Your c/s and pain?

[Sterla]

I have been reading a few posts on BB recently where a few members have talked about the terrible pain after their c/s. A few mums I've talked to IRL have also mentioned it. However, I had an emergency c/s, and I have to say I didn't really experience anything I would call 'pain'. Obviously there was the epidural for the actual procedure, but afterwards I didn't experience pain. I would probably label it more as tenderness around the incision. In hospital it even happened a few times that the midwives would forget to give me my pain medication on time, and they'd come in a few hours later and say "You must be in a bit of pain now" - but I wasn't.

I'm not discounting the pain experienced by others who have had c/s... I'm wondering if maybe I'm a bit weird, or maybe I have a super dooper pain threshold . Am I the only one who had a relatively 'painless' c/s experience (physically - emotionally is a whole other story )?

[Arimeh]

I only had pain on the first c section because my pain medication was mismanaged. Maybe you had the pain relief up the bum whilst you were on the table cos that apparently is really awesome pain relief and makes it virtually painless. My second section didn't hurt as much as the first until I got an infection in my uterus. Then it was most painful!

[Sterla]

I would have thought it was painless due to 'awesome' pain meds, except for the numerous occassions that the midwives told me how long overdue I was for them .

Arimeh - ouch! Infection of the uterus doesn't sound nice .

[Heaven_Sent]

I found the pain after my emergency c/s really bad something i never wish to experince again, it was so hard to get out of bed, attend to baby, move around, shower, i couldnt even get dressed without help. When i walked it was sooo painful and slow. I cant wait to have a VBAC next time i hope i get to experince natural birth.

Ive heard the pain with a planned c/s is alot less.

[~mamaspice~]

Maybe you had the pain relief up the bum whilst you were on the table cos that apparently is really awesome pain relief and makes it virtually painless.

Arimeh! Those would be voltaren suppositories and yes I had them and yes I was pretty much pain free post CS too Up and about and looking after bub on my own form the next day onwards.
I have heard though that sometimes Ob's actually lift the uterus out of the pelvic cavity and sit it on the outside to stitch it up and if you're unlucky enough to have an OB who does this, it can cause more pain afterwards. Youch!

HEAVEN_SENT, I want a VBAC. Especially as my CS was under a general so I missed out on everything

[LadyNoor]

I had a planned c/s after OB scared me that I had a big baby and my pelvis is small. I know now that it's a load of craps. I went into labour a few days before planned c/s date, and had the c/s anyway. The birth experience itself is considered nice & lovely, they let me have the baby (wrapped in blanket, unfortunately no skin to skin contact) for awhile whilst I was being stitched up before I was being sent away to recovery and DH went away with bub. From here everything went bad, I threw up many times in recovery and the next 24 hours. I was told it was due to the morphine that how my body reacts to it. And then the catheter & being bed ridden, it was ridiculous. I felt like I had a tumour removed instead of giving birth. I was in so much pain, on the scar, the whole stomach and even my private area was tender & swollen. They gave me voltaren plus and once the student nurse ignored my request to come early and keep it on top the next dose, and it was due to breastfeed my baby - it hurt as h3ll! With every uterus contraction I was in agony god knows for how long when finally a more senior nurse gave me a little injection of pain relief (whatever that was) to take the pain away. I was already screaming in pain whilst my baby latching on my sore & swollen boob.... Not to mention the long & painful recovery afterwards as I had infected scars, had to have 2 weeks dose of antibiotics. And it took me 4 months to be able to change my baby's cot sheet as I couldn't lift the mattress..

Nope, definitely have no desire for repeat c/s. I'm attempting VBAC Feb next year.. fingers crossed...

Note: Sorry for long posting & sounding like I'm venting (maybe a little! ), but that's how my experience with c/s pain was.

[Indadhanu]

Hmmm, well mine HURT. But I was a bit of a martyr and didn't want the extra pain medication, just paracetamol and ibuprofen, because I didn't want it to interfere with the bfing. In hindsight, I think tht was pretty dumb of me, because I think I really pushed my limits, but yeah, thats what I did.

Though I think my 'pain' was directly related to the fact that my labour was 42 hours, so it was magnified by the fact that I was completely physically and emotionally EXHAUSTED, and there were people poking around down there, they tried the vacuum a few times, I ended up with fairly significant bruising and some grazes, so I was just sore, inside and out and everywhere...

Plus, no one told me it would help to BRACE when I stood up, sneezed, laughed, etc... so I learnt that they hard way... almost ripped myself open...

So I think c/s pain is realy related to circumstances... if I'd had advice on how to deal with a c/s wound, and if I had walked in to a c/s even partly rested, I probably would have dealt better, KWIM?

[joey123]

Mine REALLY hurt the first time and not so much the second time. Well it did really hurt, but I think seeing the first time was soooo bad, I seemed to recover a LOT quicker the second time. I was walking around very very slowly the second day and the third day I was much better (but still being careful of course). Maybe they didn't pull your guts open very far when they actually did the CS? I really don't know. Are there different degrees of pulling your guts open?? LOL

[Jandals]

Just wanted to pop in and say thank you to all of you for sharing your experiences. I had a vaginal delivery last time - 17 hr labour, epidural (which fell out during transition. Not good for your brain going from no pain to 10/10 pain in a few minutes!), forceps and an infection in my perineum due to a bad job stitching me up . So all in all not a very nice experience. It took me at least 8 weeks to stop having pretty bad pain due to the infection.

This time around I'm seriously considering an elective C/S for several reasons so it has been really helpful to read all of your posts. I had only heard about women having terrible pain after a C/S, which had me totally terrified. If I end up having the C/S I think I will be able to go in with a more positive mindset after hearing all of your experiences. Of course it's impossible to know how each person will react before hand, but I'm very relieved to hear it's not all bad.

Thanks again to you all

[Winter]

Good Luck Jandals, whichever way you decide to go.

I agree that its good to hear lots of perspectives, even though your own experience will be unique & totally unpredictable.

[suse]

Hey Bx... get lost (just kidding love). You're bang on about the difference in nerve positioning in different people. The positioning of the baby can make a huge difference as well.

Also, each c/s, regardless of whether it is an elective or emergency, is physically different to any other even if it's the same operation, so our responses to it, I believe, have very little to do with our inherent pain thresholds. And even our emotional state is not necessarily an indication of the subsequent response to pain. Someone with a high pain threshold and who is otherwise in a favourable position (emotionally and in terms of overall health) to respond well to recovery postoperatively can still have a really rough time, depending on the specifics of the operation. So yep, there are vastly different degrees of pulling your guts open LOL.

Labour prior to the surgery can a double whammy - you get to recover from both labour and major surgery. But labour also influences the positioning of the baby, if a c/s is performed once the mother has started pushing, the baby is usually very low in the pelvis which makes it more difficult to remove them.

Oh, Mara, the primary reason that a uterus will be 'removed' for stitching is when there is haemorrhaging, it's not really done as part of the common methodology. This happened to me, and yep, I can testify that it makes for a bloody painful recovery. As does 36 hours of labour prior to surgery culminating in 3 hours of pushing and a large posterior baby securely wedged into the pelvis.

On day 5 after surgery I was still heavily reliant on opiates, and needed codeine for probably another four days after that (I would have liked opiates for longer, but I wanted to go home more). I still found it quite painful up to two months after surgery, with nerve spasms and burning reducing in frequency over the next four months. By about six months I was feeling more or less normal with the occasional twinge.

As for next time, I would have loved a waterbirth first time around and would love one next time, but unfortunately I am not a favourable candidate for a VBAC so will be having a c/s.

[Megan]

I knew for 2 weeks before DS was born that I would be having a c/s. The first week I was upset and stressed about the operation and the pain afterwards, but was lucky enough to have an extra meeting with a doula and calmbirth practitioner and I think she helped me no end in getting my head in the right place. I have no doubt that helped with how I felt afterwards. Sure, there was discomfort and tenderness but I wouldn't say terrible pain.
I was up and about looking after DS, showering, walking around the ward etc. 6.5 months on I still have tenderness in certain areas, so I don't know that I would say I recovered quickly but I did feel lucky that I was able to get up and about and do as much as I did with only a little discomfort.
If I did feel pain, it was usually due to laughing or coughing and not bracing my tummy quickly enough!

[black_rose]

Main was pain free too apart from one stitch that was too tight, as soon as it was cut I was fine and frustrated that I couldn't lift anything or drive to see DD as she was in the special care nursery for three weeks. I went and saw my GP after two weeks and he gave me the go ahead to drive. Mine was an emergency cs too so I don't know if it makes a difference? Maybe your mental state has a lot to do with it?

[black_rose]

I did have a morphine block but refused a lot of the meds afterwards as painkillers and me don't mix I throw up constantly and I didn't feel like I needed them either.

[Jakabella]

My Emerg CS was fairly pain free also. I was up and about the next day and lift DD in and out of the basinet and changing nappies and walking the halls. I do have a very high pain threshold the docs told me that. I didnt take much pain meds while in hospital - just some neurofen.
Oh and I had to learn the hard way to hold my scar when coughing or laughing!! I learnt that one VERY fast!!
I was driving after a week and I rang the insurance and my doc gave me the all clear. I acctaully think I over did alot of things because I was feeling so good and I just hope that I didnt do any damage that migh flare up when im preg next time.

Kate

[*Infinity*]

I felt like I'd been cleaved open with an axe.....horrid pain. And I was chasing the nurses for pain meds to stay on top of it. I was up and about the next day....showering, short walks, picking up baby....but VERY slowly.

Makes me shudder.

[Sterla]

I acctaully think I over did alot of things because I was feeling so good and I just hope that I didnt do any damage that migh flare up when im preg next time

I was the same! I was doing almost everything I'd usually be doing. In fact, it was only because I'd read I wasn't supposed to do certain things that I held back a bit.

[ACJ]

I had no pain afterwards just like you said Sterla...discomfort and tenderness is all I felt. I had a emergency c/s with DS and have no choice with this bub because I have placenta accreta.