5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before My C-Section

Hi Mama,

When I found out I was pregnant, I did all of the things that a pregnant woman does. I got books about pregnancy and birth, I watched YouTube videos, and I read blog posts. At that point, I figured I was definitely going to be having a natural birth. I was at the point where I was literally not reading or learning anything about having a c-section. I wanted nothing to do with it and wouldn’t even entertain the idea. However, to my surprise, I ended up having a c-section birth.

Related Video: From Breech to Born: My C-Section Experience

I always thought that c-sections were for people who had medical issues or didn’t take good care of themselves during their pregnancy. At our birthing class they showed us a video of how a c-section is performed. I got so freaked out by seeing the them open up the abdomen and separate the muscles before removing the baby that I said no no no no no I definitely will not be having that at all! So I did everything I could to stay healthy during my pregnancy and to make sure that when I did have a natural delivery that would be as smooth as possible. I thought that was all it would take to avoid the surgery.

Unfortunately, things don’t always go as planned (which is something that babies will teach you) and my baby ended up being breach. I had two choices: I could either go for an ECV (external cephalic version) to turn her or I could schedule a c-section. I spent so much time agonizing over this decision and I plan to share that experience here on the blog soon. After thinking about it for a few days and being super stressed out, I decided I would just go with the c-section even though I was deathly afraid of getting the surgery. I wanted to do what was best for my baby and I felt like the ECV was not a good option and that a c-section would be better for her.

So I started googling about c-sections. I wanted to know what the procedure was like and what to expect from a c-section, since I kind of missed all that in my prior birth research. I read a lot about how to prepare and what happens during the surgery. However there were a few things that I was not prepared for and learned along the way after having the procedure done. I honestly felt like someone should have “warned” me about these things ahead of time. That’s why I want to share them with you today so you’re not caught off guard.

So here are five things that I wish my doctor, a mom, or somebody, anybody, told me before I had my c-section.

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5 Things I Wish I Someone Told Me Before My C-Section

 

1. You won’t get to hold your baby right away.

When we went to the birthing class they talked about family centered c-sections so when I found out I was going to have a c-section I just assumed I would be able to hold my baby after the procedure. It was something that they mentioned as a way of making the c-section birth as “natural” as possible. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Not only did I not get to see her for the first few minutes while she was getting her Apgar score (which is completely normal) but when I did see her I was unable to hold her partially due to the fact that I was shaking so much from the anesthesia.

This made me super upset because I felt like I missed out on that key moment of her life when she first entered the world. Everything I had learned about and read regarding birth talked about the Golden hour and how you want to get that skin to skin time right away. Since I didn’t have that I was so afraid that the bond between me and my baby wasn’t going to be as strong. Luckily I was completely wrong about that, but I still really feel like I missed out on something big. I’m sure I’m not alone.

 

2. The anesthesia can make you nauseous.

When I had my c-section I actually had to wait six hours at the hospital while I was in labor before I could go into surgery. The reason for that was because I had just eaten a huge meal and they didn’t want me to throw up after getting the anesthesia. Even though I waited six hours before the procedure I still ended up throwing up everything I had eaten when I was in the recovery room. This meant that I couldn’t hold my baby for a few hours because I was nauseous, dizzy, and throwing up.

Honestly this was really upsetting for me because I had already missed out the chance to have a natural delivery and then I was just so miserable at this point when I was throwing up and couldn’t hold my baby. I remember she was under the heat lamp on one side of the room. I was near her but I couldn’t even turn my head to look at her because I was so nauseous. This is something that I was not warned about and I had no idea that I was going to become this sick after getting the procedure done. They gave me anti-nausea medicine but it didn’t help. The nausea lasted for over three hours and I only stopped throwing up when I finally went to sleep.

 

3. You will have gas pains. In your shoulder.

I literally had no idea this was even a thing. Apparently when you get a c-section since they open up your abdomen the air that goes in ends up getting trapped when they close your incision. I had no idea that this was going to happen and so the next day after the procedure I had horrible pain in my shoulder. I thought it was just because I had been sitting in a weird position while breast-feeding. I later found out that this was gas pain and the air was trapped inside my body and needed to be released.

It would’ve made sense if the gas pain was in my belly but the fact that it was all the way up to my shoulder was just shocking to me. The nurses said it was completely normal and gave me gas pills to help pass it. By the time I had a bowel movement the gas had finally passed through and I no longer had that pain but in the moment it was so horrible. As if I didn’t have enough issues trying to get out of bed with my incision, and then my shoulder was hurting too! Not fun!

Related Video: First Time Mom C-Section Recovery Experience 

 

4. You will experience numbness in your abdomen from nerve damage. This can last for months, years, or life!

For me, my birth didn’t have any complications really aside from the fact that I did have to have a c-section because my baby girl was breach. However, after having the surgery I’m still completely numb in the area where the incision is. It’s been six weeks so I asked my doctor about it at my follow-up appointment. He said the numbness can last for 6 to 12 months but other moms I’ve spoken to have said it can last for years or forever. I was so mad to find out that this was actually a thing because no one mentioned this when I was learning about getting a c-section or when I spoke to my doctor about the process.

Since I didn’t have complications from the birth I feel that the trauma that I’m experiencing is definitely from the fact that I have this numbness in my abdomen that I’m afraid will never go away. My body just feels like it’s not mine anymore. I almost feel like I’ve been used for what I was needed to be used for and now I’m just being disposed of, completely deflated and sad. Sorry to get so dramatic about it but it really has been something that’s been bothering me. I just hope the feeling will come back as the doctor said. For now it really just might be too early to tell but it’s driving me insane. I just want to feel like myself again.

 

5. Even though you didn’t push your baby out you’re still gonna be afraid to push a poop out.

Every time people talked about birth they always mentioned that after vaginal birth you’re super afraid to push out a poop. This is because you’ve been pushing for so long to get your baby out that you’re actually associating pushing now with birth rather than pooping since it’s the same feeling. Because I had a c-section I didn’t expect that I would be afraid to poop. However, I was afraid to poop because I was afraid to pop open my incision when I pushed. It was nerve-racking because I knew I had to poop before I left the hospital and also I knew that pooping would help release the gas pains I was experiencing.

I almost felt like dancing and jumping for joy when I finally had a bowel movement on the last day in the hospital. And unfortunately once I came home the poop problems didn’t end. I ended up being afraid of pooping at home because of the constipation I was experiencing. I thought once pregnancy was over hopefully my system would regulate itself properly however that was not the case at all! I can’t believe how traumatized I’ve been when it comes to pooping! By the way, if you have constipation you should ask your doctor about taking Miralax! I was constipated to the point where I thought I was going to need to go to the ER for impacted stools because the stool softener wasn’t working. Once I switched to 1 dose of Miralax daily I’ve been 100% fine. THANK GOODNESS. Because that sh*t was awful! (Pun intended)

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So there you have it! I hope that if you’re reading this that it’s BEFORE your have your c-section so I can hopefully inform you about these things you may not have known already. I’m a little nervous to have my second kid just because I really don’t want to have another c-section even though I know what to expect now. I’m hoping for VBAC so we will have to wait (a few years) and see!

What to read next: 

Emotions Before Birth V.S. After Birth

Everything I Googled After Bringing Baby Home

Please write to me in the comments and let me know if this information was helpful to you, or if there is something you would add to the list that you experienced. I know every birth is different so I would love to hear other perspectives and experiences from you.

Thanks for reading!

xo

Mother of Fawn