Ok folks...give me your best scheduled C Section tips!

[y4m]

Despite three ECV attempts this morning (with the doctor literally on the bed on top of me), this kid will not turn. So we are headed for a scheduled C-section, with some chance that it will need to be a vertical incision given her positioning.

So tell me what I need to know please. I live in a townhouse where our living room/kitchen is on 2 and bedrooms are on 3 if you have any thoughts on navigating that.

[humpforfree]

Breech cs here for #1! The effects of the spinal (wanting to wiggle my toes, but not being able to, lol) was honestly the worst part for me. My cs recovery was much quicker/easier than my vbac.
Walk as soon as they let you, for me it was just back and forth to the nicu to feed the baby. Ask for an abdominal binder if you can- it really felt like it helped hold everything in for me. Lean on a pillow to laugh, get out of bed.
I honestly didn't have trouble with stairs- the hardest for me was actually getting out of bed/rolling over to get the baby since that used my stomach a lot more. I split stitches doing that.

[samanthamkm]

Get up and walk
Pillow over incision for coughing, sneezing, and laughing
I limited my stairs to once in the morning and then back up for bed at night.
If your bleeding picks up that means you are overdoing it and need to rest.

[imimahoney]

I had panic attacks both times while they were operating and I have never had them before my surgery. I was also terribly nauseous during surgery and asked for zofran while they were operating.

Walk as soon as you can. Take the stool softeners and go easy on the stairs.

[CloudBee]

Keep a basket or end table stocked with water, granola bars, gum, sweet, and salty snacks on both the main living floor, and in the nursery. I was ravenous those first few days home, and it was really hard to get around. You will also find yourself sitting in one place feeding the baby for very long periods of time. Sometimes not wanting to get up if they've fallen asleep. If you come home on formula, you may want to keep ready made (shelf stable) formula bottles in these locations, too. Saved me in the middle of the night. A few nursing pads and burp cloths are also helpful to have nearby.

Good luck!

ETA: I was also pretty adamant about not having them put the "goop" (antibacterial eye gel) in DS's eyes in the OR until after I had a chance to see him and kiss him. That way we could look at each other. You might also want to ask if your husband can stay in the OR with you with the baby until you're moved to recovery. Not all hospitals will allow this and the father leaves with the baby shortly after birth and before mom is stitched up. But some will let him stay. You may just have to ask.

[lifetaketwo]

Tell the anesthesiologist is you feel weird or nauseous and they will make adjustments! I wore the belly binder for at least a week. Take walks as soon as you can. I had tons of pillows on the couch so I sat higher up and not as far back to help me with getting up and down. I found getting into or out of a sit was the hardest for me. Overall I had a great experience. GL!!

[hermione]

Plan to not sleep in the bedroom just in case. Stairs were NO JOKE for me.

Stay ahead of the pain at first - take the pain meds on time regardless of if you are in pain.

TMI but using the bathroom the first time after having the kid was the most painful part of everything from them moment I got pregnant to being fully recovered. Take all the Colace.

[Brie]

Mine was an emergency section but getting up and moving as soon as you can is important.

I also used a hair dryer on my incision after bathing for awhile.

Bring a small pillow to hold against your midsection when you move or laugh or cough.

GL! I loved my section recovery as compared to my vaginal delivery recovery and if we had a third I would go that route for sure.

[vtdiamond]

My hospital offered a "family centered or gentle C-Section" which was amazing. I was able to do skin to skin in the OR and they had a clear drape so I could see the babies as they were pulled out.

I was super nauseous (all throughout pregnancy) so no surprise was nauseous during the C/S and afterwards. Speak up with the anesthesiologist about anti-nausea meds. It took 3 different drugs to get me to stop vomiting after surgery :/

Ask for and take the stool softeners and pain meds.

Stairs weren't so bad for me.

[broadsheet]

I had an emergency C and a scheduled C. The scheduled was such a peaceful, beautiful experience!

Echoing a lot of tips from above but:

-A Boppy or nursing pillow is extremely helpful to brace against your midsection. I brought mine to the hospital and used it constantly.

-The spinal made my blood pressure plummet both times so tell the anesthesiologist if you feel woozy! They gave me something that was instantly effective.

-immediately after the surgery, I got the shakes badly. THIS IS NORMAL! They can give you something via IV that will help.

-Remember that the narcotic painkillers can make you super constipated. I was so stressed about pooping but once I stopped the heavy duty drugs, it was fine!

-And just a weird tidbit: I had some contractions while nursing afterward (uterus shrinking, I guess) and those m-fers HURT! Way worse than any of the c-section recovery, in my experience.

[ribollita]

Buy an abdominal binder! It made recovery easy TBH.

[vtdiamond]

OH, I almost forgot this one. The nurses would push down on my stomach (I guess to help the uterus contract down), but holy crap that hurt a lot.

[pooh8402]

Walk as soon as you are able. Gas pain is the worst, and walking helps prevent/decrease the pain.

Stay on top of pain meds and stool softeners!

Tell the anesthesiologist if you feel weird/woozy/nauseated/anything. They can give you something to help you.

Ease back into eating slowly. A c-section is major abdominal surgery that involves manipulation of your gut. If you try to advance your diet too quickly, you can end up with more complications. We advance our c/s patients to a full diet over a period of 18-24 hours. If the nurses aren't giving you real food less than 18 hours after surgery, there's a reason why.

The spinal may make you itchy. This is a well known side effect of the 24 hour morphine that is often (not always) included in it. This is not considered an allergic response. Just fair warning. Benadryl and lotion help.

[pooh8402]

Dec 23, 2016 12:35:24 GMT -5 vtdiamond said:

OH, I almost forgot this one. The nurses would push down on my stomach (I guess to help the uterus contract down), but holy crap that hurt a lot.

We do that to all patients, not just c/s. It's called massaging the fundus, and yes, it is to help the uterus contract down and keep you from bleeding too much. Some nurses are gentler than others. :/

[tcjmama]

I've had four and had extremely easy recoveries. With all of them, they immediately brought him to me to see. I had my phone with music playing for my last, which was very relaxing. I was able to hold him while they rolled me back to my room. If you' need meds, ask, but I never took any.
I also used a hair dryer to dry my incesion. And definitely get up and walk as soon as possible.

[vtdiamond]

Dec 23, 2016 12:42:41 GMT -5 pooh8402 said:

Dec 23, 2016 12:35:24 GMT -5 vtdiamond said:

OH, I almost forgot this one. The nurses would push down on my stomach (I guess to help the uterus contract down), but holy crap that hurt a lot.

We do that to all patients, not just c/s. It's called massaging the fundus, and yes, it is to help the uterus contract down and keep you from bleeding too much. Some nurses are gentler than others. :/

Ahh, good to know.  Man that hurt a lot! 

[pooh8402]

Dec 23, 2016 12:45:35 GMT -5 vtdiamond said:

Dec 23, 2016 12:42:41 GMT -5 pooh8402 said:

We do that to all patients, not just c/s. It's called massaging the fundus, and yes, it is to help the uterus contract down and keep you from bleeding too much. Some nurses are gentler than others. :/

Ahh, good to know.  Man that hurt a lot! 

That's what I hear. I try to be real gentle when I'm doing it, and explain what I'm doing as I'm doing it.

I massaged my own while in the hospital, so when the nurses came to check my belly, it was already firm. They didn't have to mash on it.

Oh! To the board at large: peeing frequently helps keep your uterus contracted. Try to go pee every couple hours once your catheter is out, even if you don't feel the urge. A full bladder prevents the uterus from contracting on its own.

[pinotgrig]

Here's my RCS birth story with lots of detail about the actual procedure. My first was an unplanned CS and I was worn out from such a long labor and pushing that it was a tough recovery. My RCS was much better! I went into labor a few days before the scheduled date and went to the hospital.

pandce.proboards.com/thread/543835/baby-pinots-birth-story

My tips -
1. Take some yoga pants with a fold over waist, but leave the waist pulled up, like maternity pants. Or just take some comfy maternity pants. I wore the hosital gown the whole time until I was discharged.
2. Stairs were nbd for me.
3. Some bleeding at the incision site is normal, but is usually a sign you're overdoing it. I had some light bleeding from my incision about a week after that resolved after I took it easier.
4. You'll need help going to the bathroom for maybe a week or so. Sitting down and standing up were hard because abs. H had to use the peri bottle me after I peed.
5. I waited a few weeks before looking at my incision.
6. You're belly will probably be stained with iodine. NBD but I was surprised.
7. The hospital should give you a belly binder around day 3. Use it.
8. Walking sucks, but just do it when they let you.
9. You'll heal quickly. You won't feel like it for the first 7 days or so, but by 2.5 weeks pp I was lifting my 27 lb toddler in and out of his crib (carefully).
10. Stay on top of the pain meds, you need to stay on in front of it. Catching up is way harder than not.
11. I loved (x a billion) having a clear drape for my RCS. It was the best part and really helped me mentally connect the act of him being born. I struggled with ds1's birth a bit because it went so unaccording to plan and it felt more like a surgery than a birth.

GL!

[pinotgrig]

Dec 23, 2016 12:42:41 GMT -5 pooh8402 said:

Dec 23, 2016 12:35:24 GMT -5 vtdiamond said:

OH, I almost forgot this one. The nurses would push down on my stomach (I guess to help the uterus contract down), but holy crap that hurt a lot.

We do that to all patients, not just c/s. It's called massaging the fundus, and yes, it is to help the uterus contract down and keep you from bleeding too much. Some nurses are gentler than others. :/

If you can, have a nurse do it the first time while you're in recovery. You'll still be good and numb from the surgery meds and will hardly be able to feel it.

Start taking colace asap.

[Koala]

Dec 23, 2016 12:41:14 GMT -5 pooh8402 said:

The spinal may make you itchy. This is a well known side effect of the 24 hour morphine that is often (not always) included in it. This is not considered an allergic response. Just fair warning. Benadryl and lotion help.

I was SO ITCHY after mine!  I remember it taking forever for the nurses to bring Benadryl.  It did help, once I had it though. 

But, just like everyone else said... Walk as soon as you can, ask for a belly binder, and take the stool softeners.  

DH stayed with the babies the whole time.  I'm pretty sure they stayed in the OR and we all went to recovery at the same time.

Overall, it was really a great experience, and I had an easy recovery.
 

[thebreakfastclub]

I would echo a lot of the previous tips.

I feel like the morning after was my physical low point, and it only got better from there. I did very little with my son in the hospital, lol. I mostly rested and recovered. My H did all the wakeups for the first week at home (we formula fed, so it was easy to do that).

I had no trouble with steps or walking after day 2.

My best last minute piece of gear was a snap n go frame for my infant seat. I could not manage a full-size stroller, and that ended up being my go to for months. You can get them cheap second hand.

I also used a pad sideways on my underwear to cushion the incision for several weeks. It helps when you are back in regular pants but the incision rubs.

The first poop is awful, I needed hard core laxatives. That was a 2nd low point, day 7 or so? I had milk coming in too, so it was a mess until that dried up and the bathroom situation resolved itself. But really, the c/s is OK and you will be back to normal before you know it.

[barefootcontessa]

Sorry it did not work. My best tip is to keep ice on your incision at all times. Do not be shy about buzzing the nurses.

[nicolewi]

Hi, I didn't read all the responses. I had a c-section for breech baby (my 3rd baby) and then another for baby #4. I had really good experiences over all, but it's hard to give advice b/c everyone is different. With the first one, the only problems I had were that they had to re-insert my catheter afterwards b/c my system still wasn't "waking up" and working fully. That sucked psychologically and was embarrassing (I felt so gross after all the surgery and no shower and...ick), but the nurses were really nice, and after another 24 hours things were fine. I also had a ton of nausea starting about 1/2 hour after surgery or so, but it wasn't too horrible, and since I threw up all the time during labor with the first two I figured it was just par for the course. However, if you do have that problem, TELL THEM. They can try different meds to help you out. Other than that, though, i had an amazing recovery! I had to keep reminding myself not to lift kids, etc, b/c I felt so good. It was hard to believe I'd had surgery. I was careful for the first week or so but could have done stairs. I didn't take pain meds for very long, but if you DO need them, don't be a hero. Keep it going on schedule for the first few days and then see how you feel if you start weaning off.

The second one, I told them about the nausea and didn't have that issue again. I didn't have AS easy of a recovery, but overall it was still fine. I was a little more sore/tired the second time for a longer period of time, but I still didn't need pain meds very long.

The advice I would give is to take it easy and take whatever help you can get. I think b/c generally I felt good, and b/c we were busy with the other kids, I pushed myself to do more than perhaps was ideal. I think lots of people do that. Take time to let yourself heal.

[july]

Keep track of the pain meds yourself and request them.

[y4m]

Dec 23, 2016 12:51:21 GMT -5 pinotgrig said:

4. You'll need help going to the bathroom for maybe a week or so. Sitting down and standing up were hard because abs. H had to use the peri bottle me after I peed.

This could be a super dumb question...but why a peri bottle after c-section? Was that for your first where you labored too or is there something I don't know?!

[thatgirl2478]

Try getting up and down using your arms & legs NOW as practice. It's harder than it seems but will save you!

I didn't have a problem with stairs OR using the potty (after I got out of the hospital), so you may be ok in that department.

I had a panic attack and was vomiting more than an hour after the surgery. My bp dropped so low the nurses were surprised I was still talking - so that was part of the panic attack - Let your nurses & anesthesiologist know if you feel weird - they can fix it!

Vomiting with an abdominal incision is no fun.

Get a bunch of high waist undies - they don't rub on the incision and help you feel a bit 'contained'.

Wear the binder!

Walk as soon as you are able to (once they take out the catheter)

Use a pillow to support your incision & a thin one under the baby to cushion the incision.

Keep snacks & diapers & outfit changes (both for you and the baby) where ever you will spend the most time. For me it was in front of the tv. Try to nap when the baby naps - it will help healing!

[t]

Keep a step stool at your bedside to help you get in and out of bed.
The actual moving around of my organs made me physically ill (vomiting and diarrhea -awesome), and I needed to have DH to run out and buy probiotics, yogurt and Pepcid the day after we were discharged. So maybe have that stuff on hand just in case. This happened with both of my csections. It was challenging to say the least.

[boiler717]

I had an absolutely wonderful c section experience! Some tips:
- see if you can schedule for later in the day. Mine was at 4 pm (2 pm arrival). They gave me Ambien to take the night before so I was super well rested. We went out to breakfast. I took a 3 hour long bath, we played with the dog, etc then went to the hospital. By the time I was moved to my room it was after visiting hours and could spend the whole evening with just us.
- if you are prone to nausea tell them before the procedure. I got my Zofran before the OR (normally given after) and a scopolamine patch (not standard). I was nauseated during surgery but fine after.
- advocate for what you want ahead of time. Some non-standard things I got because I asked for them: my husband to come in the OR during my spinal, mirror to watch, my husband to announce the sex (normally OB does in a section), skin to skin for the remainder of surgery (they only wrapped him up for transport to recovery).
- I was given crackers and ginger ale in recovery which helped a ton
- walk as soon as possible. I had my catheter out and was walking assisted to the bathroom less than 6 hours after surgery and unassisted 12 hours after surgery.
- stay on top of pain meds and have colace at home. I went home on just ibuprofen and colace.
- keep everything you need either on the main level or in your bedroom. I was fine to go up and down the stairs a few times a day, but I really rested otherwise and didn't do any cooking/cleaning/diaper changing otherwise. I was back to walking 2+ miles at one week post surgery. I think if I wouldn't have strictly rested in the beginning it would have been harder.
- that being said, every recovery is different. Don't feel bad if it takes you longer or shorter to recover. Take pain meds if you need them.
- get a binder (hospital should have)
- hair dryer after showers to dry your incision
- ask about when you can take baths

[boiler717]

Dec 23, 2016 14:04:44 GMT -5 y4m said:

Dec 23, 2016 12:51:21 GMT -5 pinotgrig said:

4. You'll need help going to the bathroom for maybe a week or so. Sitting down and standing up were hard because abs. H had to use the peri bottle me after I peed.

This could be a super dumb question...but why a peri bottle after c-section? Was that for your first where you labored too or is there something I don't know?!

So. Much. Blood. It's easy to clean off with a peri bottle than trying to get it all with TP.

[bex]

Take all the colace.


Honestly just really take it easy on yourself. It took me a long time to feel fully recovered. I would be okay and go for a walk and come home and sleep for two hours bc it wiped me out. So take it slow and ease back into life as slowly as you can. If possible just hang out with baby on couch. Don't feel like you "need" to do anything.

Moving about helped me with gas but I needed to do it in short bursts.

For the first week after both surgeries I was fanatical about pain meds. Then I gradually backed off but for that first week or so I never missed a dose.