Scheduled c-section on MONDAY!

I will be 36 weeks and 5 days on monday and I am having a scheduled c-section due to pre-e, and then it doesnt help that I have PUPPPS, so my doctor decided to deliver me. I have been on bed rest hte past 3 weeks to contain my Pre-e and it has helped the swelling but noy my BP. I am nervous, excited, scared!! My main two things I am nervous about is an easy healthy delivery with healthy babies to follow! Then of course trying to brestfeed my TWINS!! I am def. BF, just really want to be able too. I really hope we have no NICU time. I went to the perinatal doc last friday and my girls which I was 35 weeks and 2 days and my girls weighed 5.4 and 5.7 and they both past their Bio phyisical profiles. I go see the perinal daoctor again tom. THen I HAVE TO BE at the hospital this monday morning april 5th at 8am and csection scheduled for 10 am! I will take any an all advice I can get!! Please keep me and my lil girls in your prayers for happy and healthy delivery!!!!!

 

Congrats and good luck!! You'll do fine! A few things to remember:

Don't be a super hero! Accept help! You just focus on you, and the babies for now!

Invest in paper plates, plastic silverware and plastic cups! It's a lifesaver! Get a takeout menu from every place in town and rotate meals!

Don't forget your pain pills! Set a timer if you have to! If you keep the pain under control, it's easy, if you lose control, it takes a few doses to get it back under control. Even in the hospital, the nurses won't always bring your meds to you on time, so make a mental note the first time they bring you a pain pill, write it down if you have to, so you know when you are due again. I let my pain get out of control with my first c/s because I didn't know the nurse wouldn't automatically bring my meds, and it was hard getting it back under control!

Don't be afraid to call a nurse if you need help with something! That's their job and for the most part, they enjoy it! Where else let's them play with babies all day long?!

Take lots of pictures! Charge a grandparent or friend with your camera and tell them to be snap happy! You will forget so much from those first few days!

Get up and get moving within 12 hrs of your c/s. It's going to hurt, no lie, but the sooner you get moving, the sooner the pain eases up. Lean on dh or a nurse if you need to.

Don't be discouraged if nursing is difficult. It's a learning process for the babies (and for you if it's your first time). I don't suggest trying to tandem nurse yet, just do one at a time and focus on proper positioning. Expect it to take 30-45 mins per baby, they won't get good at it for a few weeks yet!

Remember to smile :wub: You are being blessed with two beautiful babies, and even if the going gets rough, it's alllllllll worth it in the end!! :hug:

 

Best of luck to you on Monday. :hug: Can't wait to read the birth story.

 

Congrats and good luck on Monday!

I second the advice of keeping on top of the pain meds...my nurses were often late and I would keep track and buzz for more meds. I also spaced out my Ibuprofen and Vicodin so that they sort of overlapped and I was never completely med free. That helped!

Definitely get up and move. I didn't as much as I should have and ended up very bloated and gassy by day 3 when I went home. Being home and having to move more was the best and the gas passed quickly and I felt great as long as I took my pain meds on time and didn't overdo it...which I sometimes did. Be careful and do NOT forget that you have had MAJOR surgery!

Also definitely take the stools softeners (as many as they will give you in my opinion...I would have asked for more if I had known what was coming!) and don't rush the first BM.

I also agree with having others take pictures. With two pictures, both you and your partner will be busy with a baby most of the time and you will forget altogether! We didn't get our first family photo of the four of us until last week and our babies are almost 4 months old now.

Also I have exclusively BF my babies starting at about a half hour after their birth in the c/s recovery room...so it certainly can be done. Since yours are a little early, be prepared for a few more challenges and to possibly have to incorporate pumping right away to get your supply up and going and to give your little ones a chance to catch up a little developmentally if they need a bit of time to perfect their latch and sucking.

I hope that everything going really well and without a hitch, can't wait to read the birth story and see some pics.

 

Mine were born at 36 weeks 4 days and were not much good at breastfeeding. If you really want to do it, don't give up! It will take many, many weeks for them to get the hang of it.

I started mine on formula in the hospital because one wanted to nurse but wasn't any good at it, and the other had no interest in nursing, and the nurses kept reminding me that there was formula on the cart. Nobody told me that I could borrow a pump until my third day there. These were my first children and I didn't really know what I was doing even though I took the breastfeeding class. I think because of all this mess, I never managed to make enough milk for two babies.

When I started pumping at the hospital I finger-fed them whatever I managed to pump. Now I have one exclusively bottle fed and one that nurses very well but also gets bottle fed sometimes.

Just don't get discouraged like I did. It can be done but it will take some time for it to click with the babies.

 

mine were born at 36 w on the dot - for the same reason (pre-e)...

the first time out of bed was HORRIBLE...I had the nurse on one side and DH on the other - the trick was not to let them PULL you up you use them to PULL yourself - that way you can scooch around to find the easiest way to get to the edge of the bed...

I really didn't take much pain meds - but I wasn't (honestly) really in a lot of pain...I took the Percocet at night just to sleep (our hospital puts the babies in the nursery at night - no rooming in)...I didn't BF so I have no advice...

sit up - a lot if you can...it really helped me mentally to be out of bed and in the chair...and once you're on the 2nd day post section I started wearing my own clothes rather than the hospital gown...I just felt better....

one of the nurses aides gave me a bit of a sponge bath to clean the blood and stuff off my legs and thighs the day after surgery...I was mortified but she was very nonchalant and basically said she did this pretty much for everyone....and I really did feel better afterward...

have someone take lots of pictures and if you're tired don't feel bad about asking people to leave! I threw my very best friend in the world out the door one afternoon because I was SO tired and wanted to nap...she understood!

most of all you're being bestowed with the best stuff in the world - twins!

 

I will second the advice of making sure you take the stool softeners. I made the mistake of thinking I didn't need them with I had a c-sec with my singleton a few years ago and boy oh boy was I sorry! Not to be disgusting but it was literally like delivering another baby. I wound up having a fissure from passing my first BM and it was painful. Also - I've heard that once you're allowed to eat afterwards drinking prune or pear juice will really help that first time. Anything with lots of FIBER!

I also will say that I didn't have to take a ton of pain meds. They gave me something called tylox. I think was the smallest dose and even then I didn't wind up needing it very often. The worse part for me was the numbing/burning sensation around my incision. And then when it started to heal I wanted to itch it like CRAZY! Just make sure you keep it CLEAN because getting an infection will just make it worse.

Oh! And yes...get out of bed for a walk as soon as they will let you. Fromm what I've heard all hospitals are very different on when they will allow you out of bed. The hospital I delivered my DS at (in Florida) let me out of bed around 5 pm and I delivered him at 130 pm via c-sec. But apparently that was not normal for them. But I was begging for food because I hadn't eaten in nearly 48 hours because I was an induction first before the c-sec and the nurse wouldn't let me eat until 12 hours after the surgery. However....she thought I'd never get out of bed for a walk so she tried to bribe me with that. Unfortunately I took her bait and my mom and DH helped me on a walk around the maternity floor and when I came back she grudgingly brought me dinner. Apparently the hospital I will be delivering at now has a policy that they won't even think about letting you out of bed for 12 hours afterwards which is going to be hard for me because I don't like to just sit still. But I'm hoping babies will be healthy enough to be in our room to provide some entertainment and time passing.

I think that's all the advice I have to offer. I don't have any experience with BF though. My DS was born pretty early and required a stay in the NICU so I didn't get a chance and the (stupid and idiotic) nurses basically told me that it was just too much of a hassle and to let them give him formula through his tube. So I did. Sometimes the nurses do not know best.

Soooo....good luck and how exciting!!! Keep us posted after!

 

because of the Pre-E they will probably give you a magnesium sulfate drip that will have to continue for 24 hours after surgery - the side effects of mag are truly evil (dizziness, vomiting, halucinating etc...) that I wasn't allowed out of bed until AFTER they pulled my catheter and drip so it was a full day after surgery before I as let out of bed

 

Very exciting!

For the c-section, I should have gotten dressed on day 2. I felt so grubby (sweat glands were in OVERDRIVE- I used to tell the babies they had stinky mommy milk!) Get up & move! The walk each day was hard, but you need to do it.

BF is a big ball of wax. It's really a learning curve for the baby and you- where everything goes & how it happens. You can do it. It will not be easy. Does your hospital have a LC on staff? Have her in your room every day to help with latching, possibly trying tandem feeding. Bring your pillow-EZ 2 Nurse is usually what people use. Nurses can help with getting your baby latched on, too, but in the beginning, my DH is very technical and HE did it every time in the hospital. I did not understand how to do it for the 1st week, I swear.

I echo a pp. If your babies have trouble latching, which they may, get a pump. My nurse brought one in the 1st night I was there & I did not want to use it! I was dead set against pumping for the first 6 months. However, Sebastian was a big lazy baby who would not latch or nurse well. Orion & the Medela Symphony brought in my milk. We kept at it, though & would give him just a couple of sucks on a bottle, then put him on the breast. He had the hang of it basically in 2 days. We have not used bottles since the hospital.

I'm looking forward to reading your birth story- yay for Monday & no more PUPPPS!!! :youcandoit:

 

I'm probably going to repeat everything everyone else has already said

Get out of bed!! Walk walk walk I was on magnesium sulfate but as soon as they allowed me to get out of bed I did!!

If you can't nurse right away start pumping

Take the stool softeners and drink LOTS of water someone else also recommended pear juice to me and I think it helped

Gets some sleep and allow yourself to recover unfortunately my girls were in the NICU they were 31 weeks and 6 days so I had to pump every 3 hours and hobble to the NICU to feed them but you do what you have to do.

Take a note book and pen write things down: the first time you breastfeed the first grin

ENJOY it it is such an amazing experience and it goes by so fast!! before you know it you will be posting on here about sleepless nights and poopie diapers Best of luck!!

 

Good luck on Monday!! :hug: :hug: :hug: