If you've had a scheduled c-section

[mama kate]

How'd it go???? My 1st one was very traumatic/dramatic and my OB is promising this one will be much better.

Any input? How has your recovery been?

[E's Mama]

I had a scheduled c/s on 10/28 (my first c/s) and it went wonderfully! I walked in at 5:45am, and the hospital was peaceful and quiet, the RN brought me to the triage waiting area and hooked me up to the monitor and I could hear my baby's hr throughout all the interviews (anesthesia, residents, doctor, etc). I was wheeled in and the anesthesiology nurse talked me through the whole process and told me what was happeningand what I could expect to feel (we could not take pictures during the c/s ) so I did not get freaked out.
I took the baby to recovery with me and nursed him with 5 minutes of getting there. After that family came in. DH and DS had been in waiting room. Since DH has a medical phobia, I brought my mom with me (she is a L&D nurse). Once everyone saw him the nuse did her newborn exam (in front of me) and a little while later we all went to my room. Baby Mason was with me the whole time.
I hope your experience is as peaceful and comfortable as mine was! Pain was minimal and I was walking around a couple hours later! There is a c-section support thread a ways back if you want to check out some of the other mamas advice for recovery- it definitely helped me to ease my mind before the surgery! MDC is so great!!!!

[darlintxmomma]

YAY another San Antonio mama!!!
I had my scheduled c-section on Oct 15th and it was soooooooooooo much better than my first one which came after 19 hours of labor.
I wasnt a complete basketcase this time although I was nervous as can be but the anesthesiologist took good care of me and gave me something to calm me down without making me loopy. It was a great experience for me this time and my recovery has been night and day from last time. This time I requested the subcutaneous dissolvable stitches rather than staples and this time i didnt feel like all my guts were gonna fall out of me when i stood up. Last time I had to walk with a pillow holding everything in cause it was just aweful. I also didnt get an infection this time and my scar is nearly invisible. last time, got MRSA. dont recommend that at all.
I posted my birth story which i went into great detail of what it was like preparing for it and how everything went. you might go check it out.
my birth story

[ma_vie_en_rose]

All of mine have been scheduled, so I don't have anything else to compare it to. They have been very calm, though, because there is no rush to things. kwim The second recovery was much, much easier than the first. I was in a lot of pain after DD1. I made it clear to my dr that I wanted that better handled the second time, and she made sure of it. I had a very smooth recovery. I couldn't wait to get out of bed and walk to help speed up the recovery. Having BTDT certainly helped me recognize what I wanted done differently. This time around, I am hoping for a total repeat of last time. It was the kind of delivery that made me want another baby right away. kwim

[Sage_SS]

I had mine on Thursday and it went well. I had a tubal ligation done at the same time so it hurts more than usual. I was in recovery until I could lift my legs, which took about 2 hours.

Here is what I do NOT recommend- when given Demerol and gravol through your IV it burns a little. Do not reach over to the drop adjuster thinking you're slowing down the drip. In the dark. I did this right after she hung a bag of 50 ml each of those. I unwittingly fully opened the drip turning into a pour, nota drip. I got this very sudden flush of heat through my whole body so I asked my hubby to turn on a light. I emptied the whole bag.
I cannot explain the depth of my horror. I had these visions of ODing and/or causing cardiac arrest. I called the nurse panicking and she told me it was ok, I'd just get a big blast of Demerol and be knocked out faster. Au contraire, I freaked myself out so badly I can't barely feel the Demerol, my own adrenaline took over.
I'm better now.

[E's Mama]

Originally Posted by Sage_SS

I had mine on Thursday and it went well. I had a tubal ligation done at the same time so it hurts more than usual. I was in recovery until I could lift my legs, which took about 2 hours.

Here is what I do NOT recommend- when given Demerol and gravol through your IV it burns a little. Do not reach over to the drop adjuster thinking you're slowing down the drip. In the dark. I did this right after she hung a bag of 50 ml each of those. I unwittingly fully opened the drip turning into a pour, nota drip.

laughup: I adjusted my IV bag as well. I had to have the IV fluids up for "1 last bag" and decided I would speed it up. Mine was just fluids- no meds. My DH was horrified, like I had just broken in to the medicine cabinet or something! He kept watching the door as though I'd get caught. I just laughed.

[Zimbah]

Good luck with your scheduled cs MamaKate. I was scheduled for a c/s on 27 Oct (due date was originally in November so I've been hopping in both DDCs) for breech baby, but went into labour on 23 Oct so had an unscheduled but planned CS that same day. But nevertheless it was very calm, it was 7 hours between my waters breaking and my daughter being born, I only had a couple of hours of contractions. This was my first so I can't compare it but there was no rushing around, everything was planned, I had a spinal block which went fine. Spent a few hours in recovery then into a normal room. Recovery has been ok although I was slightly anaemic and feeling dizzy for the first couple of days. Now, three weeks down the line, I'm feeling pretty good have some pain around the incision but only taking paracetamol (tylenol) once or twice a day for it. for your cs.

[earthmama4]

My second birth was a scheduled c and it was much easier than the first. First of all, you are not exhausted from hours of labor (which is usually the case with an unplanned c) and secondly, at least for me, the doctor knew my anatomy better and was able to do the surgery quicker with less blood loss.

However, the down side of no labor for baby is that they don't get the labor hormones that help them cope with the stress of birth and so some babies are a little mad about the abrupt entrance to the world! My little one cried and cried for the first few hours. Its seems to have no lasting effect though, he is actually my sweetest and most easy-going child now.

One warning I would give you is that AFTER the c-section, it is harder to rest when you are also taking care of another child, so make sure that you get enough help. Taking care of my two year old and newborn after surgery was harder than I expected and I did too much (we moved too!) and then I struggled with hemorraging for a couple of weeks.

But all in all, it was a much better experience second time around. Good luck and best wishes to you and your little baby.

[UberMama]

Not in your DDC but..

All c/s here (sigh.. all were needed but it still hurts..)..

The first one was emergency after failed induction (induction was necessary as well). It was terrible. I never wanted to do that again!

Second and third c/s were easy peasy! TOTALLY different than the first one, I mean a complete 180. Almost a walk in the park compared to the first one actually.

Good luck!

[mama kate]

Thank you ALL! You've really helped ease my anxiety! I have 10 solid days of help then my MIL leaves so I'll have 4 under to contend with so I was really stressing the surgery remembering how long it took to feel slightly normal before.

[Mrs-Mama]

Originally Posted by mama kate

Thank you ALL! You've really helped ease my anxiety! I have 10 solid days of help then my MIL leaves so I'll have 4 under to contend with so I was really stressing the surgery remembering how long it took to feel slightly normal before.

I felt mostly normal around 10-14 days post c/s both times. Now, 3 weeks out, I have to remind myself not to do certain things (like pick up my 2.5 year old). I also stopped taking my pain meds around 10 days pp.

[mama kate]

: Yeah - more hope that life wont take forever getting back to normal!