C-section questions

hopeforever601 · Dec 18, 2007

Well it has been determined that I will probably need a c-section due to the position of the babies (one is head down but the other is franklin breech and too much risk of hurting her if we did natural...)

For those of you who had a c-section:

1) how was pain managment after surgery?
2) Were you able to do cpt? vest? nebs?
3) How soon before you could walk/hold baby?
4) Did you get an epidural or spinal?
5) Any advice you would give to someone in my shoes?
6) Did it hurt to cough?
7) What kind of stiches did they use disolvable? clips?
8) Were you afraid of coughing while lying on your back in surgery?

Thank you to all of you who respond..

hopeforever601 · Dec 18, 2007

Well it has been determined that I will probably need a c-section due to the position of the babies (one is head down but the other is franklin breech and too much risk of hurting her if we did natural...)

For those of you who had a c-section:

1) how was pain managment after surgery?
2) Were you able to do cpt? vest? nebs?
3) How soon before you could walk/hold baby?
4) Did you get an epidural or spinal?
5) Any advice you would give to someone in my shoes?
6) Did it hurt to cough?
7) What kind of stiches did they use disolvable? clips?
8) Were you afraid of coughing while lying on your back in surgery?

Thank you to all of you who respond..

hopeforever601 · Dec 18, 2007

Well it has been determined that I will probably need a c-section due to the position of the babies (one is head down but the other is franklin breech and too much risk of hurting her if we did natural...)

For those of you who had a c-section:

1) how was pain managment after surgery?
2) Were you able to do cpt? vest? nebs?
3) How soon before you could walk/hold baby?
4) Did you get an epidural or spinal?
5) Any advice you would give to someone in my shoes?
6) Did it hurt to cough?
7) What kind of stiches did they use disolvable? clips?
8) Were you afraid of coughing while lying on your back in surgery?

Thank you to all of you who respond..

hopeforever601 · Dec 18, 2007

Well it has been determined that I will probably need a c-section due to the position of the babies (one is head down but the other is franklin breech and too much risk of hurting her if we did natural...)

For those of you who had a c-section:

1) how was pain managment after surgery?
2) Were you able to do cpt? vest? nebs?
3) How soon before you could walk/hold baby?
4) Did you get an epidural or spinal?
5) Any advice you would give to someone in my shoes?
6) Did it hurt to cough?
7) What kind of stiches did they use disolvable? clips?
8) Were you afraid of coughing while lying on your back in surgery?

Thank you to all of you who respond..

hopeforever601 · Dec 18, 2007

Well it has been determined that I will probably need a c-section due to the position of the babies (one is head down but the other is franklin breech and too much risk of hurting her if we did natural...)

For those of you who had a c-section:

1) how was pain managment after surgery?
2) Were you able to do cpt? vest? nebs?
3) How soon before you could walk/hold baby?
4) Did you get an epidural or spinal?
5) Any advice you would give to someone in my shoes?
6) Did it hurt to cough?
7) What kind of stiches did they use disolvable? clips?
8) Were you afraid of coughing while lying on your back in surgery?

Thank you to all of you who respond..

tara · Dec 18, 2007

Hi Kelly,

I know we've talked about this on the phone, but I love to type about myself, so I'm going to answer your questions here too.

1) how was pain managment after surgery? Personally, I think I made a mistake by riding the coattails of the spinal medication before asking for pain meds. I got "behind" the pain. After surgery you want to stay ahead of the pain, and ask for relief the instant you think you're starting to feel something. I had my spinal at 9:30 AM and don't remember asking for vicodin until 6 or so that night. Hindsight is 20/20 and I should have asked for the vicodin MUCH sooner. By 2AM I was really needing to cough/clear my chest and it was too much, so I asked for some morphine. In all honesty, it only took the edge off. But I got through that night and that really was the worst of it. Without the coughing, there would have been minimal recovery pain.

2) Were you able to do cpt? vest? nebs?
At the time I did not do CPT or have a vest. I did all my nebs on schedule (at the time was twice a day)

3) How soon before you could walk/hold baby?
I was walking to the bathroom about 30 hours after surgery. It was painful but I made conscious effort to stand tall, not hunched over shuffle, to get the blood circulating and get the wound healed. I didn't carry a baby in my arms while walking until 5 days post surgery. I had the babies brought to me in bed while I was in the hospital for 5 days.

4) Did you get an epidural or spinal?
I got a spinal.

5) Any advice you would give to someone in my shoes?
Practice huff coughing with as little muscle involvement as possible????

6) Did it hurt to cough?
Yes it hurt. I was told to roll a pillow, place it at the incision site and use pressure on it while coughing. This actually helped! When you feel pressure, you can't feel pain. Strange but true.

7) What kind of stiches did they use disolvable? clips?
The stitches under the skin dissolved. On the outside they used clips, which for me, were removed about 86 hours after my surgery (before I went home)

8) Were you afraid of coughing while lying on your back in surgery
I was afraid that would happen, but the spinal made me numb from the tips of my toes all the way up near my breasts. I couldn't cough. I tried and was told to stop. It was weird because I couldn't. I felt like I needed too, but after some zen moments of concentrating on deep breaths, I was fine. I think it was just a weird feeling to be that numb and completely awake so I tried to do what my body thought it had to do. I didn't "need" to cough.

Hope this helps Kells. Hang in there. You will be blessed with two happy healthy screaming babies soon.

tara · Dec 18, 2007

Hi Kelly,

I know we've talked about this on the phone, but I love to type about myself, so I'm going to answer your questions here too.

1) how was pain managment after surgery? Personally, I think I made a mistake by riding the coattails of the spinal medication before asking for pain meds. I got "behind" the pain. After surgery you want to stay ahead of the pain, and ask for relief the instant you think you're starting to feel something. I had my spinal at 9:30 AM and don't remember asking for vicodin until 6 or so that night. Hindsight is 20/20 and I should have asked for the vicodin MUCH sooner. By 2AM I was really needing to cough/clear my chest and it was too much, so I asked for some morphine. In all honesty, it only took the edge off. But I got through that night and that really was the worst of it. Without the coughing, there would have been minimal recovery pain.

2) Were you able to do cpt? vest? nebs?
At the time I did not do CPT or have a vest. I did all my nebs on schedule (at the time was twice a day)

3) How soon before you could walk/hold baby?
I was walking to the bathroom about 30 hours after surgery. It was painful but I made conscious effort to stand tall, not hunched over shuffle, to get the blood circulating and get the wound healed. I didn't carry a baby in my arms while walking until 5 days post surgery. I had the babies brought to me in bed while I was in the hospital for 5 days.

4) Did you get an epidural or spinal?
I got a spinal.

5) Any advice you would give to someone in my shoes?
Practice huff coughing with as little muscle involvement as possible????

6) Did it hurt to cough?
Yes it hurt. I was told to roll a pillow, place it at the incision site and use pressure on it while coughing. This actually helped! When you feel pressure, you can't feel pain. Strange but true.

7) What kind of stiches did they use disolvable? clips?
The stitches under the skin dissolved. On the outside they used clips, which for me, were removed about 86 hours after my surgery (before I went home)

8) Were you afraid of coughing while lying on your back in surgery
I was afraid that would happen, but the spinal made me numb from the tips of my toes all the way up near my breasts. I couldn't cough. I tried and was told to stop. It was weird because I couldn't. I felt like I needed too, but after some zen moments of concentrating on deep breaths, I was fine. I think it was just a weird feeling to be that numb and completely awake so I tried to do what my body thought it had to do. I didn't "need" to cough.

Hope this helps Kells. Hang in there. You will be blessed with two happy healthy screaming babies soon.

tara · Dec 18, 2007

Hi Kelly,

I know we've talked about this on the phone, but I love to type about myself, so I'm going to answer your questions here too.

1) how was pain managment after surgery? Personally, I think I made a mistake by riding the coattails of the spinal medication before asking for pain meds. I got "behind" the pain. After surgery you want to stay ahead of the pain, and ask for relief the instant you think you're starting to feel something. I had my spinal at 9:30 AM and don't remember asking for vicodin until 6 or so that night. Hindsight is 20/20 and I should have asked for the vicodin MUCH sooner. By 2AM I was really needing to cough/clear my chest and it was too much, so I asked for some morphine. In all honesty, it only took the edge off. But I got through that night and that really was the worst of it. Without the coughing, there would have been minimal recovery pain.

2) Were you able to do cpt? vest? nebs?
At the time I did not do CPT or have a vest. I did all my nebs on schedule (at the time was twice a day)

3) How soon before you could walk/hold baby?
I was walking to the bathroom about 30 hours after surgery. It was painful but I made conscious effort to stand tall, not hunched over shuffle, to get the blood circulating and get the wound healed. I didn't carry a baby in my arms while walking until 5 days post surgery. I had the babies brought to me in bed while I was in the hospital for 5 days.

4) Did you get an epidural or spinal?
I got a spinal.

5) Any advice you would give to someone in my shoes?
Practice huff coughing with as little muscle involvement as possible????

6) Did it hurt to cough?
Yes it hurt. I was told to roll a pillow, place it at the incision site and use pressure on it while coughing. This actually helped! When you feel pressure, you can't feel pain. Strange but true.

7) What kind of stiches did they use disolvable? clips?
The stitches under the skin dissolved. On the outside they used clips, which for me, were removed about 86 hours after my surgery (before I went home)

8) Were you afraid of coughing while lying on your back in surgery
I was afraid that would happen, but the spinal made me numb from the tips of my toes all the way up near my breasts. I couldn't cough. I tried and was told to stop. It was weird because I couldn't. I felt like I needed too, but after some zen moments of concentrating on deep breaths, I was fine. I think it was just a weird feeling to be that numb and completely awake so I tried to do what my body thought it had to do. I didn't "need" to cough.

Hope this helps Kells. Hang in there. You will be blessed with two happy healthy screaming babies soon.

tara · Dec 18, 2007

Hi Kelly,

I know we've talked about this on the phone, but I love to type about myself, so I'm going to answer your questions here too.

1) how was pain managment after surgery? Personally, I think I made a mistake by riding the coattails of the spinal medication before asking for pain meds. I got "behind" the pain. After surgery you want to stay ahead of the pain, and ask for relief the instant you think you're starting to feel something. I had my spinal at 9:30 AM and don't remember asking for vicodin until 6 or so that night. Hindsight is 20/20 and I should have asked for the vicodin MUCH sooner. By 2AM I was really needing to cough/clear my chest and it was too much, so I asked for some morphine. In all honesty, it only took the edge off. But I got through that night and that really was the worst of it. Without the coughing, there would have been minimal recovery pain.

2) Were you able to do cpt? vest? nebs?
At the time I did not do CPT or have a vest. I did all my nebs on schedule (at the time was twice a day)

3) How soon before you could walk/hold baby?
I was walking to the bathroom about 30 hours after surgery. It was painful but I made conscious effort to stand tall, not hunched over shuffle, to get the blood circulating and get the wound healed. I didn't carry a baby in my arms while walking until 5 days post surgery. I had the babies brought to me in bed while I was in the hospital for 5 days.

4) Did you get an epidural or spinal?
I got a spinal.

5) Any advice you would give to someone in my shoes?
Practice huff coughing with as little muscle involvement as possible????

6) Did it hurt to cough?
Yes it hurt. I was told to roll a pillow, place it at the incision site and use pressure on it while coughing. This actually helped! When you feel pressure, you can't feel pain. Strange but true.

7) What kind of stiches did they use disolvable? clips?
The stitches under the skin dissolved. On the outside they used clips, which for me, were removed about 86 hours after my surgery (before I went home)

8) Were you afraid of coughing while lying on your back in surgery
I was afraid that would happen, but the spinal made me numb from the tips of my toes all the way up near my breasts. I couldn't cough. I tried and was told to stop. It was weird because I couldn't. I felt like I needed too, but after some zen moments of concentrating on deep breaths, I was fine. I think it was just a weird feeling to be that numb and completely awake so I tried to do what my body thought it had to do. I didn't "need" to cough.

Hope this helps Kells. Hang in there. You will be blessed with two happy healthy screaming babies soon.

tara · Dec 18, 2007

Hi Kelly,

I know we've talked about this on the phone, but I love to type about myself, so I'm going to answer your questions here too.

1) how was pain managment after surgery? Personally, I think I made a mistake by riding the coattails of the spinal medication before asking for pain meds. I got "behind" the pain. After surgery you want to stay ahead of the pain, and ask for relief the instant you think you're starting to feel something. I had my spinal at 9:30 AM and don't remember asking for vicodin until 6 or so that night. Hindsight is 20/20 and I should have asked for the vicodin MUCH sooner. By 2AM I was really needing to cough/clear my chest and it was too much, so I asked for some morphine. In all honesty, it only took the edge off. But I got through that night and that really was the worst of it. Without the coughing, there would have been minimal recovery pain.

2) Were you able to do cpt? vest? nebs?
At the time I did not do CPT or have a vest. I did all my nebs on schedule (at the time was twice a day)

3) How soon before you could walk/hold baby?
I was walking to the bathroom about 30 hours after surgery. It was painful but I made conscious effort to stand tall, not hunched over shuffle, to get the blood circulating and get the wound healed. I didn't carry a baby in my arms while walking until 5 days post surgery. I had the babies brought to me in bed while I was in the hospital for 5 days.

4) Did you get an epidural or spinal?
I got a spinal.

5) Any advice you would give to someone in my shoes?
Practice huff coughing with as little muscle involvement as possible????

6) Did it hurt to cough?
Yes it hurt. I was told to roll a pillow, place it at the incision site and use pressure on it while coughing. This actually helped! When you feel pressure, you can't feel pain. Strange but true.

7) What kind of stiches did they use disolvable? clips?
The stitches under the skin dissolved. On the outside they used clips, which for me, were removed about 86 hours after my surgery (before I went home)

8) Were you afraid of coughing while lying on your back in surgery
I was afraid that would happen, but the spinal made me numb from the tips of my toes all the way up near my breasts. I couldn't cough. I tried and was told to stop. It was weird because I couldn't. I felt like I needed too, but after some zen moments of concentrating on deep breaths, I was fine. I think it was just a weird feeling to be that numb and completely awake so I tried to do what my body thought it had to do. I didn't "need" to cough.

Hope this helps Kells. Hang in there. You will be blessed with two happy healthy screaming babies soon.

hopesiris · Dec 18, 2007

1) how was pain managment after surgery? I felt little pain and switched to Motrin within a day. I left the hospital without a prescription and didn't need to take anything at all. I did get an epidural headache and needed Advil.
2) Were you able to do cpt? vest? nebs? No. Coughing hurt and I didn't want to put pressure on my wound. I was given saline to neb to keep my passages moist. I started using my vest at about 4 weeks postpartum and worked my way up to my old routine slowly.
3) How soon before you could walk/hold baby? I held baby right away, walked with assistance the next morning.
4) Did you get an epidural or spinal? Epidural. I will not get it again if I can avoid it-my epidural was done incorrectly and I had a horrible headache for a week.
5) Any advice you would give to someone in my shoes? Try to go home as soon as you can and co-sleep if possible, especially if you are breastfeeding. Have soft, loose pants to wear since your scar will be tender for a while. Sweats worked best for the first month for me.
6) Did it hurt to cough? Yes. I was very dried out from my hospital stay though so I coughed less than I usually do for the first couple of weeks postpartum.
7) What kind of stiches did they use disolvable? clips? staples, which were removed two weeks postpartum.
8) Were you afraid of coughing while lying on your back in surgery? No, I was so out of it and I couldn't feel anything anyway. I think I did cough once or twice but was fine.

hopesiris · Dec 18, 2007

1) how was pain managment after surgery? I felt little pain and switched to Motrin within a day. I left the hospital without a prescription and didn't need to take anything at all. I did get an epidural headache and needed Advil.
2) Were you able to do cpt? vest? nebs? No. Coughing hurt and I didn't want to put pressure on my wound. I was given saline to neb to keep my passages moist. I started using my vest at about 4 weeks postpartum and worked my way up to my old routine slowly.
3) How soon before you could walk/hold baby? I held baby right away, walked with assistance the next morning.
4) Did you get an epidural or spinal? Epidural. I will not get it again if I can avoid it-my epidural was done incorrectly and I had a horrible headache for a week.
5) Any advice you would give to someone in my shoes? Try to go home as soon as you can and co-sleep if possible, especially if you are breastfeeding. Have soft, loose pants to wear since your scar will be tender for a while. Sweats worked best for the first month for me.
6) Did it hurt to cough? Yes. I was very dried out from my hospital stay though so I coughed less than I usually do for the first couple of weeks postpartum.
7) What kind of stiches did they use disolvable? clips? staples, which were removed two weeks postpartum.
8) Were you afraid of coughing while lying on your back in surgery? No, I was so out of it and I couldn't feel anything anyway. I think I did cough once or twice but was fine.

hopesiris · Dec 18, 2007

1) how was pain managment after surgery? I felt little pain and switched to Motrin within a day. I left the hospital without a prescription and didn't need to take anything at all. I did get an epidural headache and needed Advil.
2) Were you able to do cpt? vest? nebs? No. Coughing hurt and I didn't want to put pressure on my wound. I was given saline to neb to keep my passages moist. I started using my vest at about 4 weeks postpartum and worked my way up to my old routine slowly.
3) How soon before you could walk/hold baby? I held baby right away, walked with assistance the next morning.
4) Did you get an epidural or spinal? Epidural. I will not get it again if I can avoid it-my epidural was done incorrectly and I had a horrible headache for a week.
5) Any advice you would give to someone in my shoes? Try to go home as soon as you can and co-sleep if possible, especially if you are breastfeeding. Have soft, loose pants to wear since your scar will be tender for a while. Sweats worked best for the first month for me.
6) Did it hurt to cough? Yes. I was very dried out from my hospital stay though so I coughed less than I usually do for the first couple of weeks postpartum.
7) What kind of stiches did they use disolvable? clips? staples, which were removed two weeks postpartum.
8) Were you afraid of coughing while lying on your back in surgery? No, I was so out of it and I couldn't feel anything anyway. I think I did cough once or twice but was fine.

hopesiris · Dec 18, 2007

1) how was pain managment after surgery? I felt little pain and switched to Motrin within a day. I left the hospital without a prescription and didn't need to take anything at all. I did get an epidural headache and needed Advil.
2) Were you able to do cpt? vest? nebs? No. Coughing hurt and I didn't want to put pressure on my wound. I was given saline to neb to keep my passages moist. I started using my vest at about 4 weeks postpartum and worked my way up to my old routine slowly.
3) How soon before you could walk/hold baby? I held baby right away, walked with assistance the next morning.
4) Did you get an epidural or spinal? Epidural. I will not get it again if I can avoid it-my epidural was done incorrectly and I had a horrible headache for a week.
5) Any advice you would give to someone in my shoes? Try to go home as soon as you can and co-sleep if possible, especially if you are breastfeeding. Have soft, loose pants to wear since your scar will be tender for a while. Sweats worked best for the first month for me.
6) Did it hurt to cough? Yes. I was very dried out from my hospital stay though so I coughed less than I usually do for the first couple of weeks postpartum.
7) What kind of stiches did they use disolvable? clips? staples, which were removed two weeks postpartum.
8) Were you afraid of coughing while lying on your back in surgery? No, I was so out of it and I couldn't feel anything anyway. I think I did cough once or twice but was fine.

hopesiris · Dec 18, 2007

1) how was pain managment after surgery? I felt little pain and switched to Motrin within a day. I left the hospital without a prescription and didn't need to take anything at all. I did get an epidural headache and needed Advil.
2) Were you able to do cpt? vest? nebs? No. Coughing hurt and I didn't want to put pressure on my wound. I was given saline to neb to keep my passages moist. I started using my vest at about 4 weeks postpartum and worked my way up to my old routine slowly.
3) How soon before you could walk/hold baby? I held baby right away, walked with assistance the next morning.
4) Did you get an epidural or spinal? Epidural. I will not get it again if I can avoid it-my epidural was done incorrectly and I had a horrible headache for a week.
5) Any advice you would give to someone in my shoes? Try to go home as soon as you can and co-sleep if possible, especially if you are breastfeeding. Have soft, loose pants to wear since your scar will be tender for a while. Sweats worked best for the first month for me.
6) Did it hurt to cough? Yes. I was very dried out from my hospital stay though so I coughed less than I usually do for the first couple of weeks postpartum.
7) What kind of stiches did they use disolvable? clips? staples, which were removed two weeks postpartum.
8) Were you afraid of coughing while lying on your back in surgery? No, I was so out of it and I couldn't feel anything anyway. I think I did cough once or twice but was fine.

julie · Dec 19, 2007