questions to ask at pre-surgery appt

i've NEVER had a section before...the 24th i have my presurgery appointment..i was told this is to get my weight and all of that...and so i can ask questions...and i'm assuming hubby can ask too...so i'm looking for suggestions on questions to ask...are there things you wished you had of asked about? how about things you were better off NOT knowing?

 

My only ?'s were things like - How long will I be in the hospital for? What medications will I be on? How soon will I beable to get up & walk? How long does the actual c-section take? Can we videotape in the OR?

Have a good appointment!

 

Never had a c-section before either. I hope u'll come back and update us on ur appointment once u've had it! Good luck

 

I had an epidural with my first c-section, a spinal with my second. I didn't have a problem with either, but I really enjoyed the spinal more - it did not make me groggy, I regained movement in my legs within an hour or so, I felt like it controlled the pain longer, it's a single shot rather than having a tube in your back, etc. You might ask which method they intend to use and what the pros and cons are for you.

 

one of the questions i was going to ask was whether they would do an epidural or a spinal..i've also wondered about the "spinal headache" effect...how long of a hospital stay for me is on the list...how long will the surgery take is a good question and not one i had thought of...i want to know WHERE the babies will go while i'm being put back together...i REALLY don't want them to go to the nicu unless they need to be there, kwim? i want to know how long i'm going to have to lay on my back...when can i get up...what pain meds will be offered (vicodin does NOTHING for me, so i want to make sure that isn't it)...

 

I never experienced a headache with either the spinal or the epidural - the epidural just made me really sleepy. My insurance has covered four nights each time - and I had different insurance each time. My OB offered to let me go after three nights each time, but I have stayed four - I figure I'll be getting up in the middle of the night soon enough ...

My babies have stayed in the OR with me until they were finished sewing me up both times (two different hospitals in two different cities). They cleaned them up when I went to recovery - my husband accompanied the baby and some other family member would stay with me. Then the baby joined me in recovery. It didn't seem like it took long at all, but then again, my sense of time could've been off.

I got up sooner with the spinal - I could move my legs again within two hours max, although I didn't get up until late afternoon or evening (8 a.m. section). With my first section, the epidural didn't wear off enough until the next morning - I couldn't move my left leg when they tried to get me up that night. I'm probably weird - I do love the c-section, after all - but it didn't bother me one bit to not get up. In fact, I was happy to have the cath overnight so I didn't have to get up to go to the bathroom after months of doing so multiple times a night!

 

i have my presurgery appointment tomorrow and questions that I thought of asking are: will they tie my arms down? if yes, do they HAVE to? i just want to know what to expect because I am a bit claustrophobic and would rather not be tied down if possible and I'd like to know to mentally prepare myself. The other question that I've heard of other mothers' advice about asking about is asking if they could make sure to insert the catheter after the epi/spinal. The other thing I would like to know if after being sutured up, could they bring the babies back to the recovery room (if they don't need to be in the NICU of course) so that I can have some skin to skin time.

 

For what it's worth, I've never been tied down (2 sections, 2 different hospitals/doctors/cities) and the catheter has been put in place after anesthesia both times. With my first, the baby just met me in my room - I think the timing just worked out that way. The second time, DS was brought back to recovery after he was cleaned up. The nursery was much closer to the OR/recovery the second time around, which I'm guessing was a factor in coming back to recovery or not.