Forum home Pregnancy Labour & birth

C Section- terrified!!!

Hi All,

Can anyone give me any encouragement re C sections. I had expected a natural birth all the way through and up until my 36 wk app with the midwife the baby was in the right position. Now the little sod is breech! I have had an ECV, unpleasant! and it is still breech so I am booked in for a c seciton for 11th june. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I foolishly never expected this to happen!

Abz

Replies

  • hey abz the first thing i willsay is don't worry all you get in the press and from some mums who like to make a drama all the time is that its horrible .well i had a c section last time (emergency ) i had an epidural and i felt no pain at all i did feel a wee bit like they were trying to get my body to do the hocky pocky though!! they do have to wiggle you around to get the lo out but there is no pain! it is very fast and your baby will be born relativly quickly its the stitching up that takes the time but you get to see / hold baby so you don't really notice the time. for after care try and get up and about as soon as you can cos the more you move around the quicker you recover do all that the physios tell you like its law and you recovr fast .my recovery was no longer than my friend who had an epiesiotomy (she could't have sex for ages!!) and i flew to ireland on the 3rd weekafter its all about being positive and as i have pointed out before your girly bits stay intact good luck and please don't worry
  • oh thankyou! I just have an irrational fear of surgery. I know I should look on the positive side ie being able to plan everthing as I have a couple of weeks but just really worried about stupid things like ''what if i feel it' and will it be ridiculously painful after". Saying that- the ECV i had has left me with a bruised tummy and they manhandle you uquite a lot then don't they? Altthough you feel the pulling about, is it pain free at the time then?
  • they won't even think of starting till you are completely numb... the do various tests to make sure . i wont lie to you it is sore getting out of bed for the first time but look around the ward all the vaginal births are having those problems too just in a more sensitive area!! it gets so dramatised it makes me sad that it makes mums2b scared as i say you can compare the pain thing and its not that much different than the vaginal births just in different areas of your body .you need to look after your scar as i say treat your post op instructions as law and you will be ok .i am hoping for an elective section this time as i think this is a big baby too and if it was so bad would i volunteer for it again!!
  • Thankyou very much for that! I really appreciate your advice and like you say- I am sure if it as that awful you wouldn't be after one again! I hope you get your elective then if thats what you want! Will this not be more likely as you had to have one last time?
  • not really my sis had natural after c section and she was fine. i have a big baby and my consultant wants to see me at 36 wks to decide .he might let me go into labour see how i go but any if buts or forcepts it would be a section instead. like my girly bits being untouched and would like an elective for that reason if nothing else lol
  • I agree with highlandfea. It really isn't as bad as people make it out to be. My first baby was an emergency section. After 3 days, I welcomed the section, as I had not an ounce of energy left. I had a natural with my daughter, and felt just as bad for a couple days after, but that is because I am so anaemic. It completely drained me. We have been told I can have a natural should both be head down, but hubby wants me to have a section, and I think I might agree with him on this one!!!
  • Highlandfea I feel quite put out by your comments on over dramatisation.

    Abz don't worry by what I am going to say as you are not in the same position and as long as you move about before the muscles seize up you will be fine.

    But it was hellish for me, I was totally bed bound and sedated for 24hours after my csection (due to me being so unwell with pre-eclampsia) then was wheeled up to meet my baby. Was allowed 5mins then I was bedbound for a further 24 hours. On the third day I got out of bed and it was impossible to get back in, had to wait for partner to come at 6pm to lift me on the bed as I was too ashamed to admit that I couldn't get into bed. I couldn't even laugh on the third day due to pain. The midwives understood and told me if I had been able to get up and about afterwards I wouldn't have been in so much pain. So Highlandfea, some people are not being dramaqueens. I could go into more detail too. (hope I haven't put u out now as no offense intended)
  • Abz- just in case I have terrified you let me just say, although I want to have a vaginal birth this time, I can't help but think a csection would be easier. I half want one. I know if I was to have another I would not have the same experience as last time as what happened to me is not the norm. The main reasons why I want a vaginal birth is I don't want to spend extra time in hospital away from my four year old and if I have a csection this time I will need one if I fall pregnant again. Once my stiffness eased the recovery wasn't so bad. I don't know if I was naughty doing it but I had sex 2.5weeks after. Probably might have done it sooner but was in hospital 10days,

    When I eventually got onto the ward I was in a room with 3 other girls who had csections and they were coping fabulously! Try not to worry to much as you at least wont have pain of labour, epiosotomy etc. Good luck
  • Thanks all for your advice! Don't worry no-one has frightened me any more than wat I was imagining! I can imagine it must be awful to have to go through the pain of labour- feel knackered and then be laid up for days after as well due to having a c section as this happened to a friend of mine very recently. I think I should prob count myself lucky that I am booked in and it should be relatively straightforward! It is good to hear from people thougha s I think half of the probelm is that you feel like you are the only person who is ever going to go through it and the docs and midwvifes are so used to people having them that they forget when this is your first pregnanacy, so you end up with limited info or them just being blase about it!
    Thanks again everyone!:\)
  • Thanks all for your advice! Don't worry no-one has frightened me any more than wat I was imagining! I can imagine it must be awful to have to go through the pain of labour- feel knackered and then be laid up for days after as well due to having a c section as this happened to a friend of mine very recently. I think I should prob count myself lucky that I am booked in and it should be relatively straightforward! It is good to hear from people thougha s I think half of the probelm is that you feel like you are the only person who is ever going to go through it and the docs and midwvifes are so used to people having them that they forget when this is your first pregnanacy, so you end up with limited info or them just being blase about it!
    Thanks again everyone!:\)
  • tip: move about after as much as you can! the mothers who had an epidural were coping better than I was 6days after. They had no problems getting on and off the bed etc. xx
  • read my post again samantha24 and you will see i say to move as soon as possible !!! i can only recount my own experience and i am aware of people having problems with c section (my sis being one of them) but abz is having an elective with no pre eclampsia problems so i was trying to reasure her that the section can be more straight forward than if they let her try and deliver naturally.yours couldn't have been so bad if you were well enough for sex 2.5 wks later if you read the text books your not supposed to be able to do anything for at least 6 weeks!!! as i say some times c sections are ovrdramatised.
  • As for having sex 2.5weeks later I said as soon as my stiffness wore off I was fine. I was also on alot of medication and my judgement was impaired only I did not know it at the time I was just upset that you was blaze over it enough to make out that people like to make a drama. I do not make a drama over it and i don't tell the half of it!
  • Hi Abz

    My baby was breeched until 37 weeks so I was geared for a c-section but he managed to get round at last minute so I geered myself for a nomal birth. When my waters broke he had pooed inside me so they speeded my labour up, but after 16 hours I was still only 3 cms dilated and his head wasnt engaged so I had an emergency section. I wont lie to you, I was so scared that my whole body was shaking and I'm not a wimp! But I was fine and I would def have another one no problem. Reece was born at 9.50 pm on the Tues and I was out of hosp on the Friday morning, in town pushing my pram on the Saturday. Just needed a hand the first time I got out of bed (Wed dinner) but had a shower and felt fine. The first time I sneezed it hurt but that was the only pain I felt. You are completely numb when they do the op but it's a bit weird feeling them mouching about in you. The great thing about a c-section is you can really play on it to get out of everything you dont want to do for weeks! And although my baby is 3 months old, I still tell everyone that I cant do any exercise for 6 months!!

    Good Luck Abz, I sure everything will work out great for you, Jo x
  • Hi Abz

    My baby was breeched until 37 weeks so I was geared for a c-section but he managed to get round at last minute so I geered myself for a nomal birth. When my waters broke he had pooed inside me so they speeded my labour up, but after 16 hours I was still only 3 cms dilated and his head wasnt engaged so I had an emergency section. I wont lie to you, I was so scared that my whole body was shaking and I'm not a wimp! But I was fine and I would def have another one no problem. Reece was born at 9.50 pm on the Tues and I was out of hosp on the Friday morning, in town pushing my pram on the Saturday. Just needed a hand the first time I got out of bed (Wed dinner) but had a shower and felt fine. The first time I sneezed it hurt but that was the only pain I felt. You are completely numb when they do the op but it's a bit weird feeling them mouching about in you. The great thing about a c-section is you can really play on it to get out of everything you dont want to do for weeks! And although my baby is 3 months old, I still tell everyone that I cant do any exercise for 6 months!!

    Good Luck Abz, I sure everything will work out great for you, Jo x
  • Hi Abz, I am also booked in for an elective ceasarean on 11th June and am so scared. I keep telling myself that it's an everyday thing for these surgeons and everything will be fine. But the fear doesn't really go away.

    Just try to focus on what you and I will have afterwards - a beautiful baby! Good luck with yours xxx
  • Thanks Momma King! Its just good to hear from other people who have been through it. Strangley (or stupidly) I am prepared for the pain after the birth- its my irrational fear of the actual surgery that worries me! Good thinking on the big knichers tho! I wore g strings before being pregnant and have moved to briefs and cannot believe how I wore g strings now!!! Nice comfy pants are the way forward. Thining a trip to buy belly warmers may be on the horizon!
    Claire- how funny you are booked in on the 11th too! People keep telling me I should be spending this time relaxing but I think I am just so apprehensive about the C section as it was not what I was expecting. I think I am getting my head around it one minute but then feel so nervous when I think about it. Not sure whether I want the babay to turn now or not as couldnt cope with having to think about any other options at this point. Do you feel like this?
Sign In or Register to comment.

Featured Discussions