My Elective Caesarean experience (Caesarean Section)

Member Name: emmakate06

Product:	Caesarean Section
Date:	18/06/09 (355 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Feel more relaxed and in control

Disadvantages: Discomfort

I have had two children delivered using an elective caesarean section, once in 2006 and again in 2008. Both experiences were a bit different, a little uncomfortable but also amazing and exciting at the same time.

My first elective caesarean section was due to a condition called Symphisis Pubis Dysfunction. These is a condition which causes your pelvic joint to separate resulting in an unbelievable amount of pain and little or no mobility. The discomfort had began at around 12 weeks and by 32 weeks I was unable to walk without the aid of crutches, I had to wake my husband up to help me turn in bed and it seemed to take a lifetime just trying to get up off the sofa. Therefore, after numerous appointments with my midwife and a physiotherapist, it was decided that a caesarean would probably be the best option for me given the amount of pain I was already in. The procedure was fully explained to me by my consultant, and although I was a little nervous, I was also quite relieved that I was going to be provided with a date where I knew when my baby would arrive and when the pain in my hips and pelvis would stop. We discussed dates and it was just like making an appointment for a hotel stay and we had to go to reception and let them know which date we had chosen. We were advised that it would need to be around the 38-39 week mark so as I wasnt completely sure on my dates, I thought that waiting to 39 weeks would be better for my baby. So off I went to reception and made an appointment for the 30th October which seemed quite surreal and very organised.

A couple of days before the caesarean was due to take place, I had to go into hospital for a 'Pre-Med'. This was where they took my bloods, explained the procedure again and also got me to sign authorisation forms for the procedure to go ahead. I was advised to arrive at 8am, but was told that I could be waiting a few hours depending on if there were any emergencies which would obviously take priority.

On the morning of the 30th October, I was suprisingly quite calm and relaxed, I picked up my hospital bag and set off the hospital. I became inundated with text messages wishing me luck and I became slightly nervous at this point. On arrival at the hospital, I checked in at reception and I was taken to a room in the labour ward where I was assigned a midwife. This midwife then informed me that she would be taking care of me for the day until the baby had been born and I was moved onto the maternity ward. She was lovely and really put me at ease and was more than happy to answer any questions that I had. A short while later the anaethetist came to the room to introduce himself and explain spinal block procedure that he would be carrying out. I have developed a great fear of needles and the spinal block procedure had been worrying me greatly, however he was fantastic and really put my mind at ease. He inserted a canula into my arm, in case any medication needed to be applied during the caesarean, but in all honesty I didnt feel him doing this at all which again therefore put my mind at rest about the Spinal. I blame the internet for my fear of the Spinal block, as I like to be informed and so have a terrible habit of googling everything and anything that I need to find out about. The problem when doing this, is that not only due you get informed about the procedure but you also get pages of pages upon pages of horror stories about the procedure which I couldnt help but read, so this had panicked me.

Anyway, shortly after my discussion with the anaethestist, I was told that they were ready for me and I was wheeled into the operating theatre. Obviously if your mobility is fine then you can just walk in which is probably again slightly more relaxed. On entry to the operating theatre, I was surprised by how many people there were. There was the anaethetist, his assistant, a midwife, the midwifes assistant, the surgical assistant and a paedeatrician. I was told that the surgeons would enter once the aneasthetic had taken hold and I was comfortable. It was all very relaxed and everyone was chatting. I was asked if there was a particular radio station that I wanted on in the background, l this point I had however become too nervous to care about the radio!

I was told to sit and lean forward over a pillow whilst the Spinal block was administered. Firstly I was given an injection of local anaesthetic, which stung slightly, but wasnt too bad. I could then feel a large amount of pressure at the bottom of my back and a trickling sensation as if there was water being poured down my back. It was slightly uncomfortable, but not painful and the whole procedure took approximately ten minutes to complete. It didnt take long for the spinal block to have its affect and I was turned around and positioned flat on the medical trolley. I was then informed that this needed to be tilted and I was convinced that I was going to fall off, but im pleased to say I didnt. They did explain to me as to why this needed to be done, but unfortunately that bit seems to be a bit of a blur and I cant remember why that was necessary. The anaesthetist then checked that I couldnt feel anything from my breast bone downwards and once he was happy, the surgeons walked in.

A screen was positioned up in front of my face so that I was unable to see any of the procedure, which didnt really bother me as I am quite squeamish, but my husband was told that if he wanted to look over at any point then he was welcome to. He did this once, and im guessing he wasnt too keen on the sight as he didnt try to do it again! For the first ten minutes, I wasnt even aware that anything was being done, I couldnt feel a thing, but then I felt tugging. I hated this part and whilst it didnt hurt I found it to be very uncomfortable, it felt like someone was pulling in my chest and of course their was no reason for them to be that far up so I started panicking then. My blood pressure dropped and I started to feel very dizzy and nauseous, I was given a dose of adrenaline and within a couple of minutes I was absolutely fine again, and just in time to greet my baby.

We hadnt found out the sex of my baby as wanted the first to be a surprise, so we were absolutely delighted as the baby was pulled from my uterus and we were informed that it was a baby girl. The midwife immediately wrapped my little girl up in a blanket and took her over to be weighed. She was then brought back over to us to meet us whilst the surgeons then began the procedure of closing the wound opening. Of course I dont actually remember if I could feel any of this as I was so amazed and distracted by my little girl. I did ask however what sutures they would be using as I had built up a fear of being stapled and was informed that it would just be one long stitch with a bead on either end which would be removed in 3 to 4 days.

Soon after, I was wheeled back into my room on the labour room where I was told I would need to stay for a couple of hours so that they could do regular observations to make sure that me and my little girl were fine, before being moved upstairs to the maternity ward. I thanked everyone involved and spent the rest of my time in that room just staring in amazement at my daughter whilst my husband rang nearly everyone in his phonebook to let them know the good news.

The spinal block wore off a few hours later and whilst I wasnt expected to be moving about on the first day, I think that I could have done if I had needed to. I felt in slight discomfort the following day but nothing too bad and I was able to walk to the shower. I was also amazed that the problem with my pelvis had gone immediately. I had been told that this would be the case, but didnt quite believe it. After being stuck in a wheelchair and with crutches for numerous weeks previously, it was such a relief to be able to walk again. The nurses actively encouraged movement the day following the procedure, but I noticed that others who had had an emergency caesarean seemed to be in a lot more discomfort than myself, and my husband actually went and got meals from the eating area for those who did not feel up to walking which was greatly appreciated.

In total I only spent two nights in hospital, which surprised me as I had read somewhere that you could expect to spend upto 5 nights there, so I was very pleased to get home and to start settling my daughter into her new surroundings.

A couple of days later, my local midwife came to remove my stitch, this was a quick and painless procedure and came out in one go. She simply removed the beads at either end which were holding the stitch in place and then the midwife simply just got a pair of tweezers and pulled the stitch through. Now it was just a case of letting the scar heal and the midwife checked it on a daily basis for around a week afterwards.

It had been nowhere near as bad as what I was expecting, and I had never actually been in pain throughout the procedure apart from some discomfort.

Approximately 5 months after my caesarean, I became pregnant again with my son Ben. Again it was agreed that I would have a caesarean due to my pelvic condition and also due to the short gap between my previous surgery. The build up to this caesarean was exactly the same as the first, however inside the theatre it was slightly different. The staff were all female for starters and everything seemed even more relaxed than the first. I didnt feel a thing during the caesarean and it is my belief that this is because the surgeons were a lot more gentle due to being female, the procedure also seemed to be a lot quicker. The lady carrying out the procedure also told me exactly what she was doing throughout the surgery down to every single last cut. I actually found this to be quite interesting. She also explained that my previous scar was a bit of a mess. It wasnt anything major but it was raised and did look quite unsightly. This hadnt really bothered me though, as Ive never had any plans to be a bikini model, but she said that she could cut the old scar out and make it much tidier and neater. The only problem being, that this was be using staples! Uh-oh the dreaded word. She had put me at ease so much though throughout the procedure, I really felt like I could trust her to do it and my instincts werent wrong.

In total, I had 12 staples, these looked exactly like the stationary staples and I will admit that it was more uncomfortable to move after the surgery. However, I felt really really secure. When I had the one stitch, I was always worried that it was going to come out, silly I know. With them being quite tight, the discomfort was only caused if I tried to stretch to reach something because it would pull the surrounding skin making it slightly painful on occasions, but already I could see that the scar was going to be perfect and it was completely straight and relatively small, my stomach also looked much flatter than it did the first time round.

Again, I stayed in for two nights, my little boy was both gorgeous and very well behaved and didnt cause me any problems whilst in hospital, both feeding and sleeping well, giving me plenty of recovery and relaxation time.
There was then the usual procedure of the midwife visiting and the day quickly came around to have the staples removed. Now I was actually quite petrified of this now, and I had also become quite accustomed to them in a strange kind of way. I actually did refuse to have them out on the first attempt as I had worked myself up so much, so after a good nights sleep I felt prepared for it the second day. Now I wont lie to you, this hurt! They are removed with basically what just is a sterile staple remover. I did cry, I did shout and I also made the midwife stop three times so that I could try and compose myself. I do know other people who have said that they didnt feel a thing, but I did and was so relieved when it was over. Once they removed it was the same kind of sensation as having your ears pierced, that kind of stinging burning sensation. This only lasted about an hour though and when I then went to check in the mirror, apart from where the staple marks were, the scar looked fantastic and a hundred times better than the previous scar. Now 16 months on, you cannot even see my scar and she did an absolutely fantastic job. Whilst it did hurt a bit, I would definitely have them again in the future should I have any more children and I would actually recommend them.

Overall, my caesareans were not as scary as I thought they would be. They were both over and done with within an hour and I now have two beautiful children.

Summary: A great experience for me