C Section Birth Plan

When I was pregnant with DD, I had some fun filling out my birth plan. There was a nice form on Baby Center and I checked off things like "dim the lights for the birth" and "soft music playing". Well, I never dilated at all, and I ended up with a c-section, which was fine.

Anyway, I'm writing up my birth plan for this time around. Of course, there is a lot less control that we have because we're dealing with a surgical procedure, but I thought we could post our tips here for each other to make things run smoothly.


-Ask if they can do the catheter after the spinal. Seriously, the cath is what made me MORE nervous and squeamish than the whole abdominal surgery. (I'm an odd duck).

-Make sure that they announce the babies as they are being delivered, i.e. "Baby A in utero is Baby A delivered" (another TS mama posted this on my names thread)


What are you going to ask for? I don't want to come across like a complete nut, but I am afraid of a mixup in the hospital and I'd like to know who is A and who is B. I'd like different colored caps- I wouldn't be offended if they put a blue cap on one of my girls! I know that they will have different bracelets, etc.... but I'm still worried.

Also, should I expect approximately twice as many people in the OR than there were when I delivered my singleton?

Thanks so much! Looking forward to hearing some more tips!

 

Great topic!

When I had my c-sec they did the catheter after the spinal, which is the ONLY way to do a catheter if you ask me! I don't think you'd sound to crazy asking the dr to do it this way. You're not the only one that hates the darn things.

One thing that really helped me was knowing what to expect with the spinal/epi. In my Lamaze class they covered it which was nice! They said we'd have to hold still for 10 minutes. Since I knew I would probably have to get one even if I did a vag delivery I spent some time practicing holding still in that arched forward position. I was glad I did 'cause to only took like 2 minutes or less and when she was done, the lady that adminstered it said the one she did before me took 20 minutes! :shok:

There were a lot of people there. A team of doctors for me, and then for each baby.

I was worried about mix up too, but since there was a team for each and DH was keeping an eye on everything (snapping pictures and all) and the fact that they looked so different helped a ton.

I don't remember if they announced when they were out. I was really out of it from the drugs. But when they saw they were both red-heds the doc said something to me and then one of the doctors came to my end of the OR table to inform me that baby A had 6 fingers on each hand. I couldn't figure out why he'd be joking around at a time like that (again, brain fog from the drugs). Turns out he wasn't kidding.

One other thing to keep in mind, if you happen to get to schedule your c-sec. I had mine done on a thursday morning. I was there til monday. The weekend was nice and peaceful, but there were no lactation consultants around, and the pedi wasn't around either. And my doctor was pretty scarce too. So it was a different Pedi I saw, and some different doctors during my recover. Not so fun, if you ask me. Then that monday was a real pain 'cause it was soooo busy all of the sudden! If I had it to do all over again, knowing what I know now, I would have waited until monday so the lactation consultants would have been there and my doctors.

HTH! GL!

 

It's funny- I read somewhere that sometimes people get the cath BEFORE the spinal. I had mine after last time, and I wanted to make sure this wasn't an anomaly because I had been laboring before and it wasn't scheduled, etc. So I asked the OB, and she looked at me like I was crazy. "When else would we do it?" she asked. I mumbled something about reading about it on the internet and she told me to stay off the internet.

 

They definitely did my catheter after the spinal/epi combo. Mine were b/g so no problem with distinguishing them. In my hospital they only had one type of cap, and it was a pink and blue stripe, so different hats may or may not be possible. The are militant with the bracelets though.

 

For all of my c-sections I had my catheter after my epidural.

As far as having more people in the OR I was told that there would be a team of nurses for each baby and possibly two doctors for me. That's one crowded OR! Ask your doctor about it if you are worried.

 

I can't comment too much on a birth plan (only 12 weeks) but with our son Grifyn, we brought him his hat to wear. So maybe your hospital will allow you to bring in hats for the babes?