Need advice for preparing for C-section

Mine is scheduled for Saturday, May 5th. My doctor told me it was my choice if I wanted to do an enema the night before. Did anyone do that? I am thinking about a clear liquid diet the day before...

Does anyone have any other tips to help me prepare? I know I won't be sleeping at all the night before.

Thanks,
Lynn

 

I did not do an enema the night before - my doctor didn't offer it, but I don't think I would have done it anyway. Below are some random thoughts/tips that you might want to consider! And good luck - how exciting!!

1. Get out of bed and get moving as soon as possible. I was up and walking around as much as possible and it helped me recover much more quickly. When I got home, I was walking, including stairs, pretty much all day long while I took care of the babies. I was back to "normal" around 10 days after the c-section.

2. Stay up on your pain medication. I was feeling ok and refused the first pain pill after delivery. BIG MISTAKE! I was still feeling the morphine they put in the epidural. When that wore off at 2:00am, I woke up and called the nurses station bawling my eyes out and asking them to rush me some pain medicine! Take whatever they offer you. And track the time - if you are due pain meds and they are late - don't feel bad asking for them. If the meds wear off, you'll regret it! And take them for a week or so when you get home - no matter how good you think you're feeling. I stopped taking them around day 8 or so and was fine at that point.

3. Most new moms want their babies in their room at the hospital. I did this too for the first night against the advice of the nurses. On night two, I was so exhausted from not sleeping and trying to recover, I put them in the nursery for 5-6 hours. I am so glad that I did because it gave me and DH to catch a few hours of sleep. Trust me on this - you'll wish you had taken advantage of this when you get home! They will be just fine in the nursery for a few hours - get some rest while you still can.

4. Warm socks - no matter where you live and how hot it is outside, bring plenty of warm socks! Those hospitals get so cold.

5. Pack a couple of changes of clothes. I got up and got dressed every day because I had so many visitors stopping by and it made me feel better to be in normal clothes. Your belly will still be quite swollen and you'll want big baggy, comfortable clothes, especially pants - recommend bringing whatever clothes you were wearing around the early/mid second trimester.

6. Make sure you have plenty of menstral pads at home in a variety of sizes. We all react differently, but I bled quite profusely for 3 weeks straight. I had to send DH out to the store twice to buy more of the gigantic pads. In fact, mine was so heavy, I actually used Depends for a week! (TMI I know, but the point is - stock up on heavy duty pads) I was totally unprepared for how many I needed (3-4 jumbo packs) - I had no idea it would last 3-4 weeks! Another tip - take home some of those mesh underwear from the hospital. I ruined far less pairs of my own by using the disposable ones from the hospital.

And the biggest tip of all is to take these next few days and RELAX! Catch up on sleep and enjoy the peace and quiet. This will be the last time you can really take time for yourself for a very long time! Go out to dinner with your DH and enjoy some couple time too. BTW - although the first 3 days or so are tough, overall, I had a very good c-section experience. I would do it again.

 

The worst part is sneezing or coughing. So, make sure you have a small pillow handy that you can press up against your belly when you feel one coming on.

I couldn't have done the enema b/c mine was an emergency.

Take the pain meds definitely - I only needed them for 3 days.

Walk around for sure - it also helps to rid your body of the gas that you will get. Take the simethecone tablets that they give you and drink tons of water - it helps w/that gas!

Bring loose sweat pants to the hospital and wear them for the next few weeks.

I had the glue for my incision and it was wonderful - ask your doctor what they use.

 

my doc didn't offer me an enema and he's done hundreds of c-sections........ I thought it was only for a vaginal delivery!

For other advice, you've received really good advice from previous posters. I wished I had caught up with sleep whilst there - what a great idea!

 

I've never had to do an enema for either vaginal OR c-section. I personally wouldn't do it but before you make a decision, I would ask your doctor why he feels it is necessary.

 

I had a fairly quick vaginal birth for my oldest DD so I was really upset when I found out I would have to have a c-section with the twins. I worried about it for months! Boy, was that stupid! It was so simple and the recovery was much faster. I went into labor a week before my scheduled date so there wasn't time for an enema. They never mentioned one to me at the doctor's office so I'm not sure it's required anyway. I had 2 D&C's several years ago at different hospitals and one had me do an enema, the other hospital didn't so I think it's preference. Anyway, my recommendations for your surgery -

-Get up fairly soon and walk
-Take your pain medications regularly
-Stay in the hospital for as long as they will let you. Take advantage of someone being there to care for you!
-Try to limit your visitors in the hospital. I had family showing up TWICE A DAY the whole time I was there and I rarely got to sleep during the day because people were constantly coming and going. My c-section was at 7:30 am and I had people start showing up by noon! It was exhausting!
-Keep the babies in the nursery during the night. They can always bring them to you if you want to feed them.
-You will need maternity clothes to wear home and in the hospital. Take bigger AND smaller maternity clothes since everyone loses the weight at different speeds. The clothes I brought were huge on me after delivery and I had to have DH bring smaller ones. I was back to pre-pg size within 2 weeks.

Good luck! I was feeling pretty good by the time I came home and was climbing stairs. 6-wks later I feel great and have resumed ALL activities.

 

ditto to everyone's great advice. I didn't know about the walking asap and as much as possible and I think it made my recovery take much longer.

my only other advice would be to make sure you have panties that go up high on your belly. The underwear I brought to the hospital (that I wore while I was pg) sat right on my incision which was killing me. I ended up wearing some of my father's boxers that he brought for me to the hospital.

Good luck! Exciting times are ahead!!

 

I have never been offered an enema with any of my c-sections. I also ate whatever I wanted to the night before. I just couldnt eat or drink after midnight. I was actually surprised with this section they brought me a "real" meal for dinner. With my past sections, I had to do the clear liquid diet for 2 days in the hospital. This hospital said they changed things recently and you are able to eat a true meal.
Do take advantage of sending the spawns back to the nursery for the night. It truly will be the last good night sleeps you will have for awhile.

 

I wasn't offered an enema, either. I don't really think I would've needed it, anyway. Great advice on the other posts! I certainly agree with the pain meds. I didn't take mine until I REALLY needed it, and then I was in quite a bit of pain until it kicked in (wasn't long). I also was only on it for a few days.

Also, yes, walk as soon as you are able. It helps a LOT - especially if you are on the meds!

Congratulations and good luck! You'll be great!

 

walk walk walk walk walk lol it will hurt at 1st but it seems to accually be the best way to a quicker recovery. also i dont think anyone mentioned i would DEFF. take in ur bag some tums or rolaids. they will give u meds for ur gas but.... mine did not help at all. dh snuck in rolaids for me and thats the only thing that worked for me. if u do do this i would tell the nurse b/c i dont believ ur alound to. but if i didnt have mine with me i would of been suffering!!!! good luck with your delivery and keeep us posted. my boys 1st b day party is on the 5th also so i will remeber to pray for u...

 

Never even heard of the enema! Although I did have MAJOR problems in that department afterwards, so maybe that would have helped.... I also didn't do a clear liquid diet, I just ate regularly the day before. I was really sick to my stomach the day after the c/s (not the day of), which my OB said is pretty common. I was also incredibly hungry, so I think not eating (or barely eating) the day before might have just made things worse.

As far as preparing -- just be prepared to be gentle with yourself, but also start working on your determination to get up and start walking as soon as possible afterwards, even though it is going to hurt like bloody blazes. I was really surprised at how awful I felt afterwards, because so many people had it wasn't that bad. In retrospect I think a lot of this was because I'd been on bedrest for several weeks before the birth. I say this not to scare you, but just so you won't be totally shocked if it's not a breeze.

Here's my one piece of advice no one else has said yet:
Be prepared for your feet to swell up a lot afterwards, even if they weren't before. I was wearing my own shoes when I went into the hospital, but I couldn't wear anything but DH's shoes for about a week afterwards. For 5 days in the hospital (and in the car on the way home), I wore his stretchy fleece slippers.

And ditto all the other advice too. Good luck!

 

Everyone has summed up everything you need to know perfectly. In fact, I wish I had known about this site before I had the twins so they could have prepared me as well as they are you.

Good Luck.

 

ditto on everything already said.

i'd also make friends w/the nuses and get therm to score u extra mesh hospital panties - they are silly looking but oh-so-comfortable!!!

i had aheck of a time going up stairs after; but i had been on bedrest for a month and had complicatyiobs.

DEFINITELY take pain meds!!! - and; take it slow at the beginning; i really tired myself out running back an forth to the NICU 2x/day and it wiped me out. Six weeks later i do the stairs a dozen times a day, but i'm still pretty tired and sometimes sore. but maybe that's the near round-the-clock baby care!

i've also heard not to drink carbonated beverges beforehand because they cause more gas.

oh, and 0- i had them keep my foley catheter in til morning (i had an emergency section aat 10 pm) - which helped because i didn't have to get out of bed to pee. never thought i'd be HAPPY to have a catheter! good luck!