Mummascribbles – The Mummascribbles guide to planned c-sections – Mummascribbles
You may not know that April is caesarean awareness month. I certainly didn’t but it’s been brought to my attention by other mummy bloggers. C-sections are becoming more and more common. Out of the eight ladies (me included) in my NCT class, only two of them delivered naturally. There were five, yes five, emergency sections!
Mine was the only planned one after I found out at 37 weeks that the little munchkin was the wrong way round! It turned out that he’d probably been that way for the majority of the pregnancy and as he did not turn, I was given one of two options:
- To have him manually turned.
- To have a planned caesarean
After talking it through with the doctors, the other half and Google, I decided on the c-section because turning him sounded horrendous for not only me, but also for my boy. And there was a chance he could just go back to the comfortable (for him) position that he’d been in, so it would have made an unpleasant procedure a waste of time!
And so, on the morning of 26th September I headed off in a taxi to the hospital to meet my baby boy.
I thought that rather than going into my whole birth story again, I’d give you my little guide to planned c-sections. Please note that this is for planned ones only – I have no first hand experience of emergency c-sections although I am aware that it is a very different story from what I am about to go over.
The morning of the big day
It’s a weird feeling knowing that you are going in to have your baby. Most people don’t have the information on the exact date that they are going to give birth. They may have a date for a sweep or a date for induction but there is still uncertainty there with when baby will actually arrive into the world. When you wake up the morning of your c-section date, you know the day is going to be life changing.
Arriving at the hospital
You will probably be told to be there at 8am and you’ll have probably been told to go straight to triage. You won’t have been allowed to eat from 10pm the previous night, you won’t be allowed to wear make up (this was the worst part for me!) and you won’t be allowed to wear jewellery. I had a little issue because still to this day I cannot get the stud out of the tragus part of my ear. I had tried for the entire night previous and still it wouldn’t budge! They simply put a plaster over it!
When you arrive you’ll find a midwife, tell her you’re there for a scheduled delivery and she’ll probably guide you to a waiting room where some form filling has to be done. Bearing in mind we got there at pretty much 8 on the dot, there were already three other couples sitting in there. I had been told that if any emergencies came in, we would be pushed down the list and potentially have to return the following day. It turned out that the three other people in there waiting to have their babies were all cancelled the previous day due to emergency procedures. It did not look good for us.
Waiting
There may well be some waiting around involved. This for me was probably the most frustrating part of the whole thing. They had a lack of beds and all of us spent a damn long time in this one hot and stuffy waiting room. We were sat on bog standard chairs for hours and I was getting hungry which makes me grumpy! Gradually beds became available and each couple left to go and comfy until we were the last ones. Typical! Nurses kept coming in to tell us they’d have a bed as soon as they could but it was getting a little disheartening. I finally got a bed, 3 hours after arriving!
In the room
It becomes a bit real at this point that it really may be happening. I still had huge doubts that it would; that I’d be cancelled and that I’d have to go through all of this again the next day and that Zach would be sharing his birthday with his auntie and cousin!
The nurses will give you a beautiful gown to change into (careful, it shows your bum!). You are probably going to start feeling a little bit anxious by this point. You may need a nervous poo – do go and let it all out so you are comfy. It was while I was having my nervous poo (sorry TMI), that I heard a midwife go into my room and talk to the other half. It was when I returned that he told me that they’d be coming for me in 20 minutes.
At this point you will be feeling a little bit sick and a little bit eeeeeeeeeeek!
When it’s time
The midwife will come to the room to collect you and she will give your other half/birth partner some scrubs. She will tell him to get himself ready and that she will take you to the theatre for prep. Your other half/birth partner will not be allowed in with you at this point. Be aware of that as I wasn’t and it made me feel extra nervous that he wasn’t by my side. You’ll go into theatre and immediately think, wow it’s clean and bright in here. It is VERY sterile and clinical. But that’s the way we want it right?!
Prep
Ok so the prep was the worst part for me – it’s the part I had been dreading, the part that was the reason I wanted a natural birth. The thought of having that little needle put into my back…eugh! It worried me horrendously as I knew that you had to stay dead still to have it done. I’m terrible at staying still when I absolutely need to!
You will be sat onto the bed and the first thing that happens is that you have a cannula put in. Now from my experience, if there is someone there who isn’t the anaesthetist and who says the following words:
“Can I please do this one, I need to practise”
DO NOT LET THEM!!
The stupid woman (I don’t know what her job was but she was blinking trained), messed it up and left me with a ruddy hole in my hand. Just let the anaesthetist do it as he ended up having to do it again in the other hand!
Once this is in, it’s time for the spinal block. You will be asked to sit and bend over at a very particular angle. You’ll probably be given a pillow to help you remain in that position. At this point…DON’T MOVE. You will feel a little needle prick, it really doesn’t hurt. It may feel a little weird but it doesn’t hurt. And then it’s in and you can lay down.
The numbing process
At this point, your other half/birthing partner will join you in the room…phew! He/she will be shitting it just as much as you are (especially if they are the dad to be, simply because they are about to become a dad). You’ll be shitting it because you are about to be cut open! The feeling of numbness is something I really didn’t enjoy. It’s a slow yet fast process. It doesn’t take long but is gradual. First it’s pins and needles, then it’s a warm heavy feeling and then you realise your legs are a complete dead weight and you cannot move them. I did not like this as I suddenly felt that I had no control.
Then it’s time.
The surgery
If you are lucky like me, you will have a wonderful surgeon who talks you through EVERYTHING as it is happening. This completely kept my mind at ease. My other half stayed up by my head talking to me the whole time. He was also wonderful. Obviously I can’t tell you much about the actual surgery as I couldn’t see or feel it (thank god!). The only thing you will feel is a bit of pulling and tugging. The surgeon specifically said that it would feel like what you would expect a washing machine to feel like when it’s in action. He warned me when they were going be yanking the baby out as he said this would be the biggest bit of tugging. Like I said, he was wonderful!
And then??
Then your baby arrives!
He/she is here.
If it’s anything like mine, they will be screaming the hospital down!
You’ll look at your other half and you will probably both burst into tears and the midwife will take a photo of you all (well, mine did!).
Our first photo!
And then you’ll have cuddles/skin to skin with your baby while they stitch you up and nothing else in the world matters more than this beautiful little person.
Recovery
You’ll be wheeled off, proudly holding your baby and worrying that you are going to drop him/her (you won’t), into a recovery room. Slowly, the feeling in the lower half of your body will return.
WARNING…YOU MAY BE SICK!
IMPORTANT: IF YOU ARE SICK, ASK FOR AN ANTI SICKNESS INJECTION IMMEDIATELY.
I was sick 6 times before they bothered to give me an injection. Being sick when you have just been cut open and stitched back up again is very very painful and I do not recommend it. Once I’d had the injection…no more sick!
I was then half unlucky and half lucky. Unlucky because there were no rooms available in the wards to be transferred to, meaning that I stayed in the recovery room where you only usually stay for an hour, until 11pm (I had him at 2.13pm). I was lucky because in the end they put me in a private room with the threat to move me as soon as there was a free bed on a ward. I never got moved!
If, and I say if because I know they are expensive, but if you can afford to pay for a private room then do. We were lucky as they gave it to us complimentary but I have to say, I would pay if I had to do it again! I had access to my own toilet which was wonderful. I never had to worry about leaving my baby if I needed a wee for he was within sight at all times. I was also allowed visitors much later into the evening than those on the wards!
That night
You won’t sleep. Your baby will sleep lots because of the drugs but you will just watch them. Zach slept pretty solidly for 24 hours which made starting breastfeeding a bit of a nightmare. If you intend on breastfeeding and the nurses threaten you with formula because baby is not feeding due to sleeping…DO NOT LET THEM. It is a known fact that babies sleep for a long time after a c-section (you should be told this at antenatal classes).
The next day
You’ll have a catheter in for a while afterwards. My nurses forgot to take mine out until the following morning which meant I was unable to get out of bed (not that I was up to it at that point). This does mean you will need to call for the nurses every time your baby needs feeding or changing. Some are super helpful, some less so.
One really important thing is to GET UP. Your recovery will be much faster if you get yourself up and about. When my other half came to see us the next morning, I was sitting on the chair having snuggles with my gorgeous boy. I will never forget the look on his face and the instant tears that sprung to his eyes when he saw us that morning.
Going to the toilet
Boy it isn’t easy to brave going to the toilet. Peeing will hurt. Trying to sit yourself down on the toilet will be agony. You will be on all manner of painkillers but the act of sitting or standing will hurt every time. They will probably give you laxatives to help you poo (note that you cannot leave hospital until you have had a poo so don’t try and hold anything in). Be careful though, I didn’t need the amount they gave me yet kept taking it and ended up in a terrible situation that was only worthy of a movie scene (think Dumb & Dumber or American Pie). Very embarrassing when you have to ship your in law’s out of the room urgently so you can go in peace!
Painkillers
TAKE THEM ALL!
And make sure you get the repeat prescription as well. I thought I was ok so didn’t bother to get anymore! Little did I know it was just the painkillers making me feel better!
Going home
I was in for three days. I had him on the Wednesday and was discharged on the Saturday. If you are unlucky like me to be discharged at a weekend, it may take a while as there is a lack of Doctors and it is a Doctor that has to fill in the discharge forms! The only Doctor at the hospital was in an emergency operation all day so I had to wait until 8pm to go home! Not a great time of the evening to be settling in at home with your new baby although I did manage to catch some of X Factor! .
The next few days
Take it easy. Don’t forget that you have just had MAJOR SURGERY. Let everyone do everything for you. This includes nappy changes, cooking and helping you to and from the sofa. Don’t get me wrong, you must get up and move around but just be careful.
The following day you should have a visit from a health visitor to make sure you are ok and to check your stitches and then again after a few days, one will come out to remove your stitches. She will ask you to lay down on the bed for ease and it’s all over in seconds!
Start venturing out but not too far. I found that a ten minute walk was just enough at the beginning. Start from there and build it up. Don’t do too much in one go. Remember you can’t drive so have someone that can get you around and out of the house. My mum was my chaperone for six weeks! She was amazing
But most of all, enjoy your baby. Have the best cuddles and enjoy every moment. I am writing this two and a half years after my c-section experience and I can tell you that those two and a half years have flown by!
Do any other planned c-section mummies have anything to add to this? I’d love to hear!