Delivered at VHC last Friday: FTM C-section tips and general VHC info

[Anonymous]

We delivered our twins early (30 weeks) last week. We had an emergency c-section around 2 pm that went great. We were back in our L&D room by 4 (maybe earlier but I was a little distracted) where I was able to rest and recover while being constantly monitored by a nurse before being moved to a Mother and Baby room around 5:45.

If you are a FTM and having a c-section, here’s a quick rundown of my experience.

- Epidural is not bad! They numb the area first with lidocaine and that’s the only “painful” part (feels like a few tiny needles for a few seconds).
- Your arms may shake uncontrollably in the OR. A very nice nurse put a warm blanket over my shaking arms, held my hand while my husband was waiting to come in, and blasted me with a warm fan. The shaking didn’t stop until an hour and a half after the surgery, but this is very normal. A weird tip that a nurse gave me is to stick your tongue out — it immediately stops the shaking! She had me do this while they were taking my blood pressure.
- The catheter placement was a little uncomfortable, even with the epidural, but that may have just been the person who did mine. I was scared of getting the catheter taken out but it was painless. I did not expect how difficult it would be to pee after the catheter was out. It was like my body had completely forgotten how to do it. A nurse gave me two tips that helped: 1) turn the sink water on when you’re trying to go, 2) blow bubbles with a straw into a cup of water. Something about the bubbles relaxes the same muscles you use to pee. I had to do this for like 10 minutes the first time I tried to pee but it eventually worked. I had a lot of anxiety about it though because if you aren’t able to pee within 6 hours of them taking out the catheter, they have to re-catheterize you…
- I had no idea they had even started the actual surgery until they told me, and the entire thing seemed flawless. I was terrified because we were rushed into the OR, but the nurses and doctors were so reassuring the entire time.
- After you’re in your Mother & Baby room, nurses will come check on you frequently. They check your vitals, do a blood draw, and unfortunately push on your stomach to check for abnormal bleeding. This is fine while your epidural is still kicking, but gets more and more uncomfortable as the good pain meds wear off. I didn’t know this was a thing, and wish (I think?) someone had warned me. This doesn’t stop until you are discharged.
- You will have vaginal bleeding. Use the giant pads. I like the mesh underwear the hospital gives you but some people don’t, so you can always bring you own. Just make sure they’re high waisted so that they don’t rest on your incision.
- When people say “stay on top of the meds” they’re not joking. I felt pretty good the night of my surgery because of the real pain meds that I was given during the c-section, and I thought I didn’t need the oxy the next day. Wrong. Take the pain meds. It’ll be painful, and there’s no reason not to. I’m a week out from my surgery today and still taking the Motrin and Tylenol on schedule, and the oxy if I need it.

General things about VHC:

- You keep the Medela pumping kit that they provide (obviously minus the pump). It comes with two sets of flanges/bottles/tubes. If you need different size flanges just ask. We spoke with the lactation consultant who was very nice and helpful, although we ended up with slightly different needs as our girls were preemies (if you end up there, the NICU has their own LC who is amazing!)
- The day we were discharged the nurse put together a huge bag of goodies to take home. Pads, hot and cold packs, underwear, etc.
- You get a VHC welcome bag in your room when you’re moved into Mother & Baby. It has a onsie, baby hat, baby blanket, small thing of hand sanitizer (liquid gold right now!), and a nice water bottle (I used the water bottle for my bubble blowing…see catheter notes above).
- One of the nurses gave my husband a 20% meals coupon that he could use in the cafeteria. She said most nurses forget about it, so make sure you ask. He really liked the quesadilla in the cafeteria, just FYI. You should also get a one free meal coupon for your partner, just note that it is only valid when you order to the room. Again, ask for it if no one offers it.
- If you baby ends up in the NICU like ours, you can see them anytime 24/7. I was given the green light to visit about 8 hours after my surgery, which was ~10pm. Both the daytime and nighttime nurses/doctors there are incredible.
- Our room was a bit warm when we arrived and the AC wasn’t working. Just let the nurse know and they can call the building engineer to fix it.

That’s all I can think of for now. I hope this helps someone! We had a great experience overall and were there from Thurs-Monday afternoon. Good luck to all of you expecting mamas!

[Anonymous]

Congratulations on your new baby!!!! This is really helpful, I would love to read about other recent experiences at hospitals around here.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for posting and I hope your twins have a short NICU stay!

[Anonymous]

I thought the L/d lactation consultants there were the worst, but the woman in the NICU was awesome! Hope the twins are home soon!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Congratulations on your new baby!!!! This is really helpful, I would love to read about other recent experiences at hospitals around here.

I had a planned (kinda) c-section at Inova Fair Oaks almost 2 weeks ago.
I was scheduled for a c-section at 7:30am. The night before, my water broke and we ended up going in in the middle of the night. As soon as we stepped into the lobby, our temperatures were taken and we were given masks. After that, a nurse from labor and delivery took us up to that floor. I was given a gown and since I had planned a c-section, no cervical checks or anything were done. I was hooked up to monitors though. As soon as I was situated, a nurse came in and did the Covid test. It was uncomfortable but not downright painful. I was also having contractions during it and that didn’t help. My eyes watered a lot during it. Throughout this time, everyone including me is wearing a mask. The nurse continued to do all my intake info and take blood as we waited for the Covid test results. About 45 minutes, test came back negative and they took me back to the operating room. Husband sat outside the OR as they did my spinal (also didn’t hurt much). Once I was numb and prepped, husband came in the room and sat next to me. Doctor talked me through everything as it was happening and the baby was out pretty fast.

I think at some point after I cuddled with the baby for awhile, they had my husband take the baby out as they finished stitching me up. Once back in recovery, the nurse told me I could take my mask off and I did skin to skin with baby. A few hours later we were moved to a room and I only wore a mask again if I was in the halls, not in my room.
We were starving and the food service will only bring one meal up so DH would have had to go down to the cafeteria for food. He didn’t want to be around many people and really go anywhere in the hospital besides the room or to the car. So we shared food and had a lot of snacks I had packed. He didn’t spend the night in the hospital since we have other kids at home.
Since I was alone at night and also not breastfeeding, they took the baby to the nursery at night. My nurses were awesome. I stayed 2 nights.