Members Advice on Ceaserean Sections

From the moment I found out I was pregnant I just blocked out the thought of giving birth. I wasn't scared and I knew it would hurt so my logic was that it was not even worth thinking about. Near the end of my pregnancy I went to an open day at Doncaster Womens Hospital, where I was due to give birth, and talked with staff about the sort of pain relief I wanted. I had my whole birth plan mapped out in my mind and never for one second considered the ...
...during my pregnancy my iron levels dropped dangerously low I had to go for regular check ups at the hospital; it was at one appointment when I was 7 months pregnant that the doctor looked concerned and told me that my baby was already measuring the size of a full term baby. There was a lot of discussion about having regular growth scans and the possability of being induced early, but for some reason I seemed to be forgotten and I continued with my ... more

From the moment I found out I was pregnant I just blocked out the thought of giving birth. I wasn't scared and I knew it would hurt so my logic was that it was not even worth thinking about. Near the end of my pregnancy I went to an open day at Doncaster Womens Hospital, where I was due to give birth, and talked with staff about the sort of pain relief I wanted. I had my whole birth plan mapped out in my mind and never for one second considered the prospect of needing a C-Section.

As during my pregnancy my iron levels dropped dangerously low I had to go for regular check ups at the hospital; it was at one appointment when I was 7 months pregnant that the doctor looked concerned and told me that my baby was already measuring the size of a full term baby. There was a lot of discussion about having regular growth scans and the possability of being induced early, but for some reason I seemed to be forgotten and I continued with my pregnancy as normal.

Well my due date came and went and there was still no sign of my baby. I was huge by this time, my feet, face and hands were swollen and my maternity clothes were becoming too small. When I was 8 days overdue my midwife gave me a cervical sweep to bring on labour but she said the babies head was not even in the cervix so I was booked in for an induction the next day.

I was in hospital on the labour ward for 5 days being monitored and was induced 3 times. After the first induction I quickly started getting strong contractions that were coming every 5 minutes. The midwife offered me pain relief but I think because I was so excited I felt like I didn't need it and I wanted to hold off having pain relief as long as possible.

Nothing seemed to be moving along and the babies head was still high up and not in my cervix and by the time I was given my 3rd and final induction I was in so much pain all I could do was roll about on the bed crying but all the midwife would give me was paracetamol and a sleeping tablet, which didn't even work as I was in so much pain.

The next morning, the 11th of July, and I was 14 days overdue and begging them to give me a C-section. I thought I would be able to cope with the pain but I couldn't and when the doctor came to examine me she gave in to me and agreed I could have a C-section. I was told I would have to wait for an available slot and it could be hours. I was given all the relevent forms to sign and talked with a doctor about what would happen during the operation. Then my midwife came rushing in and told me I needed to get ready for the operation as they would be ready for me in 20 minutes.

The midwife then gave me an awful pair of stockings to stop blood clots and put in a catheter which was very unpleasant. I decided that I wanted a spinal as I could then have my fiance in with me and would be awake the whole time and hold my baby when it was born. It was really important to me that my baby be given to me straight away and have skin-to-skin contact.

Because I was so shocked that everything was happening so quickly I started to panic. I had everything prepared for my newborn and knew what I wanted them to wear, but my mind just went blank. I had a million things racing through my head; worried the spinal block would hurt, scared something would go wrong, excited we would at last have the baby we so longed for.

When we got to the theatre, Jason was taken away to change clothes ready for the operating room. I was told to sit on a bed and arch my back. My midwife noticed I was scared about the injection and held my hand and made me relax. I then felt the needle go in half way up my back. It was the weirdest feeling ever, I could feel the needle in my back but also could feel a tube being thread all the way to the bottom of my spine.

When the spinal had been given I was told to lay on the bed. I couldn't move my legs by myself and it just felt like I had really bad pins and needles. I kept wiggling my toes and telling the Doctor that the spinal hadn't worked. He got a hose pipe and started pouring water over my legs- I couldn't feel the water, the doctor laughed and told me to stop worrying.

I was chatting away to my midwife while they waited to take me into the operating room when all of a sudden I felt really sick and had a really bad headache. The headache quickly got worse and worse and soon it felt like someone was pounding my head against a wall and my eyes were throbbing. I was getting into a panic and soon I felt like I couldn't breathe. I saw lots of people rushing around and that made me panic more. Soon I had someone putting a drip in, giving me an oxygen mask, someone putting a cold flannel on my head, someone putting injections in my hand and someone talking to me telling me to stay awake and control my breathing. I was finding it hard to keep my eyes open and felt like I was drifting off to sleep but then I started to find breathing easier and slowly started to regain control of my breathing.

The Doctor then started to explain why I couldnt breathe. Apparently the spinal block had numbed me further up my chest then it should of done causing the feeling that I couldn't breathe.

I was then lifted onto another bed in the operating room and Jason was brought into me. He looked so funny in his scrubs and I instantly felt at ease with him being beside me. From that point everything seemed like a blur. I remember that my boobs were really hurting me for some reason- something I informed my male Doctor of- he didn't seem bothered, and I remember Jason looking to see what was happening and telling me there was a lot of blood. Then I felt them prodding around inside my belly and pushing down on the top of my belly. I could feel my baby quickly being pulled out and then I heard my baby boy crying, a noise that has never filled me with so much happiness and relief.

Against my wishes my baby was not given to me straight away and was cleaned up before I got to see him. They just pushed my baby in my face as if to make me kiss him and took him away to give the vitamin K injection, get dressed and get weighed. To be honest when they showed me him I was so drugged up and tired that I was more concerned that they hurry up and finish stitching me up.

Jason was given our baby, Caleb, to hold and we were both mesmorised with him. He was a big boy weighing 10lbs 3 1/2oz! I could feel a lot of tugging going on in my belly and it started to hurt a lot. I told the doctor and he ordered the operation to stop a moment, but once they started again the pain returned. Once again I started to have a headache and I was sick. My blood preasure was so high and I was given another injection to control it. Jason was told to wait with Caleb in another room while they finished the operation. I didn't want them to leave but the operation was quickly over and I was taken into the recovery room where they were both waiting for me. I was in the recovery room for about 15 minutes and then taken onto a ward.

As soon as I arrived on the ward I was seen by a midwife and given help with breastfeeding. Because of the operation I was told I could not hold my baby and he was placed on a pillow next to me in order to feed him. I felt really jealous seeing all the other women coming in holding their babies.

About an hour after the operation I started to get the feeling back in my legs, but I tried to prop myself in bed but couldnt even lift my head far off my pillow. Not being able to move was infuriating. Once my visitors had left I was once again visited by a group of midwives who changed my clothes and washed me. They wanted to change my bed linen and said they could do it with me in the bed, but with their help I got out of the bed and sat while they did their job.

The first night was one of the worst. There was only one other woman in the room with me and if Caleb wasn't crying then her baby, Lily would wake up! Every time Caleb woke up I had to call for a midwife to pick Caleb up for me, and once I had finished feeding him I would have to call again for them to put him back to bed. I could see one of the midwives getting angry with me, but I couldn't move so it couldn't be helped.

After only sleeping for an hour, at 6am a midwife came in and took out my catheter which I wasn't pleased about as it was great after 9 months of needing the toilet every 5 minutes, not needing to worry about going! About 10 minutes after having it removed I needed the toilet and so called for a midwife, who was less then pleased as they were having a meeting with the day staff, but needs must and I was helped walking to the toilets. I wont go into much detail but using the toilet after having a baby is a very strange experience!

Once I knew I could move about again, albeit very slowly, I was walking around for most of the day, which I found out was not a good idea when I went for a shower and fainted and had to be put back to bed!

After 3 days in hospital I was discharged. I still couldn't move very well but it was great to get home. I was given some exercises to do to help with my pelvic floor and was told to do them every half an hour for a month. I was also told that for 6 weeks I would not be able to drive as I could not do an emergency stop, but after 4 weeks I started driving again.

Caleb is now 3 months old and I am still recovering. Although my stitches are healed on the outside, it is important to remember that it can take over 6 months for all the other layers of skin to heal and that is why you are advised not to do any heavy lifting or push yourself too much.

It took me a while to realise but this is major surgery and if someone offers to help you, take their help! Don't worry about house work, no one expects you to have a clean house when you have just had a baby, and at the very least it is a perfect excuse to get your partner to do all the work!

I still can't feel all of my stomach and have friends who a year on still have little or no feeling. As long as you don't do too much, get active as soon as you can, I now tend to walk and not drive as it's great exercise for you and fresh air is brilliant for babies. After my 6 week check up I was discharged from the hospitals care and started going to diet classes each week. People who have C-sections tend to find weight loss harder due to your stomach muscles being cut, but try doing some small sit ups and eat healthy and in time you should see some weight loss.

Breast feeding is also a great way to help with weight loss as it burns around 500calories a day. Some people who have sections find it hard to breast feed, as I did, due to the fact it can take longer for your milk to come through, but stick with it if you can. I had to stop breast feeding due to the fact it took over a week for my milk to come through (the norm is 3 days) and Caleb lost so much weight and was making him ill. Some people, usually those who have never had a problem with breast feeding, can be rude and very judgemental about women not breast feeding, but do what you feel is right and if breast feeding doesn't work then don't feel guilty about stopping.

S-L-B 

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