What to expect during c-section ?

Question

What do you feel? What do your hear? Am I going to freak out about being cut open while awake? Can I hold my baby immediately or do I have to wait? I have had 2 vaginal births but this last one is looking more like the doc wants to do c-section and I'm freaking out any advice would be helpful. TIA

Answer

Hi Candince! I had a c-section with my baby it was my first pregnancy. I was given an epidural and some kind of I want to say relaxant, I was aware of my surroundings and everything but I was not afraid as I would have been without it. It was done in about 25 - 35 minutes. I heard the doctors and medical team talking and but I did not see anything, there’s a curtain up and my husband was by my head so he did not see the surgery either and did not get to cut the cord. When the baby was out they held her up above the curtain and I saw her, a few moments later they brought her over and put her over my chest briefly. I kissed her and told her I love her and I cried. I did not breastfeed her at this point. Then my husband followed the baby to the examination and weighing area while the doctor finished the stitching up and cleaning. When I went to the recovery room I asked to breastfeed, this was maybe 30 minutes after delivery. They brought the baby to me and I had skin to skin and tried to breastfeed her for the first time. My experience was good overall, I would do this again. Good luck and God bless ♥️🙏🏼

Answer

I can’t say what it’s like because I was put under but I can give some advice on the healing process. Have a pillow handy for sneezes and coughs to hold against your incision. If you’re going to breastfeed, find a comfortable position for both you and baby that doesn’t involve baby kicking your incision. I liked the football hold. Take your time getting in and out of bed and don’t push yourself. I was feeling better after about a week, pretty good after about 2 weeks but I was pushing myself too much, lifting baby in his car seat, doing housework I shouldn’t have been and running errands I should have had help with. I found myself having a lot of pain, sometimes dizzy, and just VERY tired.

Answer

I'm a FTM and I had an emergency c-section. I was too exhausted to be scared lol. I had been pushing for 2 hours prior and just wanted my baby out of me. Once they gave me the spinal injection I couldn't feel anything from just below my boobs down. However I got the shakes really bad. I didn't feel cold, but they covered me in warm blankets to help reduce the shaking. It was alarming, but apparently it happens. I didn't get to hold my baby, I don't think you do under normal circumstance, but obviously because I was shaking so violently I doubt they would have let me. My mom was with me so she sat near my head with my baby and showed me her. Honestly the procedure was fine. The recovery was very painful though.

Answer

Just a thought here, based on my own cs experience: prepare your mind for if the spinal doesn’t work and you aren’t totally numb or for any other reason you need a General Anaesthesia. Just to be prepared for it.
This was my case and they rushed everything making it a terrible experience!
But wish you well x

Answer

I won’t go too much into detail because mine was horrible but what I will tell you is if your blood pressure drops or keep dropping you will feel like you’re having a heart attack, but as far as seeing what’s going on you won’t...

Answer

The experience was definitely strange being awake. I was prepared to hear and smell weird things but I didn’t which was wonderful! It’s really hard to explain how it feels. There’s definitely pressure and tugging, yet it doesn’t hurt. That’s the hardest part to understand until it’s actually happening. Then you’ll be like “ohhhhh this is what everyone meant!”
For me, I was super nervous about the spinal. For some reason I thought I’d be completely paralyzed from my chest down and I wouldn’t be able to feel my legs at all, as if they were no longer there. But it feels tingly and kind of like when your leg falls asleep. So that was much better than what I was expecting lol. I was emotional in the operating room because everyone was focused on their job and no one asked me how I was doing, emotionally. So I was a little in my head until my hubs came in. The hubs are allowed to come in once you’re fully prepped which takes about 15 mins. From there, it literally takes 5 mins to get the baby out! I was talking to hubs and then they were like “heres the baby!” It seriously was so quick. My baby was breech and other than that there was nothing else wrong. I asked for delayed cord clamping so they held her up over the curtain so we could look at her until the cord stopped pulsing. Then they cut the cord (they left about 3 inches so hubs could make the final cut) and brought over to clean and weigh her she also had some fluid in her lungs which they took out. That took about 3 mins then they laid her on my chest. It took another 30-40 mins to close me back up and babe was on me the whole time. After that, they moved all of us over to a recovery room. They took the baby in a rolling bassinet and hubs followed. Then they moved me to a mobile bed and wheeled me behind them. Once we got to the recovery room, the nurse checked the baby again and helped my hubs cut the remainder of the cord. After that I breastfed her and she latched right away. She fell asleep then had some skin on skin with my hubs. We were in that room for about 2 1/2 hours then we all moved to a regular room where my family was able to come visit. During the transfer, my baby laid on my chest.
Honestly, the pain isn’t that bad because of all of the medicine they give you. The worst part for me was all of the PP emotions. Which I know happens no matter what type of birth you have. The recovery process was great because I had a lot of help. Hubs had to help me up and down the stairs and helped me shower. My goal was to go downstairs at least once a day and I had to  be helped doing that for about 2 weeks. Some people are up and recovering way faster than I did but it just depends on your body. One day I took my medicine too late and I reallllly regretted it. So make sure to keep up on those. They give you a certain amount for a reason! 😊 You will do great though! You won’t have to experience any of the labor pains or the pain of pushing so you’ll only have the recovery pain which you would have either way. So you just get half of the pain this time which is nice 🤗

Answer

My first was an emergency c-section. I was also scared. It’s not bad at all, though. They give you a spinal and then they strap your hands to the table beside you, like the letter “t” and they make sure you’re numbed properly before cutting. You don’t feel anything from the chest down, except when they push the baby out. If you are term, you get to hold your baby immediately. A woman who delivered the same day I did even got to take her baby back to recovery with her. You’ll do great!

Answer

Spinal was easy for me as I was in labor and had contractions while they were doing it. The lidocaine really is the worst part and then you feel nothing.
When they give you your spinal, and you lay down, it will feel like an elephant is sitting on your chest and you may feel like you “can’t breathe.” I had this feeling and they did warn me but it scared me when it happened. They gave me an oxygen mask and I just counted and talked to my husband and anesthesiologist to distract myself. 
It took a total of 45 minutes to get him out and me sewn back up. Seriously so fast. 
There’s dilaudid in the spinal so I experienced major loopiness afterwards. I remember half the time afterwards but I don’t remember any conversations with people that day. 
I didn’t hold my baby for an hour after he was born because my shaking was so bad I was afraid to hurt him or drop him. Be prepared for the shakes afterwards. They were really intense for me but they are Normal. 
Take the stool softeners every day until you go. 
Get up and walk no matter how hard it is. It’s the only thing I think that helped me feel better so quickly.

What to expect during c-section ?

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