Stitches, glue, staples?

[Wednesday]

Just wondering how everyone closed the gap for your c-section. Is one way better than the other? How long until you healed? etc.

[{sarah}]

I had staples for mine. I felt awkward walking around whilst they were in & was really worried that I'd do damage if I moved to quickly or twisted the wrong way. Having said that I'd probably have been the same no matter how it was closed I had Zander at 1.27am on the Sunday & had my staples removed at lunchtime on the Friday after. I didn't feel them being removed except for the last one, which the midwife said was more than likely the first one in. It was a little ouchy, but nothing too bad.

[visitor2]

I have had stitches with two of mine and staples with the last one. I did have a bit of bleeding from mine after and for a few days later. Mine hurt when taking the last one out and she asked if i wanted to keep them.

[{sarah}]

Did you Michelle? I kept mine & they're in Zander's baby box with his cord clip, hospital tags etc. I actually remember taking my mum's staples to school for show & tell after my baby sister was born!

[blackbird]

I had stitches and healed up very quickly both inside and out IYKWIM. My scar still gets a bit red and itchy from time to time but I think that's normal for any major wound.

Sarah - I've been away from BB for a while and just noticed your pg ticker - congratulations!!!

[castle]

I had staples for my first c/sec. It was done on a Thursday afternoon and they were removed early on Sunday morning. With my second, I had a continuous suture.The c/sec was on a Friday night and the suture was removed in one pull on Thursday morning. Neither removal hurt for more than a moment. I found that I healed much better and faster the second time around. After the first, I had trouble with hypertrophic scarring and eventually had to see a dermatologist. (I don't think this was related to the use of staples.)
One of the moderators, Dachlostar, had glue and perhaps she'll pop in & tell you about her experience with that.

[krisp]

I'm not sure what I had but whatever it was I didn't have to have anything removed so perhaps it was glue. It healed quite quickly and the scar is very fine now.

[Feathertop]

Staples for me, half out 2 days later, then the other half another 2-3 days later. Not painful, and an excellent scar.

[aussienic]

I had staples both times..

Removed on day 6 and 7 the first time

Removed on days 6 and 10 the second time...

reason for waiting was scar was taking a little longer to heal properly..

I think my sister had glue? she said it was good...

I assume I will have staples again this time as i am going to the same hospital

[PlonkeeMumma]

errr well, now i'm feeling abit daft as i don't really know what i had? With Oscar i had this sticky mat type thing that i peeled off in the shower after a few days - does that mean i had glue? I didn't even have that with Will so what would that have been? definately not staples and no sign of stitches so i guess glue!

mmm so if thats what i had i would recommend it as it was no problems at all!

Julie x

[Rach75]

same as Julie, I peeled the dressing off on day 3 no external stiches when I saw my sister (aussienic) on day 6 it was hard to even show her scar as it was so fine, I did overdo it at 3 weeks and now have 2 small 1inch sections that are a little inflamed as such

[AnyDream]

Hi ladies who saw no external stitches and had nothing removed - you probably had a sub-cutaneous dissolvable suture - which is a long dissolving stitch that is done under the skin. The plastic thing is a just a dressing they keep on to keep the germies out for the first few days (after which time the wound has mostly knit together again).

This is what I had and is the most common thing at the hospital I attended. Still only 2 weeks later so I can't really comment on how it has healed, etc.

[Lukesmum]

I had one long stitch both times and had no problems. Both times it was removed on Day 5 and didnt feel a thing when they removed it. I will say though for the 2nd c-section it was fully closed for about half a cm at one end and oozed a bit after they took the stitch out. I dont know if that was because I didnt have staples ????

[Mother Goose]

I had one long continuous stich which was removed on day 4. No pain on removal - a slight tickle type sensation. My suture line has healed remarkably well - there are spots where you can't even see a scar!

[joralyd]

does it depend on the surgon or the hospital as to how they stitch you up? I had a running stitch with my first and staples with my second but they were both born in different hospitals with different ob's. This time around I'm in a different hospital again (dh is Navy so we move around a bit) so I'm wondering if I can choose the way it's done, I'll ask my ob at my next visit but I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts?

[Mother Goose]

Usually it is the Ob's preference - they all have their ideas as to what is best (and what what they prefer to work with). You could put in a request - unless you're asking for something outrageous, I can't see why they would refuse? Who is your Ob? Perhaps someone on here has had the same Ob and can tell you what to expect...

[joralyd]

Hey MG thanks, I'm seeing Dr How in the west, I'll check with the Ob board and see if anyone else has had a C with him

[mickyndan]

Hey there,

I had glue with the my first c-section and it was the best thing every, I didn't have to do anything with it, it wasn't painful, I didn't have to return to have anything removed and now you can hardly see my scar.

xxoo