Canada Nesties
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
C-section Moms
We found out last week that DD#2 is still happily head up at 35.5 weeks and thus fully breech. I have another OB appt. on August 20th and if she is still breech then, it looks like a c-section will be increasingly likely.
Could you give me an idea of the timeline of an average c-section, experiences, hospital time, recovery, etc? Did you have a positive experience? Is there anything you would change or do differently to make it a better experience overall? For those of you that had a scheduled c-section or a breech baby, did any of you attempt to turn the baby before delivery? I had an induced, vaginal delivery the first time and up until now thought I would be having something similar this time around as well! TIA!
Re: C-section Moms
My c-section wasnt planned but 20 hours after my water broke and barely any progress my OB deceided that a c-section was the best option.
It went very fast. From the time she came in and told me she was going to do it and when Tanner was born was maybe a half hour. They just topped up my epidural, rolled me into the OR, and started.
Recovery was ok. I was in the hospital for 3 days. From what I hear I had it pretty easy. The first week was hard. It hurt to get up if I was lying down so I just stayed sitting. LOL! I took two advil two days after he was born and that was it for pain. After that first week I was fine. Still a little tender but I was walking, picking Tanner up, back to normal, just slower.
The hospital stay sucked. I just wanted to be home. That is the only thing I wish I could change.
I had an emergency c-section and I didn't find it that bad. Granted I have nothing to compare it to, and I didn't have a toddler to chase after, but it was easier than I thought it would be.
I was in the hospital for three days. I wasn't allowed to eat for two, which was awful, but I'm told that's not standard (my friend, who is a maternity nurse, has no idea why they did that to me. She assures me there's no reason for it and if they try to do that to you, just sneak in food!).
Get lots of help afterwards, for a few weeks, at least. My husband had six weeks of parental leave after Ethan was born and I needed his assistance- for the first two weeks or so, I could not get in or out of bed without him physically sitting me up or lying me down. I needed him to do the laundry, unload the diswasher, etc, as bending over was painful. Also, you'll be surprised by the activities that stretch your abdominal muscles- I remember slicing a crusty loaf of bread about 5 days pp and was shocked at how strained my muscles felt while doing it. I had to stop and let someone else cut it.
Honestly, though, I didn't find it too rough. I wasn't in any pain unless I pushed myself too hard. I drugged myself on schedule and asked for help when I needed it.
Alexis was born fully breech. I chose to not bother trying to turn her or have a natural delivery b/c a friend of mine had her baby die in January doing this( the cord wrpped around the babies neck during turning and the Drs could get her out in time). That really scared me so I chose to have a planned c-section, with no questions asked.
With a planned c-section, you will first have an IV and a catheter placed when you first arrive at the hospital. Then they will take you to the OR room and the anesthesiologst will place a spinal injection similar to the Epi but 100% better. I've had both and the spinal is the way to go with a C/S The numbness is much more pronounced so you don't feel a thing, not even pressure. You will still be awake when your baby is born and they will let you hold her afterwards while they stitch you up( about 15 minutes). DH can be in the room with you the whole time as well.
As for post partum, I regained complete feeling about 4 hrs after having Lexi. I was able to get out of bed and move around by about 6 hrs. You will probably be given morphine and tylenol for pain as well as gravol for nausea. The IV usually doesn't come off until 1 or 2 days after. I had Lexi late Tuesday morning and was out of the hospital by early Thursday morning. I went to pick up my holiday pay at work and everyone was shocked at how well I was moving around. You would never have known that I had just had Lexi. The nurse came to our house the following day and took out the staples( it's painless and takes about 2-3 minutes) You will still feel tenderness and slight discomfort at the incision site for about 1 week afterwards but by 3 weeks I was back to feeling pretty normal.
With DS I had an emergency C/S and the experience was similar except I had the Epi for pain control. Although I didn't feel any pain while he was being born, I could still feel all of the tugging and stretching that the dr was doing while trying to get him out. That was such a strange and creepy sensation. With him I had to stay in the hospital for 4 days b/c I got constipated from all of the Tylenol and as you probably remember, until they are sure that your digestive and bowl system are working fine, you will not be allowed to leave.
So overall, I've had great experiences with my C/S's and wouldn't hesitate to do it again.
Check out www.spinningbabies.com
Mine was an emergency c-section and not something we were anticipating some we had planned a home birth. But I didn't go into labour so at 42w they induced me. The decision to do a c-section came when I actually had not only stopped progressing (only made it to 5cm after 8 hours of active laboru) but I was regressing (cervix went back to 4cm and was moving posterior again). They couldn't find Ben's heartbeat unless I was on oxygen and my heartbeat was all over the place. He was also trying to come out of my cervix with the side of his head.
So for our safety they did the c-section. I took the time while they were assessing me to ask questions about vaginal delivery and c-section. I got lots of great information about what would trigger one vs the other at that point in my labour. I felt prepared when they OB and MW decided that a c-section had to happen right away.
I left the labour room at 10:45 and was wheeled down to the operating room (on a different floor). Joe came with me and got changed into scrubs. I was moved onto the OR table and was not strapped down. I did have to put my arms out (like Jesus on a cross). They did a test to see if I could feel sharp pain on my stomach and then started to cut into me. They then brought Joey in and he sat at my head and held my hand. We talked about what was happening, cried a bit (happy cry) and then they told him that he could look up. He got to see them pull Ben out of me and he got to be the one to tell me that it was a boy (we were on team Green). He was born at 11:19.
Honestly although it was not the birth experience we had planned I wouldn't change on second of it because I loved having those moments with Joe before Ben was born and I loved that Joe was the one who told me it was a boy.
They took Ben and wrapped him up and brought him over to me. Now because the OR and maternity area's are on different floors Joe had to go with Ben for security reasons. I was sewed up (took 15 min) and then went to a recovery area. I had to pass 3 tests (move my feet, lift my legs and feel a cold pack on my stomach). It took about 90 minutes for me to be able to do all 3. I was then wheeled up to the maternity floor and Joey was there waiting for me with Ben.
For recovery they took my cathedar out the next day and I was on Tylenol 3 and Motrin. It was hard to get up out of bed (didn't even try until the cathedar was out) and difficult to walk. By day 2 I was walking and getting up but it was still difficult. I was in the hospital for 2.5 days. I took a shower on day 2 and my incision had healed nicely (no longer bleeding). I was able to remove the bandage at that time.
Today I am on day 10 and still have a hard time sitting up from a laying down position but it is not that bad at all. I am able to do a lot around the house and walking is not a problem. Sneezing or coughing is a *** though.
Oh and I am almost done bleeding "down there". They sucked a lot of it out during the c/s.
Kat, I'm so glad you asked about this!! I'll be having a scheduled c-section this time, and don't really know what to expect.
(And I *still* owe you an email!)
I was induced on my due date on account of the PUPPS that was slowing draining my will to live.
I was induced via drip immediately no gel option, and I progressed, PAINFULLY for the first 11 hours, then asked for Morphene, managed for the next 9 hours then could no longer deal with things mentall and physically got the epi, 8 hours after that I was still only at 8.5 so they decided to go ahead with the "c-section that we all had in the back of our minds from the begining" (direct quote, thanks doc, information that might have been useful yesturday...literally)
So it was an emergency, and it was scary. but the part I remember most vividly was as soon as he was born, I was strapped down like I was on my way to be crucified, both arms down, they brought B over and his face was covered by blankets and touques, and I could not see him.
They took him away, who knows where, I passed out. Work up in recovery, no baby anywhere. Fell asleep, woke up at 5 in the morning, (had B at 9:58pm) in my room, no baby. Rang for nurse...Demanded to see/touch/hold baby. Finally, 9 hours after I had him, I got to see him for the first time, and hold him. That was a wonderful minute, but I wanted those 9 hours back. He is almost 4 and still thats all I can think of.
Recovery was slow and agonizing, mostly they informed me because of my long active labour period. I was in the hospital for 4 days, home for another week, nurse came to my home and removed the stiches.
Standing straight, bending down, climbing into bed, coughing, laughing, all painful.
If I knew I was going to have a baby and their was a potential that I would be C-section, I would try to avoid everything else ahead of it and schdule it.
Wouldn't change a thing about my?scheduled?c-section. ?I won't say it was painless but if you walk around alot as soon as they give you the go ahead it really does help. ?The weirdest part of the recovery was driving again. ?I was told that I wasn't allowed to drive until I could slam on the breaks without pain. ?So every day (after about day 5) I would drive up and down the drive way slamming on the breaks. ?DH thought it was hilarious.?