideline.

If I had an anesthetic provider who insisted on a 14+ hour fast (which is what midnight til 2pm the next day would be), I'd ask for some sort of research or documentation to back up that 'rule', as it's simply not what is supported by research at all.

Also, you *can* have a few ice chips the morning of surgery, although many anesthetic providers will act as if you are asking for a steak dinner or something. If ice chips were that much of an issue, they'd have to stop allowing women in labor from having them at all since most hospitals now carry at least a 1 in 4 risk of mom being sectioned at some point anyway, kwim? And I have yet to hear of a hospital that didn't allow laboring women to have ice chips.

[member234098]

Ever see the movie 1982 "Malpractice" with Paul Newman? The crux of that case was how recently the new mother had eaten prior to the administration of inhalation anesthetic.

No, it was not for a surgical birth, only a complicated delivery.