Everything C-Section

This is my c-section preparation post. You know how people sometimes tell you that they are telling you the "Stuff no one tells you?" They are lying. This is for real - the stuff absolutely no one tells you. Some of this is TMI. Be ready!
Last updated: October 13, 2013
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What to pack:
Regular pillows - this is on every list, but I need to add it again. Bring your own pillows!!!! We had one for each of us. That would be the bare minimum.
Boppy pillow (or whatever) - I couldn't really move myself around, so moving me, pillows and a little baby to different positions was a lot of work. If I had my boppy, I would have had a much easier time with the nursing, just getting in the right position was enough work!
Drawstring pants - Maternity pants all have the elastic band really low (right at the incision) or have the elastic high and a seam right at the same height as the incision. Drawstring pants are perfect. You can wear them all high and look funny but the don't touch the sensitive area. At 2 weeks, I could wear maternity sweatpants or pants with the low elastic. I can wear the jeans (with the high elastic) if I wear a tank top that is long enough to protect me from the seam. Not that it hurts, it is just funny feeling.
Dry Erase marker - My room had a board where one nurse wrote her name and the date. That was one of the best things. We usually had no idea what day it was. And then I could ask for my nurse by name when I called the nurses station. None of the other nurses did it because they didn't have a marker. You could even bring your own like you had on your door to your dorm room.
Tank tops - The hospital gown is crap. You'll have to wear it until the IVs come out (because you can't put shirts on over the tubes), but then you will NEED your own clothes.
Nursing bras - Again, you'll be there for several days. You'll want your bras.
Pen and notebook - You'll want to write down what is happening, visitors, notes about appointments and all that stuff. Also, the nurse will give you a confusing sheet to keep track of nursing and diapers. That sheet is ridiculous. Keep track your own way so you won't be all confused when they ask questions. The nurses don't seem to realize you are on crazy drugs.
High fiber snacks - You'll thank me later.
Husband - Get yourself an amazing one. Mine held my leg back during labor, hugged me while I was in pain. Held our son when I couldn't. Changed all the diapers for the first few days because I couldn't stand. Helped me take a shower. Took me to the bathroom. Changed my pads. Walked slowly with me at home. Gave me an enema. He is amazing.
What not to pack: Your own socks. I took socks. They are in the trash now.
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Preparations before you go in:
Take a breastfeeding class. Know as much as possible before your baby is born.

If you have stairs in your house, get duplicates of everything: Butt paste, nipple cream, wipes, whatever and have a huge stash on each floor. They tried to tell me I could only use the stairs once a day... and I live on a 3-level townhouse. I had to ignore that advice.

Eat a high-fiber diet for a week before... lots of whole wheat and activia yogurts! Get that system primed!

Purchase stool softeners and some other supplies. Maybe a suppository or a mineral oil fleet enema. They might come in handy and there's nothing worse than sending your husband out for these things when you need them.

Find some fruit paste and have it ready. Bring some to the hospital! Have some at home! I had my MIL bring me one activia yogurt each day I was there. (Thanks to Katie for her post on dealing with the c-section constipation)

Get your pump supplies sanitized and read the manual. I had to pump at the hospital and at home. Somebody told me to get it all ready beforehand and I am so grateful.

Make sure your husband knows (and agrees with you) about your birth plan and breastfeeding plans. He is the one you are going to lean on the most, and he will be the one making decisions when you can't. He'll also be the one in the trenches with you afterwards, so it's easier for both of you when he knows what you want.
Here's a resource all about c-section stuff: ICAN - International Cesarean Awareness Network.
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After surgery:
Get out that notebook! Write down all the drugs you are getting and their dosages and timing. I had some nurses that would bring me drugs at the right times. Others wouldn't give me anything unless I asked. I was on Oxycodone (spelling?) and some sort of ibuprofren mixture that made a good strong drug. The oxycodone helped the pain and the ibuprofren helped the soreness. They are two very different pains and I wanted to stay ahead of them. I usually knew which one to ask for, but I would have done better if I had the schedule written down.

Make sure you are getting stool softeners.

Get out of bed as soon as they will let you.

Walk down the hall to get your own water.

Don't eat like a pig - don't eat food that will stop you up. If the hospital food isn't what you need, have someone bring you something better.

If you are close to your mom or mother in law (and don't mind them seeing your boobs), have them come visit you that first day and help you. My husband had never changed a diaper in his life and he was overwhelmed at first. I couldn't get out of bed, so I wasn't any help. I called his mom and she came to spend some time with us. I only did this because she is amazing - I wouldn't have called a mother in law that wasn't completely supportive.

On my last day, the nurse gave me some pads to put over my scar to keep my clothes from rubbing on it. Awesome. I had about 1 weeks worth and it made wearing pants easier.

Also, right before you go home, find out when you are due for medicine and how much. Don't forget about medicine in all the excitement of going home. It will haunt you in the middle of the night. Get your prescription for the heavy stuff - I wasn't going to, but I needed it 2 or 3 times. I skipped the motrin and just took advil so I could take less than 800 mg as needed. 

Talk to the lactation consultants every day. They will have different ones, so try to get to all of them. You will learn something new from each one. The second one you see will contradict something the first one said. Listen to all of it and make the decisions for yourself. They are not in charge of you or your baby - you are.
Stand up for yourself. You are going to be in the hospital for a long time. You are going to have multiple nurses looking after you and multiple nurses looking after your baby. In a perfect world, everyone would have the same idea and opinions on breastfeeding and basic baby care as you and you'd all work together as a team. That is not my experience, and it hasn't been the experience of most c-section moms. I hate to say it (because my mom is a nurse and her friends are lovely people), but my situation was us vs. them. With a typical vaginal birth, you are out of the hospital after one night, but I was there from Tuesday at 8 am to Saturday at 3 pm. I posted about my care here. I am happy that I stood my ground about the breastfeeding, but I'm not happy about the way I was treated. I don't think that you should go into the hospital looking for a fight, but I do think that you should educate yourself as much as possible on breastfeeding and basic baby care so YOU know your own opinions. Look into a supplemental nursing system. It's hard to stand up for yourself when you don't know what you want to do. And it's even harder when you are in a post-surgery fog and haven't slept in 3 days. You are not yourself in those early postpartum days.
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Here is the story of my actual surgery: 

Warning! This is about an unplanned c-section after labor. For a planned c-section, click here.

The lead up to surgery was a little crappy. I had to stop pushing, but I was still having contractions. The anesthesiologist came in and made me drink a little cup of something gross. M got dressed in the scrubs and I pretty much laid on my side and whimpered to my mom until the OR was ready.
I was a little afraid. I always heard that you could feel pulling and tugging. I was afraid that I'd feel pain. And I was feeling more than I was supposed to - the doctor was pricking me with a sharp thing on my stomach for a while and I kept telling her that I could feel it. The anesthesiologist was surprised and gave me some stronger drugs. He was a very nice man and talked to me a lot. This is where I stop remembering some things. I remember M walking in and sitting next to me. Then I remember hearing a baby crying and looking over my shoulder and seeing a tiny hand sticking up from the baby station in the corner. Then I somehow knew I had a boy. M told me that he was allowed to come in and saw them opening me up. He claims the anesthesiologist told him it was a boy and then M told me. He also says that he saw W pee all over the place when they were cleaning him up.
Once W was cleaned up, M was able to hold him. I just laid there and watched them look at each other. M got pretty emotional (and of course I did, too!). Every few minutes, M would peek over the curtain and tell me I was still getting stitched up. I could feel little tugs, but nothing painful. And I actually didn't care at all what they were doing to me.
It took about 5 minutes for W to come out and another 45 min to an hour to get me all back together. I have a horizontal incision just above my pubic bone. It is about the length of my hand. I was sown up from the inside and I had steri-strips on the outside. For the first day, I had a big bandaid thing across my belly.
Once I was finished, they gave me W to hold while I was wheeled back to my room. I cried the whole time. We arrived back in our room and our parents came in. M took W into the alcove and the nurse pushed on my belly to get some gunk out. I felt gross (it did hurt a little). I got more pitocin to contract my uterus and some antibiotics.
I could lift my butt off the table almost immediately, so they took me to my post-partum room right away. This was when they took W to the nursery. They need to see the baby within 2 hours of birth, so away he went. I missed him.
I had a catheter and IV in for the first day. I didn't move from the bed and that was ok with me. I was in a little pain, but the IV meds kept me feeling good. In the afternoon, a tech came in and told me I was getting out of bed. She didn't give me the option. She was great to me. I told her I was afraid of the mess and she said it wasn't a big deal and she would clean it up. I walked to the bathroom (slowly) and made a mess. I cleaned myself up - which was very strange with the catheter and IV and everything. But I felt much better. Getting in and out of bed took forever because I could barely lift my legs. It's amazing how much you use your abdominal muscles!
Later on (I can't remember when), I got my catheter out. That meant I had to go to the bathroom on my own. That first time was a little rough. It didn't hurt to pee, it was just hard to get there. At the end of my pregnancy, the pee sensation had kind of changed to just pressure. It was the same way after the surgery. I didn't really know when I had to pee. I kept an eye on the clock and made sure I went every few hours. I had to pee in a container and I filled it up every time.
My IV got taken out sometime, too. But they left the port in. That was annoying. After a day or two I told them I needed it out. It was catching on everything and making me crazy. I learned that if you are annoying about something, the nurse will take care of it for you. But you have to be annoying.
Nurses would check my incision and my vital signs every few hours. I had a huge gas bubble in my abdomen and they would tap on it. Sometimes they would push on my belly (that hurts). One doctor came in and told me she was checking my incision and she ripped off the bandage. She did it quick and I am thankful. Holy crap, that would have hurt a lot more if she had taken her time. I was able to move a little more after that.
Coughing was the worst. I could not cough unless I had help. M would roll up a blanket and hold it against my stomach so I could cough. I felt like me body was going to split in half. It didn't. After the first cough, it got easier, but it still sucked. It was able to cough normally in about a week. The nurses gave me a thing to breathe into to make me cough. I did not use it as much as I was supposed to. (thank you jill for reminding me about this!)
Once I was on pills, it got harder to get my medicine. I had to ask for it and they would ask me about my pain level. This is why I wish I had written down my doses and times I could take everything. I would wake up at night in pain and I don't like that.
The rest of my hospital stay wasn't really about me. I basically took care of myself (except for getting medicine). My mom helped me take my first shower. M helped with the second. I dressed myself and started walking around in the hallways. Walking is the key and the only way to get better. WALK!!
One week after the surgery, I still hadn't pooped. I was in pain. I called the doctor and they told me to take stool softners. I said those weren't cutting it. She said to get suppositories and if that didn't work, to get an enema. I skipped right to the big guns (I was crying because of the pain at this point). M had to give it to me. Then I labored in the tub for about 1.5 hours until it happened. This is where childbirth class came in handy. It was gross. But I felt SO MUCH BETTER. I was alive again. I didn't need a second c-section to get the poop out.
The doctor pulled off the steri-strips at my 2 week checkup. She told me I could drive again.
Four weeks later, I'd say I'm at about 90%. I was so lucky to have the doctor I had. Lots of nurses told me she was meticulous with her surgeries and I can tell. I could walk just fine within a few days. I can carry my baby in his carseat. I can go for long walks. My incision does not hurt at all anymore, but the area above it feels funny.
Here is more on my postpartum care.
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A final note: Only one thing matters in this whole world: That little baby. This sounds like total BS: No matter how much pain I was in, the second my son was in my arms, all of that pain was gone.
Also, I'd do it all over again. Even the poop part.