[aphil]

Originally Posted by Rakkoon

The only reason I am apposed to a c-section (for me only) is the pain I've heard that you have after. I would rather have that pain at birth and that will be the end of it. The other reason is the scarring, I don't know if the doctors have gotten better but I remember seeing some nasty scars. The other reason is I've heard is that you get this pouch you can never get rid of. I don't know if this is true now but that if you have a c-section you can never have a vaginal birth after that.

C-sections don't normally leave big, ugly scars-at least not the c-sections that have been done in the past decade or so. The incision is very low on the abdomen, right above the pubic hair region. Low enough for women to be able to wear 2 piece bathing suits, and in my personal experience-my former dance instructor to wear her super low, belly baring costumes-without the incision showing AT ALL.

As far as the "pouch"...this doesn't really have anything at all to do with the c-section itself. A lot of women who have vagincal births also have a "pouch" and it is due to the elasticity (or lack of) in the abdominal region of the skin. Basically, a woman with really good elasticity in her skin is less prone to stretch marks, and to the "pouch" which is basically where the skin was stretched out during the pregnancy, but didn't "bounce back" afterwards.

Because the c-section incision IS low, a lot of times this pouch is right above the incision...so it might "look" like it is because of the incision, but it is because of the actual pregnancy itself.

It is very similar to someone who has lost a great deal of weight (50 pounds or more) and how even after they become thin-they may still have some hangy skin in areas where they carried most of their excess weight. For me, that is in my upper arm area-and I also have a little in my lower belly area-because I had 9+ and 10+ pound babies, and there is no amount of cocoa butter and stretch mark lotion in the world to help my skin bounce back from that...and trust me, I have tried.

Other women after large amounts of weight loss may have this "extra skin" in their bellies, their thighs, or other areas where their skin is now a little "large" for their body in a particular area.

So, the pouch can happen with a vaginal or a c-section...and those who have had smaller babies, or smaller weight gains, or even good genetics during their pregnancies, can actually come through either situation without the pouch at all. These are also the same women who tend to not have any stretch marks...and I hate them.

[barbygirl43]

Originally Posted by Rakkoon

WheN I had my first child, I had a woman in my room who just had a c-section. She was in so much pain I remember calling the nurses to help her. The next day I found out her In-Laws convinced her it would be a better way b/c "The baby will not come out with a cone head, that will be there for weeks" I felt so bad for her. Later that day they brought in our babies. When the nurse brought my dd in, (not knowing what I had heard) she remarked to the other nurse (while the family was still in the room) how round my dd's head was. The MIL asked her "Oh, was she born via c-section?" the nurse asked me, I told her "No." After the family left the woman told me what had happened, she was sobbing.

That is just so sad.

Aphil—you always have such great advice and information.

Well I'm almost 32 weeks (on Friday) and I have my final u/s tomorrow. We'll see how much Nate's grown in the last month. (I believe he was estimated at 3lbs.7oz. at 28weeks). He's doing more of the belly moves and less of the punches and jabs. I'm really not liking this super hot weather. The A/C is out in my car and I have to make sure I load up on water before the 35 minute drive home and I still contract and my ankles swell. So far the swelling goes down and the ctx stop when I get home and get my legs propped up. Just 6 more weeks until my c-section and hopefully I'll be ready with everything. I'm buying the car seat this weekend online (they don't have the one I want in the local store) and I'm going to ask my cousin to see if she still has her basinett, if not I'll need to get one of those and that's pretty much it except for bottles. I do need to sterilize my breast pump and make sure it still works since it's been out of use for 2 years. I'll get a new one after I've been B/F for 6 weeks so that's a bonus but I want to have plenty of stored milk ready for when I go back to work while I've still got that huge supply in the beginning

[aphil]

Dawnyal-

I know exactly what you mean about them "not having the one you want in the store".
We bought a lot of our basics in the store-onesies, booties, burp cloths, etc. but a lot of the larger items like the crib, car seat, etc. we bought online.

*Because we were "done" (or so we thought) we got rid of everything as far as baby items-we had a boy and a girl, and our youngest is now 5...so a couple years ago we sold everything in garage sales and on Ebay. Basically, it has been like "starting over" with this one, havign to get everything all over again. The only difference this time around, is that since it is #3, no one threw me a shower-so we have had to get it all ourselves.

My thing this time around, and why I bought a lot of the items online, is that when I had my shower, and bought all of the items from our first and second babies-everything was all cutesy baby prints, and nothing "matched". We had a taupe/cream/black kitchen in the little fat chef theme...and the high chair that we recieved as a gift had a seat cover that was royal blue and teal. Very nice Graco high chair, and cute-but a total clash.

The car seat that we had had a baby blue fabric with pink/yellow/mint green print on it...the swing had a different pastel print...the nursery was in Winnie the Pooh...the stroller was navy with primary colored print on it...and the play pen was bright blye with jungle animals all over it.

It was like every baby item we had was in a different obnoxious print-and they neither matched our home decor, or each other. I was so excited to get it all at first when I was pg the first time around, but after a few years of looking at those prints-I was DONE with them.

This time around I am either going with "neutral" prints and colors...or things that actually match something-each other, or the room that they will go in. I bought a black diaper bag this time around (my two with the other kids were light blue Pooh, and green/blue/white Snoopy) so that it will look good no matter what I, DH, or the baby is wearing. I also wanted something that DH could carry and still look "cool".

We ordered a Graco car seat/stroller combo online as well a couple months ago-and it is in gray/silver/black-so it is pretty neutral-UPS shipped it in just about a week, and it all turned out really well.

We still have a couple items left to get-the baby gate for the stairs, the high chair, and a baby carrier/sling. I know which high chair I want (online), but I just have to wait until we have the $$ for me to order it. We are busy right now with buying school clothes and school supplies for the other two children...and that comes first, since they start school in a few weeks and the baby won't actually need the highchair for the first few months.

Our kitchen has black/stainless appliances...and there is a high chair online by Prima Pappa that has a black sat cover, and the plastic frame is in a silvery tone.

The carrier is an issue that I have been tossing around for quite a while. I have tried a lot of the slings out there, and they hurt my back and shoulder. I have been thinking about trying a few new ones...but I don't want to pay for something that is just going to "hurt" again...I am also tossing around the idea of ordering the Ergo baby carrier. (A more structured carrier like a baby Bjorn, but they are better because they have the baby in more of a sitting position rather than "hanging" in the crotch area.)

I like the idea of nursing more privately with a sling...but I like the idea of the Ergo because DH would actually wear it (sportier looking, and comes in black) and it has an insert that you can put in it for newborns to use it as well.

Does anyone here have experience either with an Ergo, or with slings that are actually COMFORTABLE??? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I am 33 weeks and 4 days now...and the nesting is becoming outrageous. I have slept about 3-4 hours a night all week. I just toss and turn, and half the time end up getting out of bed.

I am planning my SIL's baby shower as well-and I am making her invitations this week and mailing them. I am using the stationary kits you can buy for invitations, and using scrapbooking die cuts to embellish them after they are printed out. They are VERY sweet. Her shower is Saturday, August 5...the day that I hit 36 weeks. I find have my final size ultrasound a couple of days after that...and will find out approximately how big the baby is, and what method of delivery we are going to have to go with. Assuming I don't have early labor anyway. DH's birthday is 2 days later as well...on that Monday. If I *did* end up with an early labor...it would be cool to have it on DH's birthday...

The shower theme is called "Mod Mom/Mod Momma" and rather than being centered around baby items like ducks and blocks-it is in pink, levendar, and kiwi-lime green with cartoon "cool" pregnant ladies on it. I LOVE it.

Also with the "nesting instinct" is the growth in my "to do list". I spent all day yesterday washing the kids school clothes and setting them aside in a stack away from their regular clothes. I suppose my reasoning is, is that if I am in the hospital and someone is caring for the kids-I can tell them where the new school clothes and supplies/bookbags are. I dunno...

I was also on the search yesterday for a hamper/basket for our master bath. We have one of the vanities where you can put a vanity chair under the counter in one section if you want to...and I had been searching for a hamper for our clothes that was the right dimensions and in white-to go under there. I found it yesterday. (The nesting is SO wierd, and I do it every pregnancy. I mean, the world is not going to end if the baby comes and we don't have a hamper in the bathroom.... )

Today I have a couple of small sewing things to fix...I need to have DH put in the hand towel ring that I bought for the other bathroom...I need to finish my sorting of the photos and photo albums...and it all seems *SO* important right now. Enough to lose sleep over.

For the first time mommies...just wait. You won't really realize it, until all of a sudden you are on the floor hand scrubbing a bathroom floor-because suddenly the mop and bucket are not good enough...or you find that you suddenly get the urge to made your partner or husband do something that has been put off for AGES that never really bothered you before, but now it MUST be done-like hang a set of curtains you bought a year ago and have had laying around in the package.

With our second child, our son...I all of a sudden (at 7 1/2 months) became disgusted with our mini blinds. They were dusty and dirty...and using a dust cloth wasn't "getting it". I took them all down, and took them to the car wash where you pay to use the garage area/power washer sprayer and I laid them all out, and power washed them all. People looked at me like I was CRAZY. Hey, it worked.

[Dairy Fairy]

Ok, you hit the nail on the head with the curtain comment. We moved into our house in October, and the baby was due in late January. I begged and whined about my husband putting up my curtain rods instead of the cheapo ones the previous homeowners had up. DH didn't really care since curtain rods are curtain rods to him. I wasn't "allowed" to climb ladders when I was pregnant (I am SO clumsy even when I am not pregnant), so I was at his mercy. Finally, a few days before my due date he changed out the curtain rods. I was there under the ladder helping him by handing the screws or the screwdriver. He was measuring with his metal stanley tape measure when he suddenly dropped it...ON MY EYE. I got a horrific black eye. Every medical professional I saw for the first week or so gave me the "domestic abuse" interrogation. When I gave birth 10 days later, I still had a shiner. UGH!

On the C-Section thing...I do not think it was that painful, but I did what my sister (a 3 time vet) said and walked my butt off in that hospital as soon as I could...while I had a demerol drip. A day before I left I switched to ibuprofen and tordol only. When I got home I took 3-4 doses of ibuprofen and NO MORE. As far as the scar, it was at the very top of the public hair (sorry if that is graphic for some, but preggos can't be too modest). My scar is so straight and short you really can't tell. It is a faint purple hint of a line...if you know where to look. I wouldn't get a c-section just for the heck of it (like Britney Spears) but it isn't totally debilitating either.
Mary

[aphil]

So-the key is to walk and get used to moving around while you are still pretty medicated?? Then it isn't as bad once you are off the meds? I will have to remember that.

I bet you DID get the whole domestic abuse questioning...did you explain it was from "nesting" and having to hang curtains at the last minute?

[barbygirl43]

Aphil--you are so right about getting rid of everything and most of it not matching. I do still have my bouncy seat and swing that didn't sell in a yard sale tucked away and they just need batteries. This also being my 3rd, there's no shower for me either. My cousin's wife I think threw herself a shower (or had her mom do it) and I don't think it went over too well with that side of the family. A part of me thinks it would be nice for at least close immediate family to ask if we at least need diapers but have yet to hear anything and I would pass out from holding my breath for the ILs to ask such a thing.

Dairy Fairy is very right about the walking. I have to tell you that first time you get out of bed (even with the meds) can be painful. My first c-section I was on a morphine drip and then on percosets. I kept trying to wean myself off of them in the hospital but ended up in more pain than was necessary so my 2nd one I had the demoral drip that I HATED. If I had to hit the extra dose button it would knock me out unless I concentrated really hard to stay awake. I went ahead and took the percosets when they gave them to me and it was so much better. I was only on them for 3-4 days at home because I too am one of those who likes to have everything organized and I hated feeling out of control on them and being so dependent on everyone else.

I too am in the home stretch. At my size u/s check yesterday he was measuring 34w2d estimated over 5 pounds (I was 31w5d at the time). My BP was a bit high from what it had been and I had to go ahead and start my weekly NSTs. I thought I was going to be lucky and only have to do those last 2 appts. but the doc had messed up so starting Aug. 2 I have weekly appts. so 4 more appts. now instead of 2. I haven't done too much nesting but I have started the list of my to do's before the baby gets here and there is a lot of the nesting stuff that will need to be marked off.

[Dairy Fairy]

I think the demerol drip was awful, too. I was in such a haze and I looked high in all my hospital pictures. It gave me a terrible headache, too. I think I am going to try to ask for Tordol and ibuprofen next time. My BIL says tordol is hard on the liver, but demerol constantly bathing your spinal cord can not be too good, either. I begged to be taken off the drip when it finally ran out and needed a refill. The nurse said "you do not know what you want." Finally I had to get the charge nurse to tell them I could refuse meds. The tordol worked much better for me and it was so much better not having a headache on top of all the coughing and gas pains. Another thing that may help is hot peppermint tea in the hospital. I had a nurse from Jamaica and she pushed it hard core to relieve gas pain. Move while you cannot feel how badly you are probably hurting and it will be better once they strip you of meds. Besides from the coughing and the first bowel movement, I thought it was fine. I really hate that drugged feeling the first day, though. Get moving early in the hospital, though...they have plenty of drugs on hand if you push yourself too far.

Mary

[Dairy Fairy]

Oh, sleep REALLY high on an elevated hospital bed. The same nurse with the peppermint tea would come in and drag my head to the very top of the bed every morning when her shift started. She said it helped the painful gas move out better (less painful coughing ) and it actually felt better on my back than the sloughing I was doing before she showed up.

[WWvixen]

Hey girls...i enjoyed reading through all of the posts. Especially Aphil, I love your stories!

Not sure who was asking about the c-section but I'm 3 weeks post c-section and you can barely see where I had the surgery. My doctor was amazing. I was given a cream called Mebo which is made from natural ingredients, I think one is sesame oil. Anyway, it is great! I had a stretch mark above the incision that had split from my skin being so tight and itchy. It was scabbed over and huge. I was worried about the scarring from it. So, I put the Mebo cream on it as well and it is totally gone now.

I am not sure what they gave me for pain but I was not groggy at all. I was up and walking within 4 hours of the surgery. My doctor does not like to give catheters so I was ready to go to the bathroom! It helped motivate me to get up. I was eating solids that evening and really felt like I could've gone home.

The recovery has been easy. I really took it easy as far as sitting up fast, etc. I was scared of tearing a stitch. I was able to drive my car within a few days and my husband and I had sex less than 2 weeks after the birth.

I know not everyone recovers this fast. I feel fortunate that I did. Part of it is being so excited to have the new baby around! Part of it is just having to recover fast. My husband went back to work within a week of the birth so i had little help when he was gone.

Anyway, i didnt realize how much I missed diet coke. I have to say, I did not enjoy being pregnant for the most part because I was just so sick the whole time. There are small things that I miss but I just love the fact that I dont have a big belly. I just never knew how much I could love my child. I mean, motherhood is just amazing!

Ok, time to feed Connor. I hope everyone is well!

[Dairy Fairy]

Sex after two weeks? I was hoping the doc wouldn't give me the go-ahead at 6 weeks. Nursing KILLS my desire to do anything like that. My sister is a nurse and she says people go right ahead in the hospital after the birth sometimes, though. My husband is not so lucky

Oh, and let me say I dread the smell of protein in the morning. I don't know how much longer I am going to be making sausage for DH or DS. We do the microwaveable patties, but they are truly starting to disgust me. I think I'll give sausage to DS for lunch (it is the only meat he will eat consistently) and do pb for breakfast. It's not great, but it smells better than sausage. Ughhhh.
Mary

[WWvixen]

Ugh! I remember that smell grossing me out too...beef totally made me sick! Although, no sausage in this country...just the thought of that smell would've made me sick though!

Oh, I'm not nursing so I guess thats why. I think if I was, I wouldnt have wanted to have sex at all. I just know it has to be exhausting.

I hope things get better the meat smell!

[Rakkoon]

Please, since I had my ds (almost 2 y/o) I still get grossed out by the smell of sausage. But for some reason Italian sausage doesn't have the same effect, go figure.

Aphil: Come on does Cocoa butter really work? I tryed that stuff with my first pregnancy, it never did a thing for me, I have more roads then the freeways in LA Calif.

[ctrsara]

Glad to hear everyone's doing well. Nothing new for me except I am now 7 months along and my feet are starting to swell like crazy some evenings. It's just too hot here! I have some pics we took at our vacation in California last week, so I thought I'd post them. The one in the red shirt is me at 6 months, and the striped is just a few days shy of 7 months. I fell like I've really grown this month - I think the pics reflect it!
Oh, they don't want to post - they're slightly too big. Go to these links.
6 months: http://www.geocities.com/saraweech/sara6months.jpg
7 months: http://www.geocities.com/saraweech/27w4dfull.jpg

[aphil]

What cute photos!!!

I can definitely see your belly is bigger in the second picture! Love the cute gray gaucho pants, too.

I am now 34 weeks and 2 days...and my Braxton Hicks contractions are getting stronger! I am having them in spurts-sometimes 3-4 an hour. I am watching them really close-making sure that they don't get too strong, or too frequent-if so, I will go to the hospital to "make sure" that they aren't doing anything, so to speak.

The kids were with grandma most of the weekend, so DH and I had some time together alone before the baby arrives. We went for two walks around our neighborhood-one of them we walked to the video store and to Dairy Queen. (about a mile walk) and we went to the movies Saturday to see Superman-sort of a little "date". It was nice. We also played some board games together on Saturday night, too-some of the cool ones with the dvd questions.

I am still trying to get a lot of my nesting stuff done...I have a nursing nightgown that I need to mend a stitch on today. It was a $40 gown from Motherwear that I got from their Ebay auctions-they have sort of a "scrath and dent" store on Ebay where you can get their stuff pretty cheap with a flaw or two. It has a tiny area coming unstitched-so I am repairing it and saving about half on the cost of the gown.

I also washed and sterilezed my breast pump and Avent bottles...and have been doing other stuff like that as well.

I have class to teach tonight...I am going to try to teach this one, and maybe one more afterwards-hopefully.

I hope everyone is doing well!

[Dairy Fairy]

Anybody have a favorite breast pump? I've used hospital grade Medela, at home electric, and manual Isis. I prefer the Isis. I suggested this to DH's pregnant cousin who wants the expensive Medela, and she was so rude about it. She's kind of a rude one, anyway, so I'm going to try not taking it personally. I just thought "fine, don't take some friendly suggestion from a girl who pumped 8-10 times a day for 4 months until her son learned to latch." She's the same girl who told me she would love the high school students she taught as much as she would love her own child (she's not delivered yet) so I kind of think she's clueless anyway...just want to know what other folks with experience think.
Mary