3 More Days...any advice?

so ladies...After all the worries and scares of pre term labor and complications, our little girls will be here on the 23 rd if I make it ! I am 37 weeks and 5days and have a scheduled c-section in three days and I'm soo nervous. believe me I have researched and watched videos so I am familiar with what is going to happen, but all thatdoesnt seem to be helping. my husband is very supportive but him saying don't worry everythong will be ok isn't enough because although he'll be there , he's not the one layong on the operating table. I'm very excited about meeting our little girls but it's all so overwhelming. Any advice?

 

:grouphug: You're going to be great! I had an emergency c section and it really was not a bad experience. Definitely get moving as early as you can to help the stiffness. Take the meds as ordered (stay ahead of the pain!). I think I was off everything but Advil by day three. Drink tons of water, take stool softener. It's very manageable, I promise.

I did ask to keep my catheter until right before discharge. It just made life easier. That's not a common piece of advice (I can hear the objections already!) but it was easy for me.

You can do it! Just think of the rewards!

 

All the odds are stacked in your favour; a good medical team, a supportive partner, healthy babies; you are totally going to rock this. My c-section was also not that bad; I second all of Steph's advice. Take all the meds and take advantage of having nurses available for a couple of days!

 

I was never too, and it was really a lovely experience. Take all the meds. Move when they tell you to move. Personally, I wanted the catheter out ASAP.

 

I wish you all the best!
I was nervous before delivering too, knowing that I was going to have a surgery and worried about me and the kids. It's normal to feel nervous!
I had a scheduled c-section (baby A was breech) at 38 weeks. I agree with Stephanie, take the pain medicines as directed, stay ahead of it. If people offer to help, let them help. When I got home from the hospital, I was trying to do too much and one day left myself in extreme pain, my DH thought he was going to have to take me back to the hospital. It was hard for me to do, because it's unavoidable in my house to avoid steps but that was one of the discharge instructions-stay off the steps as much as possible. I would also that the hospital will have you mobile as soon as they can, so make sure to take little walks every day.
As for the catheter, I also have to agree with Stephanie, the 24 hours I had mine in, it was nice not to have to make multiple trips to the bathroom. I did not mind it at all.

 

I agree with all the above! Good luck and have fun meeting your girls!

 

You ladies are crazy.

Mine was in for probably 16 hours, mostly overnight. When they took it out was when they wanted me to be getting up anyway.

 

Anyway, my biggest complaint was the IV. You can tell we were all in a lot of pain focused on the catheter and the IV.

 

I know, right? Rachael is right- it couldn't have been bad if we focused on the minor inconveniences!

Nancy brings up a good point about once you get home, though. We set up baby stations in our living room and our bedroom with pack n plays, diapers, bottles, snacks and water (for you!), and our laptops. For us, it was weeks after delivery because they'd been in the NICU (so I had healed) but it made life so much easier to not have to trek to bedrooms for diapers or to the kitchen for a granola bar when I was starving at 2:00am.

 

We lived in our basement for a couple weeks. There's a bathroom down there and our family room. DH brought me food. I went upstairs maybe once a day. I even slept on the couch, which was more comfy than my bed at first.

 

wow ladies that's alot of good advice! Thank you! Ivs don't bother me but cathters do. Once the spinal wears off do you constantly feel that burnong pain from the cathter or does your body get used to it? I've read mixed reviews and have been really not looking forward to the catheter aspect of the csection. I know overall it's not something that shoild be of concern but I've had really bad experiences with them lol. Also, we too have everything set up in the living room for now and I have everything organized and ready for my two boys and school. it's the last few weeks and they are going on field trips and having plays and parties so I prepared for all of it now. I also have meal plans prepared and easy things to just throw in the crockpot or oven so that the family is fed easily. Suprisingly even though I'm swelling and have alot of little aches and pains I'm still driving snd shopping even though I canbarely wobble around lol I'm managing and it feels good to not be on bedrst anymore.

 

I've had 3 c/sections, so, obviously it can't be that bad if I willingly went back and did it twice more

Everyone gave you good advice. A few things I didn't realize the first time. You don't have to use the squirt bottle/wash like a regular vaginal birth. The little nurse helper I had (kinda like a volunteer or intern) had me using it every time I used the bathroom. I cried, trying to twist my sore body around to spritz myself with that damn bottle. I didn't realize it wasn't necessary.

Stay ahead of the pain. Pay attention to the clock when your pain meds come. The nurses won't always remember to come when it's time, you'll need to call them and remind them you need your meds. I got way behind on my pain the first time, and it was a nightmare. Bring a notebook to write it down if you think you won't remember. Also, a notebook to write down when the babies eat, how much they ate, when they peed/pooped is a good idea. The nurses will ask you all those questions. And stool softeners....wish I'd known about those my first c/s! ASK FOR THEM!!

Ask them to do the catheter AFTER you have your spinal. Makes life so much easier! I didn't realize that was an option until my 3rd c/s. You don't even feel it go in, and with the pain meds on board for the next 24 hrs, you don't really feel it.

Take slow deep breaths once you get your spinal. It's going to feel like you are suffocating, like there's a weight sitting on your chest. Rest assured your anesthesiologist is paying close attention to your vital signs. Your job is not to panic, and take slow breaths even if you can't feel them.

Clutch a pillow to your stomach when you need to cough, sneeze, or laugh. It helps.

Ask for extra pillows if you need to, to prop yourself up, or to get yourself comfy in the bed. I had about 4 pillows, 2 behind my neck/back, one under each arm to sleep and for nursing. Also you don't have to lay your bed down flat to sleep, it was actually comfier for me to have it partially upright, and made it easier to get up/down when it was time to deal with babies. And take your own pillow to sleep on, just make sure it has a colored pillowcase on it, so the nurses don't mistake it as a hospital pillow. And so you remember to bring it home.

Get your last dose of iv pain meds before you try to walk. That way once you are done your little walk around, your pain meds will be working and you won't want to cry as much.

:youcandoit: congrats on baking those babies!

 

Thank you soo much! You had some very good pointers and I will definitely Be adding them to my list! I'm making a little notepad specifclly for all the pointers and advice I've gotten from eveyone so that I don't forget anything!

 

I had my CS at 8:00 at night and didn't even realize I had a catheter until the next day. They took it out around noon. I never had any pain from it.

IVs don't bother me either, but having it in for three days really did.

Definitely stay ahead on pain meds. Overall though, I don't remember it hurting much during recovery. Just move slow.

You will still bleed post CS. Mine lasted 9 weeks.

Ditto on the slow breathing. I remember telling the anesthesiologist that I couldn't breathe, and he said I just couldn't feel myself breathing. Totally made sense and calmed me down.

 

Catheter didn't bother me, I had it for about 24 hours.

I had my IV in too long though and I was dealing with one of the boys and it almost broke off in my hand. Keep on eye on that!

 

During the surgery, TELL the anesthesiologist if you are starting to feel nauseous. They have some goooodddddd drugs to take it away almost instantly.

Post c/s, make sure when you wash the incision you dry it out - I used a hair dryer on cool.

 

Psh, I just air dried. Figured that the nurses were checking out the ladies parts and the LCs had all grabbed my boobs, so I just sat in my bloated state and let the cool air dry me off. In retrospect, that is mortifying. Maybe the drugs were better than I realized?

The short answer to the long posts is that this will all be a humorous memory soon! I'm getting a good laugh in the reminiscing.

Eep, so excited for you!! All of my best wishes and PLEASE keep us posted!

 

Did you ladies have a spinal or epidural? the dr told me he prefers the spinal because it lasts longer and also epidurals have a higer rate of leavong a spinal leakage which is extremely painful. I had a leakage after my first born son due to an epidural and it was worse than the labor. I also was womdering if anypme took stool softenrs before the csection? In my instructions it says to begin taking them before but inwas worried about it causing any complications?

 

A spinal.

I wouldn't worry about stool softeners before the c/s: laxatives make you go (a "potty emergency") but stool softeners just make it easier when you go (barely any pushing muscles used). Since pregnant ladies often struggle with constipation it's not a bad idea, actually, to make sure everything's a-ok before surgery. The first time to poo wasn't much fun, but each time after that was easier in my experience.

 

I had a spinal/epidural combo, which was lovely. I can't speak to different effects of each, but I had no issues and felt no pain at all for at least 12 hours post surgery (there's was also a nice pain med chaser in there I think).

Following up on incision care, if you have any kind of crease at the incision site (due to weight or residual belly or whatever), put a maxi pad folded lengthwise on top of the incision. Keeps it happy and dry. I did this for a week or so part partum at the suggestion of the nurse.

 

I had a spinal, and then several doses of IV pain meds before they switched me to oral meds. I'm a little fuzzy on how long I got iv meds, I think it was close to 20hrs or so. My last dose was right before they got me up to walk.

Ditto keeping the incision dry. My first c/s wasn't a problem. My second one was a little more difficult. By the time I had my twins I have a nice little c/s pouch there now, and I actually used a facecloth folded in half and tucked into my underwear to keep it dry. I still have to use baby powder there sometimes, that pouch is there to stay now.

 

Spinal. And ditto about the nausea. I started feeling sick, said so, and he gave me drugs that took affect immediately.