C Section experiences

Ooh lord doctors like doing c-section because it's more expensive! If you are natural just go natural if there is no issues there should not be a reason to do it

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Not true. I had to demand a c-section after 31hrs of labor and stalling at 5cm for 12hrs of it. My OB kept saying to wait, to see if I would progress anymore, but I started screaming to cut him out of me. Doctors avoid c-sections like they are the plague. You have to jump through hoops to schedule one.

I had an elective c section nearly 9 weeks ago (but I didn’t have a choice) the recovery is very hard! Much harder than my recovery with my first born which was a vaginal birth and she weighed 9lb 5oz

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Aw thank you ☺️ x

Congrats on the baby!

Mine was an elected non scheduled somewhat emergency c section at 37 weeks as baby was in distress and a breech position. It was an amazing experience in the sense that the staff were so amazingly supportive as my husband was not there. The only bits that were uncomfortable was the spinal and epidural being put it , I burn through meds fast so had both and the pressure you feel during the procedure from them moving stuff. I was up and walking within 2 hours and down to basic tylenol pain meds within 6 hours. No pain above a 2 on a scale of 1-10. My incision healed super fast. It is fading now - I will always have a scar but it is below my underwear line and already not that visible. Postpartum bleeding stopped within 7 days bar some occassional light spotting. Was going on walks and basically back to normal by the second day afterwards. Overall a positive experience.

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How many kids do you have?

My experience was very similar

After a 3 day labour, getting up to 8cm to then find out my baby was coming out side on there was no other option for me than to have an emergency c section. I honestly can say it was a lot more relaxed than I expected. There was a lovely nurse keeping me calm and massaging my shoulders to help me relax while they put the epidural in, the epidural was pretty much painless from what I can remember and I got out of hospital the next day. I Had my baby 3 and a half months ago, the scar is still there but I’m no longer experiencing any pain from it. Xx

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Thank you!

Congrats on the baby..

I watched a video of a c-section and theres a reason they hide behind that sheet 😂 but i had an emergency csection with my first. But recovery and everything for me went fine. The shoulder pain though, enough for me to never want to have another csection.

My section was planned due to having gestational diabetes the recovery was very hard with me took me 9weeks to fully get back to normal due to hospital not picking up an infection at 1st spent 11days in hospital with it on lots of meds my scar is huge due to having stitches inside an out I still get pain an numbness sometimes I wanted a natural birth but definitely didn't go my way but wudent change it for the world xxx

I had 4 c sections the pain after is horrible, my last pregnancy I was by myself my husband was in jail and my family was helping with the other 3 I was holding my son the the whole time I was there cause I couldn’t move lol

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I would like to talk to youu... how was your 3rd c-section?

I think my 3rd and last one weren’t as bad as the first and 2 the recovery

Scheduled c -section at exactly 39 weeks. Great experience. I don’t want more children but if i have another one I’d do it again. My son is 16 months now. Scar is still visible but DEFINITELY healed and lighter. Not dark or discolored or anything.

I had an unscheduled c-section due to failure to progress. I labored for 31hrs and had stalled at 5cms for 12hrs. My OB wanted me to keep waiting but I had a what is called a "hot spot" from my epidural which means it failed in one place and I felt every contraction only in that spot. They kept giving me injections of pain meds but I burned through them quickly so I was in an excruciating amount of pain. By hour 31, I was screaming to cut him out of me. I ended up needing a spinal tap due to my failing epidural. Let's put it this way, thats all I can say without breaking down and falling apart. Next time I have a child, I will have another c-section(that was never the problem. I was never scared of it) and I will be put under anesthesia. I will not suffer the way I did again.

I had one 2yrs ago and it was emrgancy c-section it was the last think i wanted to have done but it wasn't too bad i still have the scar but i healed really well and this time round i am going in to have another c-section as i want to have my tubes tied this time round as im a mum of 7 and 8th is due in 11 weeks time xx

I had a scheduled c-section due to baby being breech and I can honestly say it was such a calm experience. The surgery itself went smoothly and I've got a really neat scar that's healed well so far (only had my section 7 weeks ago). Recovery can be hard at times due to the pain, but if you take pain killers regularly and have someone around to help, it's manageable. I'd definitely go through it again if I had to x

I was in 57 hours of labour. I got as far as being told they could see the head and what colour hair my baby had and then all went downhill and I had to have an emergency c-section! Typical hey! 😅 The recovery was the hardest bit but considering I was told I couldn’t have kids, I’m happy to just have my little boy. You have a birth plan for a reason, so be sure to stress your wants and needs! Good luck to you beaut! xx

I had a scheduled c section found it to be fine and recovered very quicky

I had an emergency c section due to pre eclampsia at 38w4d. The only bit of the surgery that hurt was when my placenta wouldn’t detach normally after my doctor gave me a shot so he had to remove it manually and 🤬 it hurt like a mother... But I had a great recovery. Didnt even need codeine after the first day. Start walking as soon as they tell you to because that definitely helped with my recovery.

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Really? They kept giving me codeine and I kept rejecting it. They even gave me some to take home... 🤷🏻‍♀️ but yeah.. that first poo.. so glad I had laxatives lol

Wholey moley I cannot imagine that first after section poo on codeine 🤣😖 I was only offered paracetamol lol.

Emergency c-section after going septic during labor. Wouldn’t have been so bad except I had to go to the ICU, my baby and husband went to NICU, and we weren’t allowed to see each other because of COVID, so I missed the first 40 hours of my baby’s life until I was discharged from ICU to mother and baby unit.

I had placenta previa so knew early on I had no choice but to have a c section.

I was induced but failed to progress (like at all, 17 hours on that awful drip and not even 1cm). Babies heart rate kept dropping and after 17 hours wasn't recovering well. At 6am they checked me and said no it's time to go, by 638 my baby was in my arms. I was petrified of that as an outcome but really I felt nothing but a bit of pulling, by 6 hours after I was up and moving and I was discharged less than 30 hours later. Although to be honest although I felt fine and pain free in the hospital every bump in the car was agony. There are implications for baby in terms of immunity but also that their lungs don't get squeezed out so in the middle of the night finn started to choke on fluid. If its a planned section look up gentle section, and get a better OBGYN. This is your birth, your body and your baby and they should be advising based on clinical need not "threatening ".

I had a c section last year with my second boy. He was too big. And also my natural labor of my first one was traumatizing. They underestimated his weight and he was way bigger than expected. I had troubles pushing him out and when it finally happened. I was completely torn open with cuts. The degree of how severe it was didn't even allow me to have a natural birth again. I still have grudges towards the doctor who delivered my first born 😫

The photo does make it sound simple but this sugar coats it LOL there’s so many layers that are being cut threw. I had internal sutures and glue outside. Emergency C section after being in labor over 26 hours and 3 hours of pushing. Failure to descend and my son went into respiratory distress. Pain management was was everything. The hospital was on it when it came to it. My incision reopened a little but I didn’t feel it or know that it happened until my 6 week appointment after. I may need another c section just because I had one already and I really want a vaginal birth instead.

Thank God I had one. I was jogging 3 weeks later. Can’t notice my scar at all.

I had C- Section with my twins they were breached. I had them at mount Carmel west it was awesome. I recover just fine and had V- Back after that everything went well .God has been my biggest support and strength.. Im forever grateful for God blessing upon my life.. I have 4 beautiful children.. They're all doing great and well...

I had a csection with my daughter. They estimated her weight to be 10 lbs or more so when they offered it I took it because I was afraid of pushing at that point. I was up and about later that day the more you move around the better you feel if you don't get stiff. My scar is barely visible now but its under my underwear line so idc anyway. There's still some numbness around the incision but I hear thats fairly normal. Overall it wasn't bad for me and as long as I kept moving the better I felt.

Not a good experience. The hospital only gave me real meds when my doctor came. After that I was just relying on over the counter meds. I was in pain for a few months and I have a huge keloid scar.

I had an emergency c section with my son. Wasn’t planned or in the cards at all. After being in active labor for three hours at the hospital and pushed for two more with no progress, my heart was descaling as was his. They had no other options at that point, luckily I had gotten the epidural earlier when I sense something felt off, little to find out five hours later I’m in getting an emergency c-section. The doctors and the anesthesiologist were incredible! I didn’t feel scared I just knew it had to be done for the safety of our little boy 💛 I’m so sad to see so many comments they didn’t have a good experience at the hospital. Aftermath, recovery and healing took a while for me. Although I have a pretty high pain tolerance I wasn’t feeling like myself or able to bend comfortably for almost five months. Everyone’s body is different.

My scar however has healed beautifully and is barely noticeable. Thanks for firming lotion and vitamin E oil ✨👍🏻It takes time!

I was induced, everything seemed to be going good. They broke my water, I got an epidural (bc hello didn’t wanna deal with that pain lol). The nurse said I will let you sleep, but instead she kept coming in and moving from side to side bc my son’s heart rate would drop during contractions. I finally was 10cm and they told me I could try pushing, but if that didn’t work I would need a c-section. They took me to the OR just incase. I pushed 2 times and he wasnt coming. They got me all prepared and his heart rate was still low. They were ready to cut, but I wasnt numb, they couldn’t wait anymore so they had to put me under. Which sadly ment my husband had to be rushed out and didn’t get to see our son being born. To this day it still makes me emotional and he is 2. But I remind myself that he came out healthy and thats all that is important.

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Yep! True story.

C sections are brutal, I don’t care how great everyone makes them sound on the internet. The back pain you experience in the weeks following due to not being able to use your abdominal muscles for anything is some of the worst pain I’ve ever felt. I had a spinal anesthesia and could still feel a significant amount of what was happening. They give you a baggy to dry heave in over the side of the operating table because of the pain, and for that reason you can’t eat or drink anything for 12 hours before the surgery. Also, you probably won’t poop for at least a week which will make you feel like death, and when you sneeze of gag from brushing your teeth, you’ll think your incision is going to rip open and all your inside fall out, every. Single. Time. But in the end, you can gaze upon your beautiful, healthy baby and know you’d do it 100 times over just for them. ❤️ on the plus side, it’s better to have a scheduled section than to have one when you’re already in labor

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This made me smile. Thank you 💜

I had an emergency c section as my cervix closed. The idea of surgery before scared the crap out of me so I read up on it before so I knew I wouldn’t be scared. Once the decision is made there will be a lot of people in the room, don’t be frightened by this. The c section itself was fine, felt odd, described as someone doing the dishes in your tummy. Recovery is tough. Really make sure you give yourself credit. Don’t expect to be yourself for a while. Everyone is different so recover in your own time. My scar healed fine, you’ll be numb on your belly for a long time, it’s weird but not forever. Just take it easy! And just enjoy the excuse to sit and cuddle your baby a lot!!!

I spent 33h in labour I actually think I should have cc right away. Anyway luckily I didn’t have any issues. They took my son out in less than 2 minutes, stitched me in something around 20minutes. Next day I was already walking. Worst was actually going to toilet... there was a lot of pressure and the 💩 came after 3-4 days. So be aware of that. Otherwise except disappointment that I couldn’t have natural birth it was fairly ok.

I had a unplanned csection it wasn't an emergency but she was sunny side up and not coming down the canal so we chose a csection. 9 months PP and my Dr doesn't feel any scar tissue

Emergency

Graphic but blantantly honest: Was induced at 39 weeks due to the probability of a deteriorating placenta due to gestational diabetes. I was in Labor for 24 hours and pushed for 2 when the doctor noticed my son’s head was beginning to swell, therefore, wasn’t able to be pushed any further. Due to the swelling they didn’t want to use any other ways of assisting the birth vaginally so they wanted to do a c-section. The c-section itself was a terrifying thing for me mentally. But once they’ve got you on the operating table they test to make sure you can’t feel anything to a certain point. They then allowed my husband to enter the room to sit besides be and I could smell my flesh burning in the air. Then you feel a ton of pressure. Slightly painful, but mostly because it’s a really odd sensation. After they pulled my son out they lifted him above the curtain they put up (so you don’t see the gore of your body being opened up) and then the nurses took him to clean him up and weigh him, etc

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As they did that I completely passed out and was in and out after the moved be from the operating table to a bed to be wheeled back to a room where I was being watched by a nurse just in case any complications arose. To be plainly honest, once they had me practicing to stand up and walk, I felt like I could, at any moment, rip open and my insides would fall to the floor. I pretty much stayed kinda hunch back for about a week or so. The incision sight healed nicely enough, but I get odd, sharp pains every now and again. Especially when I sneeze or cough particularly aggressively or without warning. The pains shoot deep within, more than likely because they cut through the muscle. Sorry for being so abrasive, I don’t mean to scare anyone. It’s just, no one spoke about this. I was completely unaware of any of it. And of course, every woman’s story is different.

I had to have an emergency c-Section. The doctors did not like where my sons heartbeat was. I did not plan on having a c-section but if worse came to worse then I was willing to do one. They give you medication that numbs you from the chest down and shave the hair so they can make the incision. They asked me and my fiancé if we wanted to see our son being born and we said yes. They took the sheet half way and I got to see my son being born. Once he was born it felt like I was going to be sick because I felt empty. After my son was born they had to put me on iron pills because my iron level was low and as well as oxygen. I was ready to go home right away because I had been at the hospital for a week. My scar healed nicely and I was so happy that it did.

2 c sections for me. 3 years apart. I had the same reaction to the morphine with both. I was shaking nonstop and felt like I couldn’t breath. I was terrified and had a panic attack. My blood pressure was high due to the stress but nothing scary or terribly high. Once I was out of the OR I felt relieved and the recovery was super smooth.

I labored for 36 hours with my daughter but ended up having a csection. For some reason I felt a lot of pain and had to be heavily sedated during most of the birth. With my son,I wanted to try having a VBAC.So I labored for a day, but he just wasn’t coming out. It was emotional and frustrating having to have a second csection, but I accepted it and was excited to meet my son. Things went great until they pulled him out. I had intense pain and was screaming about how badly it hurt. Last thing I remember is asking “what’s happening” before passing out. Turns out I had uterine atony (uterus didn’t contract after birth) which led to massive hemorrhaging. I lost a LOT of blood, and went into respiratory failure. Thankfully they were able to save my life. I woke up intubated with my hands tied down 14 hours later, saw my son for a few mins, and then fell asleep again for awhile.I was in the ICU for 2 days. I totally don’t mean to scare you though. What happened to me doesn’t happen often!

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Jeez!!! I’m sorry that happened to you.

@Mallory I had a God awful c section too. Like you, I was induced at 39 weeks, was in labor for almost 48 hours, pushed for almost 3 hours before they declared a c section because my epidural was not working and half way through pushing (baby was crowning) they noticed blood on my back and wasted about 30 minutes with the anesthesiologist trying to figure out what was going on. Meanwhile baby was in distress and had to have an emergency c section. I had postpartum hemorrhage and then went straight into a DIC likely from being in labor so long. They had to transfuse 12 units of blood and blood products and I nearly died. What a turn of events... didn’t hold my baby or see him for over 24 hours while I was transported to the surgical intensive care unit at a different hospital.

I had an emergency c section with my daughter 8 years ago I didnt have the full labour so I cant tell you from that point... I was honestly fine and im not just saying it maybe because I wasn't exhausted from labour. I had a spinal block. I was up and about the next day yes im not gonna lie it was painful for a couple of weeks after but I was back driving after 2 weeks (I went to the GP first) This time around im having an elected section. I have a bit of a flap but I gained 5 stone when pregnant so that's to be expected with the stretched skin but only I could tell! Good luck with everything x

I had an emergency c section. It’s was uncomfortable but the recovery was ok. Home after two days, no complications, just make sure you take the medication they give you. Enjoy having others do stuff for you!

For me both were induced. First was vaginal and second turned into an emergency c section. It wasn’t a pleasant experience, but it’s so radically different for everyone. So much can happen!! The best advice I can give you is to be open to wherever your delivery experience goes and just focus on what is best for you and the baby. No matter how amazing or horrible the delivery turns out, it’s all okay when you have your little angel in by your arms. The rest in figureoutable!! Wish you nothing but the best 🖤

I had one c section and was honestly a good experience. I don’t remember much about it because I was so dipped up but I do remember that felt no pain and it was done in less than an hour

I had an emergency c section with my first due to his heart rate going down due to my induction fail.. It was traumatic to know I failed and the fact that I was fully prepared for a natural birth and was just in shock that I had to go in for surgery and worried about bub but once I got in there they were amazing it was still the best experience and my little boy and husband got to stay with me the whole time 🥰 My recovery was not so good though I couldn't do a lot for 6-8 weeks every time I happened to overdo it I would get an infection. My second c-section was planned due to medical reasons and it was another great experience and my recovery was pretty easy with my second also 😊 Wishing you all the best ❤

41+1 induction; failure to dilate after 24 hrs so emergency c section. I have a high medication tolerance and needed the max dose of all meds the whole time and the nurses treated me like a drug addict, and my body is known to reject things - even non-allergen metals - so my healing process was horrible. My incision reopened at 9 months and they had to silver nitrate it again, thankfully I didn’t require a second surgery. It honestly traumatized me and idk if I could go through that again. I’m one year pp now and my incision is closed but I still have not lost any of the pregnancy weight even though I’m EBF (which is supposed to help).

Both my babies were born via C section, first one didn't progress to active labour and baby was distressed, 2nd time progressed to 8cm.. and then it all slowed down, baby was distressed, I had possible infection and temperature spike.

I think try and get a doula.. I will definitely try for doula next time, but in these covid circumstances I think you can only have virtual help..which is a bugger. Unless you swap birth partner for your doula. As you can only have one person with you.

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Depending upon your immediate area, level of comfort, and where you deliver (hospital, birth center, home birth) doulas are taking virtual consults, and you can physically have a doula present. Some hospitals are fine with a doula, and others are not. If you choose a doula, and are birthing at a hospital, ask the doula how familiar they are with the chosen hospital and its cobid guidelines

Mine was emergency 😒😒😒I had my mind set on going natural since it was my first and I wanted to experience EVERYTHING. but when my water broke,it did not break completely. So I leaked for hours ☹️and caught an infection. My son's heart rate dropped tramendusly so they did an emergency c section.i overhead the doctor "I just want to make sure we get everything back inside before we sew her up". So I had an anxiety attack on the operation table and tried to roll over,so they had to knock me out🤦 my husband held our son for the first 2 1/2 hours of his life.

I had an emergency c-section due to my little on obstructing my bladder and turning crooked. I was pushing for 2 hours and she kept sucking back in. I lost 2 pints of blood and was in the o hospital for 5 days with antibiotic drips and iron fusion. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever been through but I love that I got my little girl out of it. My scarring has got so much better 3 months PP.

I had a planned C-section and it was a really positive experience all round from the actual procedure through to the recovery. My scar is healing really well and very neat and with the right creams I’m sure the line will fade to pretty much nothing x

I chose an elective c-section, as I really did not want to labor for over 24 hours. It was amazing and quick. Hospital managed my pain very well, provided me with hella food, and great support/education! The worst part for me was the anxiety of getting my epidural, but once it was in I felt like a million bucks and couldn’t wait to get into that OR!

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Amazing. I think there's a clear distinction between emergency and planned c section I've heard a lot of positive things about planned c-sections as usually moms did a lot of thinking about it. Glad it went well!

I had an emergency c-section. I was induced 12 hours before they discovered she was breach. It was over pretty quickly. I felt no pain. It felt like a rough massage. I do have a scar, but it’s healing nicely and overtime will be faintly there. I do not plan to have another though. I was dilated to 9cms and was about to oust with her when discovering I couldn’t birth her in the position she was in and hoping the next time I have a baby I can do VBAC. Physically nothing was wrong with me after the c-section. My issues have been mentally dealing with it.

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I had an emergency csection due to blood pressure and her not coming down during induction. This was my 3rd birth but 1st csection. I also got my tubes tied at the time so I wouldn’t have another procedure later. I’m about 3.5 months pp so I still have a very fresh scar. It seemed like it took about 5 weeks to finally feel better after as well