If you had a c/s AND a vag delivery.....

which did you prefer and why?

I know many think a vag delivery is the way to go (and I would likely agree) but I can see the comfort in a c/s being that it is more "controlled" per se..and no tear "down there"

what do you think, if you had both?

Re: If you had a c/s AND a vag delivery.....

I can't really answer your question fully, but I think a c-section is the way to go... I knew I was going to have a c-section, and honestly was so at ease and prepared going in... and I didn't think recovery was bad at all!

I absolutely think C-section is the way to go, I don't want anything flying out of my whoohaaa...

Re: If you had a c/s AND a vag delivery.....

To be totally, 100% honest, it was all mental for me.

I had a C first. I was sad about it for months afterward - I never went into labor, never felt a single contraction, I picked DS's birth date. In the end, I think I made the right choice - his head was and still is HUGE - but it still upset me. My recovery was actually easy. I was in the most pain on day 3, by day 7 I was almost totally back to normal. The worst pain I had was my spinal headache which I could have gotten from an epi as easily as a spinal.

I was committed to a VBAC for #2 before I left the hospital. I did it at 41 plus weeks - which I had to FIGHT for. I can't even describe how awesome it felt to get that first contraction and think to myself "OMG! I did it, I made it, it's happening!" The pain of back labor was indescribable - thank god for the epi! In terms of effort, after the epi I was lying on the bed dozing and watching TV for a good 7 hours (getting checked every so often) before they came in and told me I was fully dilated and it was almost time to push Pushing was hard, getting stitched up was and I couldn't sit normally for 3 weeks. It took a full 7 or 8 months before I could DTD without cringing. But in the end, the exhilarating feeling of when I pushed my DD into this world outweighs every single second of pain I felt before, during and after.

ETA: Comparing the two, like you asked, I think that the pain was equal but recovery was quicker with a C-section.

Message edited 12/4/2010 10:11:41 PM.

Re: If you had a c/s AND a vag delivery.....

I had two vag deliveries, and one c-section. The vag deliveries were WAY better... barely any recovery time, just felt tired and achy, no worries about being in recovery for hours and not being able to be with your baby, and WAY fewer complications and risks! A csection is MAJOR surgery, and even though a lot of people bounce right back, a lot don't. I sure didn't.

Re: If you had a c/s AND a vag delivery.....

Re: If you had a c/s AND a vag delivery.....

Had a c/s with my first and a vbac with my second. The v-birth was 1000 times better, and I say that knowing I had an awesome c/s (and a c/s just because he was breech). The c/s was major surgery. It hurt to laugh! But I was up and walking the second day and I took ONLY motrin for pain relief. Couldn't have asked for a better c/s and recovery.

However, with the v-birth, I was up and out of bed 10 minutes after having her to use the bathroom. I showered the same day and things just seemed to be better overall. I did tear a little. I felt like I still had a bowling ball between my legs a week later. IT just felt weird. But none it it stopped me from doing anything. And I was home less than 2 days later with my boy (who just turned 2) and my newborn.

Re: If you had a c/s AND a vag delivery.....

For me, the vaginal delivery was way better. I was up walking in an hour or so and showered first thing in the morning. And i had stitches. The difference for my c/s was that the recovery time was longer. And I had a decent experience with my c/s. But it was still surgery and way more taxing on my body. It wasn't totally planned. I was already admitted to the hospital and thought I was going to be observed. I found out around 5pm I was going in at 8pm.

Re: If you had a c/s AND a vag delivery.....

I preferred my c-section. I had a major tear with DD and horrible hemorrhoids. The recovery from those two were 1000x worse than the c-section recovery. I was out of bed and walking around (although slowly) the day after my c-section.

Re: If you had a c/s AND a vag delivery.....

I had an induced vaginal with my DD (1st) and a scheduled c-section with my DS.

While I had a very easy recovery with both, I would take the vaginal delivery over the c-section any day.

Re: If you had a c/s AND a vag delivery.....

Vag delivery was amazing, I felt great afterwards, recovery was very quick. C Section was awful, took weeks to recover and I felt terrible for months and months

Re: If you had a c/s AND a vag delivery.....

I had two vaginal deliveries and an an emergency c-section. The vaginal deliveries were so easy, recovery was quick. I hated the c-section, recovery was horrible for me. I know many women love them but one of the reasons that I would never get pregnant again is fear of a c-section.