I’m 33 weeks and booked for a c-sect in June. I’m soooo scared and need any advice to put me at ease. I can barely sleep just thinking about it. What makes c-sections bad? The cut? The inside pain? Back pain?”
The actual c-section is not bad. The worst part is that it can be intimidating to get the epidural and IV lines for anesthesia, be prepped for surgery and be in an operating room, especially if you’ve never had surgery before. You can make it less scary, though, by taking birth classes with your partner, hiring a doula, touring the hospital and generally educating yourself as much as you can about what will happen.
The surgery itself is very quick- 5 minutes to do it, 10 to stitch you up- and because your c-section is planned you don’t have to go through labor at all. Remember that the surgery is very safe and very routine these days- AND you won’t have vaginal stitches, which some moms say can be as bad as c-section recovery!
Plus, after the numbing shot before the epidural (which is like a shot you might get at the dentist, but hurts less because you have fewer nerves in your back) you won’t feel any pain until days after the surgery, when your doctor will begin to reduce your pain meds and encourage you to get up and walk.
Getting up from bed and using your abs will be painful at first- wear a tight band around your incision and get up very very slowly, and always take your pain meds on time — it’s easier to keep the pain at bay than have it come back and then try to get rid of it.
Recovery will take a while, but you’ll be better every day. Today most surgeons use dissolving stitches and surgical tape, called Steri-strips, to close the incision. You can remove the strips after about 7-10 days yourself by wetting the tape with a warm washcloth in the shower or bath and then pulling gently and slowly.
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