CS questions.....

[proudmama]

at my 32wk check up today my Baby Bear was found to be breech so naturally the topic of CS was mentioned - my midwife did say it was to early to discuss it just yet a bub could still turn but just to keep it in mind - my hospital is a LOW RISK hospital so if it were to go this way i would have to travel north about an hour to the townsville hospital

now with DS all went pretty much textbook from whoa to go ending in VB and i had no reason up until today to think this one would be any different so i'm relatively new to the whole idea of CS and am looking into all the info i can get - the idea of a CS doesn't bother me - if it's the best for my bub then i'm prepared to go through with it - it's more the recovery i'm concerned about - so my questions so far are as follows.....

1. of those who ended up having a CS who had epidural/spinal block and who had general anisthetic???? and why????
2. how much time did you spend in hospital after the birth?????
3. did you have problems initialing BF (for those who did)???
4. how soon after surgery were you "mobile"???
5. was your CS an emergency or booked???
6. did any of you go into labour before a booked CS????
7. how many weeks were you when you had CS?????

so many questions i know but the info would be greatly appreciated - as you can probably tell i'm a little freaked out but i would like to get things in order in the next couple of weeks just in case as DH is suppose to be away for 6wks leading up to my due date and i'd rather have him informed and prepared rather then freaking out on the other side of the country lol

[Guest]

of those who ended up having a CS who had epidural/spinal block and who had general anisthetic???? and why????
I had an epidural while in labour which didn't go to plan, and a spinal block while having c/s. Effects. Lots of shaking which didn't settle for about 2 hours after. And recovery was hard, I was in there bymyself for about 2hours because you need to get feeling back below your boob area before they'll take you to your room. Didn't have bubs with me in there either so that was hard.

how much time did you spend in hospital after the birth?????
I spent 5 days in hospital, but that was private. I had good food and lots of help from the middies.

did you have problems initialing BF (for those who did)???
As soon as I was in my room after recovery, they brought the baby in for a feed and he latched straight away, no problems bonding or b/f.

how soon after surgery were you "mobile"???
The first day I was in bed, the second day I had to get up, go to the loo because they take the cathater out and then I was out of bed as much as possible. As long as you take the drugs for pain, you should feel fine. Then by about 2 weeks I could get up and sit quite easily. By 6 weeks I felt normal just a bit numb still.
I was exhausted after the labour also and I had torn a muscle when I was pushing so I had that to deal with (much more painful than my belly) If I didn't have that, my recovery would have been alot easier. I've heard scheduled c/s are much easier than em c/s also by friends who've had both?

was your CS an emergency or booked???
Emergency

how many weeks were you when you had CS?????
38+1 spotaneous labour, not scheduled.

[kezanazz]

i will try and do my best to answer these questions based on my experience.

of those who ended up having a CS who had epidural/spinal block and who had general anisthetic???? and why????
i had a spinal block - the anaesthesist explained that due to my size (size 18-20) it was safer for me to have a spinal also less chance of complication.

how much time did you spend in hospital after the birth?????
i had my dd on the wednesday night and was home on monday. i left the hospital sunday and spent one night with dd and dh at the hyatt.

did you have problems initialing BF (for those who did)???
no i didnt have any issues. as soon as i was in recovery they brought in dd weighed her and all that while i was being sorted out then attached her for us to feed while they were doing my bp and all that stuff.


how soon after surgery were you "mobile"???

i was out of surgery at about 8:15pm and stayed in the bed til aobut 11am next morning (by choice waited to be in my room with the cathider out and comfy with dh and dd there before i went for a shower)

was your CS an emergency or booked???

ahhh it was booked but classed as "urgent"
my waters had broken but dd hadnt engaged (couldnt do) so at 1pm i was told i was having a c section at 7pm.

did any of you go into labour before a booked CS????

nope, waters broke but no labour. had been planning a c section anyway but not for a few days and hadnt booked until a few hours before.

how many weeks were you when you had CS?????
i was 39 +5 weeks

hope this helps, if you need/want more info feel free to pm me!

[CheekyChicken]

1. of those who ended up having a CS who had epidural/spinal block and who had general anisthetic???? and why????

I had a spinal, in the words of the Anethesist it was because epis don't work for all women, spinals are more effective.

edit to add- I had no undesirable effects from the spinal. I was able to hold my baby immediately, my time in recovery was perhaps 15 mins. After that I was able to feed etc.

1. how much time did you spend in hospital after the birth?????

5 nights, I had complications following the birth (unrelated to c-sec)

1. did you have problems initialing BF (for those who did)???

No, I did end up with grazed nipples as I was immobilised for 48 hours or so after c-sec (due to complication) and was hooked up to somany drips etc I couldn't position very well.

1. how soon after surgery were you "mobile"???

48 hours. Would have been 24 but I required a second theatre visit. I experienced little if any pain and although had a second hospital visit right after my discharge because of uterine infection and mastitis (again unrelated to the c-sec but because of my complications). I felt very good after 3-4 weeks. I was able to walk around the block or to the shops immediately after my initial discharge.

1. was your CS an emergency or booked??

Emergency, following long unproductive labor.

1. how many weeks were you when you had CS?????

41 weeks

[Californication]

of those who ended up having a CS who had epidural/spinal block and who had general anisthetic???? and why????

I had an epi. Was put in while I was in labour to control my BP as it was high and had been for a couple of months. You feel tugging and pressure, but no pain. I also got the shakes after they topped it up for theatre, but that is a common side effect.

how much time did you spend in hospital after the birth?????

A week total. Could have gone at 5 days, but William lost over 10% weight, so we had to stay 2 more days while he put on weight.

did you have problems initialing BF (for those who did)???

Yes, but I don't think it was because of the op. William is having attachment issues. They don't do skin-to-skin until you are in recovery (the temp in theatre is too low for a naked baby) so was about 30 minutes before we got to do that and before i could hold him properly.

how soon after surgery were you "mobile"???

Mine was at 7pm and I was up the next day once they took the catheter out. I didn't have as much pain as I expected, and was just using panadol by day 4.

was your CS an emergency or booked???

Emergency. 17 hours of labour, baby in distress, babys heart rate slowing with every contraction and he'd poo'd.

did any of you go into labour before a booked CS????

I went into labour before a planned induction.

how many weeks were you when you had CS?????

41 weeks.

6 weeks in and I'm pretty much back to normal. I recovered well, and like I said, it wasn't as painful as I expected. Hope that helps.

I meant to add that if you have an electric bed, lower it right down when you get in and out of bed. You then don't have to raise your legs so high to get back in which places less pressure on your wound. Also raise it up to chest height if using the bed to change bubs so you don't have to bend so low. And take it easy

[oscarjessie]

- I had an epidural as I had an emergency c-section after an induction and already had the epidural hooked up

- I had my baby at 3pm on a Wednesday and was discharged on the Saturday morning. I was a public patient. I could have stayed longer if I wanted - however was well enough to go home as suggested by the Doctor. My friend stayed 6 days in the same hospital in the same month.

- I did not have any problems with BF. I had skin to skin while still in theatre with feeding followed by more of the same in recovery and then in the ward.

- As above I delivered my baby at 3pm on the Wednesday and the first time I got out of bed was 9am on the Thursday....I could have gotten up earlier but the nurse was too busy to get me up any earlier.

- My c-section was an emergency after a failed induction so was not booked. I was 41 + 3 weeks. The next baby will be delivered by elective though.

[~Candy~]

of those who ended up having a CS who had epidural/spinal block and who had general anisthetic???? and why????
I had an epi while I was about 7cm's dilated....why? because I had to have an emerg c-section.

how much time did you spend in hospital after the birth?????
4 days

did you have problems initialing BF (for those who did)???
After an emerg c-section, baby was taken to ICU for 4 hours, there he had a bottle. Once he was bought to me...I had no probs breastfeeding him.

how soon after surgery were you "mobile"???
2 days after, I bathed baby and had a shower.

was your CS an emergency or booked???
Emergency

how many weeks were you when you had CS?????
37 weeks.

[oscarjessie]

Just wanted to add that from what I have heard, women who have am elective c-section recover a lot better physically and emotionally than those with an emergency one.

My sister had had both and felt so much better after her elective as she was well rested, felt in control and generally was able to bond with her baby a lot better then when she had an emergency cs.

I was suprised how good I felt after my cs and how quickly I was able to move around with ease, however if I overdid it in the first few weeks I really felt it.

I hope your baby turns if that is what you want

[MBBN]

I had an elective c/s......bub wasn't engaging at 41+4

1. of those who ended up having a CS who had epidural/spinal block and who had general anisthetic???? and why????

I had a spinal.. no idea why, it's what the dr said was best.

1. how much time did you spend in hospital after the birth?????

i spent a week in hospital due to ds loosing weight....

1. did you have problems initialing BF (for those who did)???

yes, but not due to the c/s. ds attached really well, it's just that my milk didn't do the std 'come in'!

1. how soon after surgery were you "mobile"???

i had my c/s 8am and spent until the next late morning in bed. I did try and get up earlier but was dizzy....

1. was your CS an emergency or booked???

booked and i'm greatful for that! if i had tried to be induced i would have had a really difficult labour that probably would have ended in an emergency c/s anyway!

1. did any of you go into labour before a booked CS????

nope at 41+4 bub had no interest in coming out naturally!

[Chickadee]

of those who ended up having a CS who had epidural/spinal block and who had general anisthetic???? and why????
Epidural/spinal. It was the standard at my hospital. I woudn't have wanted a general.

how much time did you spend in hospital after the birth?????
7 nights, the standard at my (private) hospital. I felt well enough to leave after 5 nights but didn't mind staying

did you have problems initialing BF (for those who did)?? We had trouble in the first 18 hours, even the midwives had trouble getting DD to latch. But after that it was fine. Skin to skin after birth probably would have helped but I didn't know enough at the time.

how soon after surgery were you "mobile"??? around 20 hours I think.

was your CS an emergency or booked??? Booked

did any of you go into labour before a booked CS???? No. It was booked 2 days before I had it.

how many weeks were you when you had CS????? around 38.5 I think.