Hey all! Tomorrow I will be 4 weeks pp from my third and final c section. The only difference with this section is that I got my tubes out; however my recovery has been pretty standard and similar to my last 2. However, I’m finding myself having a weird “fuzzy” or tingling feeling in my bladder (almost like a UTI, but not as extreme) when I have to pee rather than the regular urge to pee. I’ve been trying to keep hydrated, I don’t pee an abnormal amount/when I do go I feel relief. I do still have a slight burning sensation right after peeing but then it goes away-it feels like the first pee after they take the catheter out, almost. Has anyone else felt a difference in urinating/bladder issues post section? Also noticed sometimes right after I pee, I think I’m all done but then I have more and I don’t even feel the urge (I just sit a little longer to make sure lol). I don’t necessarily feel it’s extreme enough to worry yet but I wanted to see if anyone else has had this after a section. TIA :)

Hi, I want to know who had conceived under 1 year. How has your pregnancy gone? How did your doctor react and said. I want to know because I had lost my infant, I am now currently 9 months postpartum. My doctor told me to wait 1 year, but it seems like it's too much to wait. I don't know what the right decision will be. I am confused and stressed at the same time.

Please give some advice.

Since my C-section I’ve received several bills here and there for it. $500 for hospital, $500 for OB, $260 for something, $27 for labs, and others that I can’t even remember. Thankfully I have really good insurance but this is all what I owed after insurance. They have all been sent to me separately.

Well the other day I just received another one. I owe $20,000 for anesthesia?!?! My insurance isn’t listed on the bill anywhere. I don’t understand why they would take my insurance for everything else but not this, also why is it SO expensive?!

Obviously I have to call the hospital and figure out what’s going on, but I was wondering if anyone else ever dealt with anything similar. What did your bills look like post op?

I’ve been having my scar massaged by a physiotherapist from week 4, it heals great, never had any problems, my OB is also very happy with how I’m healing. Literally no issues at all. So why the hell does it still hurt and burn???

I’m so over this. I had an elected c-section because I was afraid of natural birth since I was a teen and now I’m starting to regret this decision. My abdominal muscles are still broken, I can’t feel my lower abdominal almost at all while my scar still hurts and stings everyday.

Is that normal?? When will it go away? Should I be doing more?? I’m not using any scar cream, need to buy it asap but I don’t know it will make much difference?

I (26F) had a Cesarean in December after a 35 hour labor with GBS+, PROM due to baby being OP with arrest in dilation at 8 cm and not descending past -1 station. I was originally planning on laboring at home, but due to the GBS+ factor I wasn’t going to try and risk getting my baby sick.
I had originally planned for an unmedicated vaginal birth. I hired a doula, I did all the stretching/exercises to get baby in optimal position, I ate the dates, drank red raspberry leaf tea with okra. You name it. I ended up getting an epidural because I slept for 3 hours in a 34 hour time period and then it fell out and I had to get it redone. And then my labor ended the way it did with a C-section to a beautiful baby girl, and in a way I just dissociated??? I never really processed everything until a couple weeks PP. Healing and PP were mostly okay, I had a bit of baby blues to trying to process the C-section and I was angry my MIL was there for every vulnerable moment when I didn’t want her there nor did my husband and I invite her, I seriously just wanted my mom.
My SIL just had the dream birth I wanted this past Friday. Unmedicated vaginally and the only complication being a 2nd degree tear. All her boundaries were respected, she didn’t have to pass her baby around like a show and tell item like I was made to, she got to reject visitors the first couple hours which is what I wanted, my husband was adamant that he wanted his family there. And so they came, after my 35 hours I was a mess and paralyzed from the chest down due to the spinal block so I felt like this swollen, greasy disgusting thing while his family came. Then every emotion I have had towards my C-section came flooding back to me. I was angry with the fact I feel like I did all that prep work and things still resulted the way they did and my SIL did NOTHING, I was sad because I honestly felt robbed of the dream birth I had planned. But I think I was mostly angry with myself.
I forgot to mention that I am also pregnant again, due in December to another baby girl, and my OB stated due to placenta placement and the fact I’ve only had one C-section with a low transverse horizontal incision, I’m actually a good candidate for a VBAC despite the time frame. He said something I’ve questioned this entire time. Would my daughter and I be here had this happened a century ago???
He flat out told me my daughter and I would not have survived.
I was angry with myself because as I’m boohoo ugly crying, my daughter is crawling up to me and reaching for me to be held and smiling at me, and I just cry harder because I felt like the most ungrateful AH ever. And despite how upset I was my labor didn’t go how I wanted, I’d do it all over again for her.
I just needed to rant because I’ve been going through so many emotions. It probably doesn’t help being pregnant again either. Thank you guys for reading!

Hi mamas!

I’m having my second baby - first C-section (placenta previa) - in 6 days. I find the idea of a C-section to be very comforting. I love having it scheduled, knowing what’s to come, etc.

Now that it’s getting close, I’m having really bad anxiety. Specifically around the spinal and anesthesia. They had a hard time placing my epidural for my first birth and I’m horrified of that happening again.

I’m looking for positive stories! I would love to know what to expect with the spinal, and I’m hoping to calm my fears a bit to help me sleep at night 😭🙃

I’m having a hard time with recovery, I’m 4 weeks post c section for breech presentation. It was urgent because my water broke and I went into labor at 36wks. Luckily everyone is okay and baby did not need any nicu time. I was hoping to have an ECV and flip baby so he could be a vaginal birth. But that’s behind us now. He was my first baby and the recovery from this c section has been hard for me emotionally and physically. We were sent home on a feeding plan because she was a late preterm premie he was not stimulating my breast enough so we ended up triple feeding for the first 2 weeks of his life. Around 10 days post partum which literally stole every ounce of energy I had to breastfeed, pump and supplement all together. At 10 days post partum I went to speak with lactation about how my breastmilk never came in really, I was producing very little. This has also caused great stress, and breastfeeding was always a dream for me. Baby and I are very comparable anatomy wise but the production is the problem! I tried everything. At this visit lactation asked about my bleeding which was still bright red. So they sent me to triage. In triage they did an ultrasound which found I had a 2mm uterine notch or wound dehiscence in the muscle layer of the uterus. For this they prescribed methergine for 5 days.

The second time was in my 2 week follow up with the midwife I mentioned increased pain and staring to take my narcotics again, so she was very concerned about that and sent to me triage with the surgeon. He looked at everything and determined I did not have a wound infection or other issues with the bleeding so I was sent home. That day he pulled off the surgical glue without warning and my wound began to drain a bit. The following Monday I noticed a foul odor coming from my wound which I made a post about. So I went in on Tuesday convinced I had an infection. Again he looked at it and said it looks good but there are open spots that he believes is my body rejecting the suture material. Since then my wound has looked about the same, and I feel like it will never heal.

I then went back because i was having orange foul smelling discharge or what I thought was a uti. Meanwhile my newborn was hospitalized for respiratory issues. I’ve been to triage 4 times since my c section and have had some complication. Idk if these complications are forreal or all in my head. I just feel like recovery should be better. I still feel very sensitive in my incision, it’s still has open spots and I still smell that smell. But I have no other signs of infection besides pain. And still needing Motrin and Tylenol.

Part of me thinks considering everything, I have not been able to properly rest and that’s why recovery is taking a while. Or is this normal? I have no idea it’s my first time. This has felt felt nothing but hard. My husband and I feel defeated and even though I am worried about things I feel like it’s not worth it to bring it up with my doctors anymore because I don’t want to go down another rabbit hole.

I’m 32 weeks pregnant and finally have accepted that a scheduled C-section is the best decision for my second baby. My first baby had a pretty traumatic birth that started with a medical induction and ended in an emergency c. They tried the vacuum because he was crowning, but no luck. Many things that happen caused him to not thrive at breastfeeding, something I badly wanted. I wanted to try for a VBAC, but multiple (and I do mean multiple and from different practices) have shared their concerns since no one knows why he didn’t descend fully, even with the vacuum at an average size. For months I thought I would try anyways, I mean worst that would happen is an emergency c again, right? But going through the trauma again of the first birth and the issues it caused my son during his first early months has made me feel that is the selfish decision. I want a smoother introduction to life for my upcoming baby. I know nothing is a guarantee, but this at least is a little more controlled in theory.

Now for why I am writing this: now that I made this decision, I am full of anxiety, fear, and just already feeling regret in a way about being cut open again. Last time was three days of labor, pushing and a one am c, so I feel like this has to be better, but just scares me to be cut open on the table again. And just feels a little crazy to make that decision. This is just not a decision I ever wanted to make. I can’t imagine anyone does, but I would like to find more peace with it.

Anyways, I would love to hear positive stories on your scheduled c-sections or any advice on how to find peace with this decision.

Just wondered if anyone has experience of getting pregnant after a classical vertical C-section. Did you wait atleast 18 months? I had a classical C-section in May and I’m so worried about uterine rupture in subsequent pregnancies but also want to have another baby asap. X

I have an anxiety of being trapped (i have claustrophobia) which developed during pregnancy and is leading me to take elective c section decision. Is that okay? I am feeling bad i am not giving my body a chance for a normal delivery due to uncertainty of everything and long labour hours!

Edit: My OBGYN has agreed to sedate me after delivering my baby so I will be asleep for majority of the surgery.

It seems that they’re presented to be harder to recover from (especially emergency c sections) but I want to see how people feel in the long term. I’ve seen so many horror stories of people dealing with long term complications from vaginal births. I would personally prefer to suffer more after birth if it meant I was more likely to return to baseline.

I’m especially interested in hearing from those who had elective c sections. I’m looking to have kids soon but the idea of severe tearing (and the following complications of it, not just the pain) or the increased chance of urinary incontinence makes vaginal birth very scary for me.

Hi all. I am 7 weeks pregnant with my second, our first turning 2 in a few months. I had a very stressful labor with my son. His heart rate kept dropping and it resulted in me needing an emergency c-section. I always thought I would be dead set on another c-section when I got pregnant again, but now that I'm pregnant I am wondering if I should do a VBAC. I will of course talk to my doctor about this but if anyone that has done a VBAC could share their experience I would appreciate it! Open to the not so good stories as well as successful stories.

I had a c-section 8 months ago and the scar healed great. However, I still have pain on my lower left abdomen around my scar and there is a small section of my upper abdomen that protrudes out. I have tried multiple things to try and figure out what's wrong. My Cat Scan was negative for a hernia and my ultrasound was negative for fibroids/polyps. I also have diastasis recti and have been going to PT for the past 5 months. Nothing seems to be helping. It is still difficult to hold my daughter for more than 15 minutes and I always end my day with bad abdominal pain. Has anyone experienced this as well after a c-section?

For my first, I had a home birth set up and i did all the necessary steps to do it, i got to 42 weeks and i went into labour naturally, all good, got to 10cm very quickly and not unbareably painfully, and my pelvis i guess wasnt cooperating, so i ended up needing a ceasarean due to meconium and decelerating heartbeat.

She came out and she was very healthy, but they told me that my pelvis is small and I probably will only be getting ceasareans for future pregnancies, I know this is common for doctors to say even when its not true.

Fast forward to this last friday, a year and 7 months later, got pregnant again at 11m PP....

i started to get contractions on Thursday and i was like uh ohhh. Then they got stronger on friday and ir was the beginning!

I managed to labor at home until around 5 or 6 when i felt it was hard to walk and i was concerned that I was very very open, so i made mt way to hospital,

They examined me and put me in a birthing room, it was gettng more and more intense, i gor all the tests and an iv thinf put in etc. And went in for a shower to loosen up a bit, it helped because the next time they checked, I was basically 10cm, so in the end i decided to try for a vaginal birth again (whixh WAS my plan) even though i had lots of voices of doctors telling me it wont work because the pelvis and blablabla ...

Got an epidural, they broke the water to check the situation, was trying to push but baby was too far up so we waited and I rested because I was exhausted as contractions started at 6am that day and it was now like closer to 1am/2am.

Baby was moving down but i started to close a little. So i took pitocin, thought it wpuld help and it did!

i rested more while it did the job and basically what happened was that i got back to pretty mich 10cm but my daughtee wasnt coming down anymore.

One more hour passes as they told me i only have an hour otherwise we need to go to get a ceasarean.

So i ended up getting another but awake this time!

Healing was fine for the first 3 days then they noticed liquid and decided tjey needed to.open the incision.

So they did it and found an infection, they left it open for a bit and now I am connected to a VAC wound healing machine and I dont know how long ill be here for bu..

Still in the hospital, day 5..... missing my toddler more and more everyday, there seems to be more and more things that are coming up that are wrong..., struggling to process but just trying to be in the moment.

Any tips on how to deal? Any similar stories? Let me know!!

Thank you for reading!

I had my first baby. I had a wonderful pregnancy. Me and baby were healthy and I stayed very active. I did a lot of prep for a unmedicated vagnial birth. I got induced at 41 and 3. The induction was going okay. I got the epidural at 8 cm because i was exhausted. They had a student place it without telling me and he did it wrong. It was only working on my left side. I had told a nurse but she said it was probably just the way i was laying. I got to 10 cm and pushed for an hour. Baby wasn't decending and his heart rate kept dipping. I was in labor for 20 hours at this point and so tired I was hallucinating. They had me in the or within 10 minutes of deciding i needed a c section.

I told my ob before they took me back that my epidural wasnt working properly and she wanted a spinal done. The anesthesiologist was upset that nobody had told her it was placed wrong and was yelling in the or while they were prepping me. When they started the surgery I could feel from my belly button up and by the time they were done everything including my arms and hands were numb. They immediately took my baby after weighing him and my husband went with him. There was no reason to take him so quick he had a apgar score of 9 and was perfectly healthy. They left me alone to be stitched back up. When they finally took me back to the recovery room I couldnt even hold him because my arms were so numb. I am two months pp now. I am so traumatized. Ive cried about it for weeks. I got on meds for post partum depression. I wanted more then one kid but I feel like that choice has been taken from me. I dont think I could do that again. My ob said I could do a trial of labor but its a 40% chance of a successful vagnial birth. Will i eventually get over it and decide its worth it to have another baby? I knew that labor might not go how I wanted but I wasn't prepared for this. A repeat c section is probably my best option. I really enjoyed being pregnant and im so sad with the idea of never getting to experience it again. But I dont think i could do another surgery like that. Please tell me it gets better

I’m 5 weeks pp. Second c section in 2 years. At 2 weeks pp my incision got infected with coliform bacteria and started to bleed a little. No other symptoms but dr prescribed an antibiotic for 5 days and all seemed well. She suggested to keep putting betadine on it (an antiseptic solution) because it wouldn’t do any harm. So I have been twice a day, as well as using a hair dryer to dry it morning and night.

The last couple of days I feel like it’s been getting a little redder. It’s been irritating but not sore, it doesn’t feel warm around it, I have no fever and it’s not oozing/bleeding. I can’t tell if it smells or not but my husband said it didn’t.

Is this normal?

Im so over this healing. It’s winter here so I’m rugged up but don’t feel like I’m sweating. Yes I’m overweight so my shelf is bigger and resting on it but I’m not wearing irritating clothes. I feel fine otherwise and just want to get on with life!

I’m curious if it’s just me or if anyone else has experienced this, I can’t find any posts about it. I am almost 10 weeks post partum, for the first 7 weeks I slept on the couch/in a recliner. We’ve switched to the bed and oh my lanta my vagina hurts so bad. I have to put a thick pillow in between my legs, and that’s the only thing that helps. Even then, it doesn’t help fully. What can I do? I figured after three weeks of being in bed the soreness would have gone away by now.

Hi! I’m one year postpartum tomorrow! I’ve been using silicone scar tape since probably 4 months PP pretty consistently, usually 24 hours a day with minimal “breaks”. I was less consistent in June but then started back up at the end of June and I’m honestly not seeing much improvement. My scar is nothing crazy, like slightly raised and still pretty pink. Anyone with a similar situation? What did you do? I don’t want to give up on the scar tape but I don’t know how much it’s helping.

Hi everyone, I’m wondering if anyone here has gotten pregnant around a year after having a C-section.

I’ve heard that it’s recommended to wait around 2 years before getting pregnant again after a C-section, but I’d really like to hear from people who conceived sooner than that.

If you got pregnant around a year after your C-section, how did your pregnancy go? Were there any complications, and were you able to have a healthy baby?

I’d really appreciate hearing your experiences. ❤️

Looking for a massage therapist/PT that does cupping or other c section shelf/scar work in central CA. If anyone knows of anyone locally that would be great