It’s not as scary as you think it will be and especially with a planned section everything should be very calm. I had an emergency section (going for a planned one this time) and even then, I had a really good recovery barely even needed paracetamol. Loose high waisted clothes and knickers for after, you don’t want anything rubbing on your scar. It actually helps to get up and about and moving once you can I found. Epidurals are fine, not at all painful to be put in (although I’d been in labour for several hours so my testimony perhaps can’t be trusted but it was certainly nothing compared to contractions 😂) and you won’t even be able to feel that you have a catheter in. It feels really weird when you start regaining the feeling in your legs and I didn’t like it when I couldn’t feel them at all but it comes back pretty fast. If you want to breastfeed, it can be a good idea to colostrum harvest with a planned section as your milk can take a little longer to come in - I’ll be doing it this time. It will be fine - you’ve got this 💪
thank you for the response. I’ve had mixed feedback on harvesting. They are being delivered at 36 weeks and some reading/ people have said to not harvest before 36 weeks because it can bring on labour. I’ll talk to the midwife to confirm when I see her on Monday.
Hi lovely, how exciting you get to meet your babies soon.
I too had a planned section and I can say it was a positive experience for me. It was really chilled and the needle in the back I honestly didn’t feel it. I’m sure they said it’s different to an epidural that your given. The weirdest thing is you’re obviously numb from the waist down.
In theatre the staff talked me through every step of the way and were the best!
Afterwards due to the morphine they gave me in surgery my legs were soooo itchy so they gave me what looked like a long knitting needle to itch. Catheter I didn’t even know was there as I was so numb for ages after. Taking it out took a second so honestly I wouldn’t worry.
A few hours after they encourage you to get up and shower. It was slow and steady but I felt able to do it.
On the ward they gave peppermint tea out and now I know why!! This for me was the worst bit….the wind pain in the days after, stock up on peppermint tea. It was painful but everyone is different.
My feet seemed to swell more once I had baby and was really worried as it felt like forever I had 2 balloons for feet🤣 but one morning they had disappeared.
Like MissL73 said pants and joggers that sit high on the tummy as you want want rubbing on the scar. I just wore a normal nighty on the ward as it was boiling. They probably will have a fan on the ward but if you have a hand held one might be useful.
I was given blood thinners to inject once a day for a week. They will probably give you other meds like lactolose to help go to the toilet. I got a bottle of morphine! I never touched it and didn’t need it.
Any help you get take it when you get home. That was my mistake as I didn’t in the beginning and it would have made things a bit easier. Be kind to yourself. It’s the best feeling in the world meeting your babies and taking them home but once home the emotions can be real as hormones are flying everywhere.
ahh thank you. My husband has a fair bit of time off so hoping he can do most of the helping. Best mate is also a nurse and is ready to jump in and help. I’ll make sure I just take the offers. Relieved it doesn’t seem as scary as I thought. I’ll check my bag over again for what clothes I’ve packed and hopefully I’m ok to go.
Hi - I’ve just had an emergency c-section, and having assumed I’d have a natural birth, I hadn’t really considered the affects of it. My partner was white as a sheet during the prep and spinal, whereas because I couldn’t see anything, I was pretty chilled. I just constantly reminded myself that I was in the best place and with trained individuals!
I agree with the comment above, that it is good to get up and about, but don’t push yourself too much.
Catheter wise, I didn’t even realise I had one put in until hours after the birth and a midwife mentioned removing it! It’s actually quite nice not having to think about getting up and weeing 🥲. One less reason to have to try and get out of bed.
I did have a very sicky baby in hospital and in the week after, and was only advised later that this is common with babies born by c-section due to the mucus not being squeezed out of them in the birthing canal. I had 10 minutes sleep the night I stayed in hospital as I was constantly worrying - so would have helped if I knew this before! So be prepared this could happen.
My main advice is just to make sure that after, at home, you get support from family/partner etc with lifting, getting up etc. Also, keep with maternity leggings and baggy trackies - even the loosest maternity jeans felt uncomfortable.
we’d seen about the mucus and asked about a gentle c-section which is meant to help reduce that. I’ll ask again on Monday when final plan is being made. Thank you for the advise and and reassurance.
I second everything mentioned above - planned cesarean will be a very calm and methodical environment. My surgery was emergency cesarean and I still would do it all over again (the surgery, not the induction!).
Again, I agree that you hardly feel the epidural needle. At most it's a sharp scratch going in then absolutely nothing pain wise. The biggest positive about my surgery was the anaesthetist. He was absolutely bloody brilliant at his job. He done my epidural in labour ward then further drugs when emergency section was needed, kept my Husband calm, explained every single drug he gave me during the surgery and what the side effects might be so I didn't worry. For me, this helped distract me and helped me feel a tiny bit in control.
I was surprised afterwards at the lack of severe pain I'd anticipated but I did keep taking my Paracetamol and NSAID as prescribed. I was easily up and about breastfeeding the night of my surgery, lifting my baby and even though I did end up with a nasty infection I still was up and about and could care for my baby at all times. Yes, you'll likely be given clexane injections home as your blood thinner to reduce the risk after surgery as they don't do compression stockings anymore (not in my hospital anyway).
Your whole lower half will be so numbed you'll never feel the catheter. In fact, I forgot it was a thing until a nurse came to remove it and you'll still be fairly numb down there for quite a few hours so shouldn't feel a thing with it being removed. I was nervous about this too with other surgeries I'd had.
Lastly, my surgery scar wasn't anywhere near as yucky as I thought it would be when the midwife removed my dressing (I think around a week after surgery ish). I'd imagined something horrifying even though I've been for prior gynae surgeries and it was just a wobbly line, stitched nice and tight so no insides were showing 😂🤦♀️
Just to add that there is a very helpful Facebook group- breastfeeding twins and triplets. I highly recommend this! Unfortunately it’s very common for twin mums to have to triple feed to start (breastfeed, pump, formula top ups) with which makes recovery from c-section even harder but to reassure you I was doing most things within 2 weeks with slight adaptations and achieved what we wanted with feeding (with good NHS support).
Also scar massage when appropriate - see clarebournephysio on instagram. I personally saw a women’s health physio at around 6 weeks and this really helped guide my recovery.
Not sure about your plans for where the twins will sleep but get things set up at the best height for you both up and downstairs as bending is painful to start with.
I’m on the feeding group and was reading up about triple feeding. Hopefully set up for that to an extent if we need. Bed set up in our room on my husbands side so he can lift/ twist and get them for me. Down stairs I need to think a little more. Thank you for that reminder, I’ll check the night of the Moses basket rocker. Hopefully minimal bending.
Really reassured to hear the epidural and catheter isn’t so bad.
Glad you found the group . I was able to lift my twins out of the cot almost immediately as one advantage of twins is that they are usually a little smaller!
Also consider joining the Twins Trust ad they have good discounts!
the discounts at twins trust combined with some deals my husband gets through work has saved us a fortune!
Haven’t done a play list yet. Was going to ask if they’d let me. I’m not even sure what I’d go for mood wise. Relaxing and calming I suppose. Something to think about.
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