C section ladies

A friend is about to have a c section and wanted a detailed description of the process, I wrote it out for her so i just thought I should share in case it could help someone else



I am going to literally write down everything that happened when I had my sched c section:

first of all you might go into labor on your own like I did before your scheduled time, nothing changes; you call dr you go to hospital they hook you up to monitors confirm you are in labor and the c section will then be on your own time instead of your scheduled time which is usually in less than hour :)

when you check in to the hospital they give you a gown and your hubby gets his dr suit too :) you can leave your bra on if you want as well as contacts jewelry and hair pieces (some dr might say no to all above)

you walk into the delivery room with your 2 nurses (without husband , he will wait where the nurses tell him, make sure he listens DH did not and he went to waiting room and they could not find him ahahah for 5 min) and you sit on a metal table sitting up hugging your nurse while the Anesthesiologist introduces him/herself and explains what they are going to do, JUST Squeeze THE NURSE! BURY YOUR HEAD IN HER CHEST AND TALK TO HER LIKE AN OLD FRIEND ABOUT YOUR SUMMER PLANS, baby's NAME, ETC. This part hurts but it ends quickly, the anesthesiologist will ask if you feel pain in right or left and then you might start to get very cold and shake just focus on breathing ,praying, meditation, girl talk with nurse whatever calms you down etc

They lay you down at this point and put a ton of blankets on you if you are cold , they put the sheet up so you cant see anything and lightly wrap your arms down to your sides with sheets , its not bad I promise

Hubby is allowed in at this point and he is right on top of your head in a swivel chair holding you/ kissing you :)

Like I said in the other email tell the nurses exactly what you are feeling so you can avoid puking, anxiety etc

Before the DR starts they count all the instruments out loud for some reason this disturbed the shi& out of me I felt like I was trapped in a bad movie, I wish someone would have warned me of this so in case you hear counting and it bothers you, have your hubby sing a song/ talk to you loudly

When the Dr starts the baby is out VERY QUICKLY (some people say they feel a lot of pressure, I felt nothing) it felt like less than 1 minute ...immed the nurses show you your baby and then quickly take him/her only a couple feet away cleaning him/her up ...you can see your baby the whole time and you and your husband can talk to the nurses during this time laughing and happily stating his /her name etc , your baby is swaddled and then the nurse puts him/her right on your face I made my nurse literally lay him right next to my face so I could see and feel him on my face this lasted a good 2 min until Will demanded he get to hold him ahhaha at this time like I said in the other email they sew you up and your hubby will hold him/her the entire time (about 30 min) then they roll you into recovery. at this time if you want to breastfeed the nurse will help you latch the baby on we did this for about 30 min.

just to give you a timeline so you have an idea :

walked into delivery room at 230 am Connor was born at 3:11am (would have been earlier if they could find Will hahaah ) Connor was latched onto booby at 4am - 430am at that point they take baby away for the BIG CLEAN, weighing ,testing last about 4 hours. During this time I SHOULD have slept but its hard with all the adrenaline instead Will and I were on our phones and facebook announcing Connor's birth :)

When they wheel you into your room they explain to you that you have a button that can be pressed every 20 min or so (JUST KEEP PRESSING THAT BUTTON) even if you are NO pain its such a small amount of meds don't worry you are not hurting your body or milk etc. and you cant over push the button either another fear of mine hahah They bring you your baby and if he/she is anything like my boy he will be attached to your boob for the next 24 hours hahaaha

BRING LANLOLISH to the hospital this will be your savior, if your nipples bleed its OK , I freaked when Connor started to eat my blood the lactation consultant laughed at me I said HE IS EATING MY BLOOD AHHHHHH lol your nipples might be very dry cracking bleeding the first week just keep using lanloish its ok for the baby and constantly rub your your breast milk all over them and be naked as much as possible.

The first time you get up can be a little scary. I pretended like everything was a competition and I was going to be the best c section patient ever ahhaha just find your own way to be motivated to heal . The second you are allowed to get up keep doing it, walk around all the time, for 3 nights i paced the hallways when i couldnt sleep

Re: C section ladies

Thanks for posting this. My 1st c-section was such a blur to me. This is very informative.

Re: C section ladies

thanks for the update!! i'm a lil nervous having to walk in there scehuled.. you made me feel a little better!!

Re: C section ladies

thanks for this! I am going to have a scheduled cs too and its nice to hear exactly how that goes. THe only cs stories ive heard are emergency ones which can be a lot different.

congrats on your son!

Re: C section ladies

Thanks so much for all this info. Right now (im almost 33 weeks) my baby is breech so if her/she doesn't flip around, ill have a scheduled c section.

I just wanted to ask you a few questions: where/what hospital were you at?

Also, when did DH go let your families know the sex/name/etc?

Thanks so much

Ps.....love the name Connor....if we have a boy, he will be a Connor as well!

Re: C section ladies

Thank you for this! I already had a c section with DD and will have another with this baby but it is good to read a positive story to remind me again that it is not so bad! Thanks for sharing!

Message edited 5/19/2011 5:14:16 PM.