Too young for incontinence! (Caesarean Section)

Name: mum2boys82

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Product:	Caesarean Section
Date:	11/04/08 (156 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: You don't have to push

Disadvantages: Slow recovery

I was told at my 6 week check-up after having my first child that I would need to have a caesarean section (c-section) if I wanted more children. As I'm sure you can imagine with a 6 week old baby, having more children was the last thing on my mind. My first pregnancy had gone well but in the last moments of labour it was realised that baby had got stuck, his shoulders were not coming out at the right angle and panic filled the labour suite. Baby did eventually come out (with about 5 Doctors all pulling on him), all 9lb and 3oz, and I was over an hour in theatre being stitched up with a 3rd degree tear (for those who wish to know if I had torn any further it would have been one big hole down there, not very pleasant!).

When I decided it was time to increase the family size I remembered the c-section advice and spoke to my G.P to find out why I would need one! It seems that second babies are generally bigger at birth, this meant that baby may well get stuck again! Worse than that I was told that I could lose all continence for the rest of my life if I was to tear again. At the age of 25 I felt it was too young to be wearing tenna lady, or worse, be fitted with bags to collect wee and poo, however giving into having a c-section still took the best part of 8 months.

I was advised that if I tried for a natural birth and the baby got distressed or stuck then I would be taken straight to theatre for a c-section, but may have to be given a general anaesthetic and therefore miss the first few hours with my new baby. This is what finally led me to opt for an elective c-section.

The Big Day
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I was given some medication to take the evening before and the morning of the planned c-section to reduce the chances of being sick (this is important if anything goes wrong and you need to be put to sleep using a general anaesthetic). I phoned the hospital to check there was a place available for me and went onto the ward to wait. Never having had surgery before I was worried about being cut open, especially as I would be awake for it!

After a few hours of waiting on the ward worrying about everything I was called to the operating theatre. At this point I would like to point out something that may not have crossed your mind with c-sections, my husband works in the hospital theatres and warned me that I would need to shave the top part of my pubic hair as this is very close to where the scar will be, he warned me the staff will do it on the ward if needed with just a razor and water! They checked hubby had cleared enough of the area and sent me on my way! When I arrived I was shown the room and some of the equipment was explained to me. You still have a midwife with you and she keeps an eye on baby and makes sure you are doing well throughout the operation until you go back up to the ward.

The anaesthetist then put a tube into the back of my hand and told me she would start getting the spinal block ready. Although I had an epidural with my first labour I was still worried about having a spinal block injected into my back. I was asked to sit forward with my legs over the edge of the bed while they found the right spot to inject the fluid. As I had worked the injection up into a big thing when it was actually done it hardly hurt at all, it felt just like a normal injection!

The numbness starts at your feet and works its way up until it reaches your middle. The feeling is like a heaviness, you can feel people touching you, but you can't feel heat, cold or pain. To check that you are numb up to the right level they spray you with a cold solution and make sure that you can't feel it. After being laid down a partition was put up so that I couldn't see what was happening, and I requested not to be told what was going on, I'm very squeamish!

I didn't realise that the cut had been made, I was told that some pressure would be applied to my tummy, this was very uncomfortable as the doctor needs to put their whole weight onto your 'bump' and I felt like I couldn't breath but this was over in a few seconds, and then a babies bottom was being shown to me! Being sewn up afterwards didn't take very long especially when you can just stare at your gorgeous new baby while it is being done!

I had staples instead of stitches on the outside as my doctor believed staples heal better. The staples pinched at my skin whenever I stood up until they were removed at home about 5 days after the c-section. Having them taken out was incredibly painful, but it was finished in just a couple of minutes and then everything felt almost normal again.

For the first 24 hours after the birth I was stuck in bed with the feeling slowly returning to my legs, I was then able to have my catheter removed and walk about as normal (well, half bent over worried the staples would rip through me). Until then hubby and nurses/midwives had to change dirty nappies and hand me baby, this was annoying as first time round I had been able to do everything myself.

The recovery felt much quicker that when I had a 3rd degree tear, but at about 5 weeks after the birth recovery seemed to slow down and I got tired out really easily, it was then that I realised that having a c-section was not the easy option that some people feel it is. For me being sliced open and stapled back together never seemed an easy option anyway.

For the first 2 months after having the c-section you need to take extra care washing and drying the scar as if it gets too sweaty or dirty infections can set in and cause lots of problems. Because I was so worried about this I was really careful about drying thoroughly after each shower with kitchen roll to make sure all moisture was absorbed and luckily never got an infection.

After about 5/6 months I got the feeling back in the skin around the scar area, before that it was numb but itchy at the same time, a very weird sensation. Full recovery took about 8/10 weeks, much longer than with my first birth.

I have given c-sections a rating of 2 stars as it is a great procedure if you have to have one, but I would not recommend one unless medically advised!

Summary: Not the easy option!