Cesarean Sections

[PlainMeteorologist]

Congrats on your upcoming arrival

But what if the baby's heart rate starts to drop drastically during labor, are you still going to try to have a natural childbirth just because your SIL had a bad experience...that could cost your child his/her life. I would have loved to have had a natural birth, but sometimes there are no other options but to have a cesarian.

Thanks you for your kind thoughts.

I'm sorry if I gave the impression that a c-section is never justified. I realize there are severe conditions like placenta previa where a c-section is the only way to save the baby. I just think a 30% c-section rate in my home state is higher than necessary.

 

[TCat]

I had my son vaginally. After being induced, having an epidural and pushing for hours on end they stopped the epidural and I went from no pain to end stage labor pain!!! The nurses literally locked hands over my abdomen and tried to force him out then the Dr. tried using forceps and a vacuum and finally rushed me to surgery in case they needed to do a c-section he reluctanly came out. I was brusied and torn and so tired and sore. It was not a great delivery, thank God he was healthy!

11 years later I was having a hard pregnancy with my daughter. I had high blood pressure, and the Dr. was afraid I was going to have a stoke so hospitalized me for a week. At 35 weeks they decided to induce me and after hours of nothing happening the Dr. broke my water, saw blood in it and when the baby's heartrate dropped rushed us off for a c-section.

I was knocked out and did not get to see her for a few hours until i had recovered. She was so tiny, 4lbs but healthy as a horse. I was up and walking, gingerly, the next day. My abdomen felt as if I had done 1000 situps but with pain meds it was ok. I checked out of the hospital 2 days later and was sore for a few days if I overdid it.

In my opinion, a c-section is much easier. Recovery was faster, I had less bleeding and discomfort when sitting and I was up and around faster. I choose the c-section if I ever had to do it again.

TCat

 

[wanderingone]

I had a c-section with my oldest. I don't consider an emergency c-section experience to be the same as a planned section without the medical problems I faced.

I developed toxemia in my first pregnancy and about a month before her due date the blood pressure medicine stopped working and I was hospitalized. 3 Days later it was decided I had to deliver. Labor was induced but failed after 7 hours of contractions that were less than a minute apart I didn't dilate. The nurse who came in to check my BP the last time got a pretty serious look on her face and the next thing I know they were prepping me for the OR, but the time they moved me to a gurney I went into meltdown, I had a seizure, all my organs were shutting down..

I woke up a mess. Recovery was pretty bad, but again I belief the worst of it was due to being so sick and not the actual procedure. I was in hospital for about 2 weeks after the surgery. The incision wasn't too painful but I was sore and uncomfortable and quite nauseous from the general.

I try not to share the details with pregnant women My 2nd pregnancy was VBAC, it went nice and smooth (except for my not being interested in pushing when it was quite obviously time to) I felt pretty good, but exhausted after the delivery. Nothing like after the section.

 

[wanderingone]

Thanks you for your kind thoughts.

I'm sorry if I gave the impression that a c-section is never justified. I realize there are severe conditions like placenta previa where a c-section is the only way to save the baby. I just think a 30% c-section rate in my home state is higher than necessary.

I understand your feelings about c-sections that just aren't necessary. I think like many things when it comes to parenting and childbirth people feel so strongly that it sometimes to leads to women who have to have a c-section to feeling like somehow they have failed, or missed some great experience.

When I hear stories of women refusing to have a section even when it's medically advised I wonder what it is they think they are doing for themselves or their baby by refusing until it becomes a life or death situation.

Before I had my youngest people would ask me if I felt like I missed out on something having a section instead of a "normal" or "natural" delivery. I didn't miss anything, I got a baby who was alive (and blessedly healthy after a few scares) What do I care how we got here. I guess at the moment when one is pregnant it seems like the most important thing in the world, but 22 years later I know it didn't really matter.

 

[TCat]

As for bonding and breastfeeding I've had kids both vaginally and by c-section and bonded and breastfed them both just fine.

 

[SmackYouTwice]

Hmm, this thread has been helpful. I'm 22 weeks pregnant and have a low-lying placenta which currently covers where the little one will come from, SO... I am possibly looking at a c-section if it doesn't "migrate" up some. I'm not worried, but am a little bummed that I may not have a natural birth. And it's wonderful to read stories about great healing after c-sections. I hope I'd have a good healing time/process, hmm!

 

[TCat]

Congratulations!!! What a blessing you are soon to recieve. I hope that all who read these posts are encouraged comforted to know that if you get a baby at the end it really doesn't make any difference who they came out. Good or bad, necessary or otherwise it makes no difference to the baby and really shouldn't make any difference to the mommy either.

I will say that I just remembered that because my dd was delivered by c her head was nice and round so her newborn pictures are much better than her bothers who was delivered by v. His head was squished and brusied and looked weird for several days. I wondered if he was ever going to look normal.

In fact now that he is 14 and wears his hair long and makes strange faces and wears odd clothes I guess the answer is still no.

 

[ufonium2]

That's a good point, TCat. My son is one of the few babies I know who actually looks like himself in his first pictures. Because he was c-section, he doesn't have that "conehead" thing going on

I think part of the issue is the way the experience of the birth is so emphasized in our culture. Like, when I was pregnant, the doctor gave me this book called "Your Pregnancy and Birth." It wasn't my birth, though. My birth was 26 years ago. This was my son's birth, and not about me.

 

[RedTulipMom]

In my opinion, a c-section is much easier. Recovery was faster, I had less bleeding and discomfort when sitting and I was up and around faster. I choose the c-section if I ever had to do it again.

TCat

interesting you say this. I guess some vaginal births are much easier than others and some c-sections are easier than others. I ONLY had a vaginal birth so i have no c-section experience to compare it to..but my labor/delivery/recovery was so horrible i cant imagine a c-section being WORSE!

i labored for 28 hours and pushed for 2 hours. I was on pitocin because i had pre-e and was induced at 35 wks. The epidural didnt work properly. Part of the time i felt contraction only on my right side and then the epi stopped working all together. So with my pitocin turned up to 24 i dialated from 4-10 over 2 hours and felt every bit of it...i screamed so loud i scared myself. NO PAIN compares to it..lol. Then after pushing for 2 hours the dr said my sons head was pretty big and he had to give me a LARGE episiotiomy so he cut me and gave me 12 stitches. OUCH!!! For WEEKS it was painful to go to the bathroom. That cut HURT SO BAD. i also bled for 7 straight weeks after the baby was born. It was horrible.

I sure hope that this upcoming birth isnt nearly as bad..whether its natural or c-section.

 

[gottalotagals]

My second daughter was a C/S. I got to 5 cm and completely stopped dilating. Her head was stuck in my cervix and my cervix began to swell so we had to do a c/s. It wasn't so bad. The most pain in my opinion was about 3 or 4 days after, when the nerves began to heal. That burned, but was tolerable.
3rd daughter was a VBAC that happened naturally so it was a pleasant suprise.
Then.........fourth daughter was no where near ready for birth two weeks past due day and my BP began getting crazy. So she was a quick decision c/s. The second time was much less painful to recover from.

 

[tryinghard]

I had a c-section for my first son due to having previously having had genital herpes. My doctor believed that the precaution was necessary because having a natural birth could cause brain damage etc to my baby if he was infected with herpes. Since then, having spoken to another doctor and researching on the net I have found that this belief is outdated and not necessarily the case.
My first c-section was good and bad all at the same time. It was good in that the epidural worked well and I was able to be awake while my baby was removed from the womb, but bad because I wasn't able to hold the baby until several hours after he was born and I was confined to bed for a week (these are also outdated methods, despite this only happening 6 years ago - my doctor and the hospital were very conservative).
After a long and difficult labor I was able to have a successful natural birth for my second child, a girl.
For my third child, a son, I tried for another natural birth. Unfortunately, after a long labor it became apparent that he was stuck and wasn't coming out. The doctor suggested another c-section, since any further efforts to bring on the baby could be dangerous to my scar, I was just happy to have the baby out! Unfortunately the epidural top up which was supposed to enable numbness so the operation could take place while I was awake failed to work correctly and after I advised the doctors I could feel the incision I was given general anesthetic. This was very scary for me because it was the first time I had ever had it and also when I woke up I couldn't wake up properly for ages despite desperately wanting to bond with my baby. I have to admit I was left very traumatised after that second time and despite wanting lots of children, I'm not sure I want to have to go through that ever again. I am however, very grateful to have a beautiful big bony baby boy and am aware that if I had lived in a time or place where c-sections were not known of or possible, both my son and I would probably be dead so I am very happy about the outcome despite the trauma surrounding it!

 

[VioletLady]

I have had two c-sections. One very traumatic and nearly fatal, the other non-eventful!

If I can help don't hesitate to PM me

 

[Neenie1]

Trying hard, I relate to your stories a little. My first c-section, was an emergency, I had a hard time afterwards because I wasn't able to hold my son for a while after. That was the hardest part, he is 6 in November.


My 2nd c-section was done with epidural anaesthetic and I could feel them cut me open and it was terrifying. It was kind of excruciating, but more scary because of the way the anaesthetist said it was "phantom pain" and I was making it up, (he said this to my husband not me which made me feel really awful) so the obstetrician picked up what was going on and insisted he put some local anaesthetic in so he could finish the op (which was nearly through so they didn't want to knock me out totally).

 

[DonnaB]

Wow, I am so sorry for the mamas who have had such awful experiences.

I had a c-section with DD and it went pretty smoothly. We knew we would have one because she was footling breech, and because I have a bicornuate uterus there was zero hope of her turning around. The worst part was getting the spinal, it kind of ached when they put the anestetic(sp, sorry!) in. Since we knew before hand that I would have a c-section, we were sure to have a good birth plan laid out.

They didn't put the catheter in until after the spinal. Some hospitals don't want to do this, but you can insist upon it. This meant I had to use a bedpan before the birth because my water broke and I could not walk around (high risk).

DD never left my side. They cleaned her, weighed her and all right in the OR. DH ran over to watch. Then the nurse brought her over, DH held her and we talked until the surgery was over. Once I was on the gurney, they put her in my arms and rolled me into recovery where I nursed for the first time.

They put these pneumatic socks on my legs to prevent blood clots. They pumped full of air, then relaxed. It felt fantastic as I regained feeling in my legs.

The doctor used liquid sutures, so I hardly have any scar at all. I also didn't itch during recovery, whew!

Finally, I was so motivated to eat solids again, that I asked what I needed to do to get off the jello diet. Basically I had to walk around and drink plenty of fluids. I got up 4 hours after the birth and walked a little bit. I know it isn't possible for everyone, but I really think it helped me to feel better.

Oh, everyone told me to let them take DD after the birth so I could get some sleep. It didn't work for me--I just laid there, thinking about and missing her. After a couple of hours I asked for her back.

I know I had a better experience than many women, partly because I knew I was going to have a c-section. I didn't have hours of labor first, nor did I have the emergency scenario. My doctor was wonderful as well, she created a warm environment in the OR--something didn't think was possible. They kept their voices down and the lights low.

 

[vic74]

my hats off to all you sexy mamas out there who'm like me, had to get the dreaded c-section. sometimes i'll still need perscription medicine for my pain.

just like most of these ladies, i got to 8 cm and my sons heart rate to plummit from 140 to 30 with every contraction.

my recovery was soo bad that during my son's first week check, up i passed out at the pediatrician's office. i was ambulanced back to the same hospital who released me in the first place even after i told them that i felt awful and couldn't walk or stand.
i was in the hospital for ten days on antibi.
no one could figure out why my fever would not subside. and on top of all that i had gotten a respitory infection which had me coughing and spitting up mucus for the next three weeks. i finally checked myself out of their hospital right before thanksgiving. pardon me saying this but c-sections suck.