Reply to Educate Me on C-Sections?

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[quote=Anonymous]I had a scheduled c-section. I had heard a lot about constipation so I had soup for a couple meals before I started fasting, and took my laxatives as instructed: no issues. I fasted the night before and also they had me wash at home with a special antibacterial soap. 
When we checked in at the hospital, they sent us to a billing office first, which was kind of weird. I had Kaiser insurance and everything was covered but I still had to sign a bunch of papers. I wrote a check for my hospital stay copay. 
Then I got processed in - wristband, gown, etc. DH also got a gown and a hairnet. There was a lot of waiting around while sitting on a gurney. We'd shown up at 6:00 for an 8:00 a.m. surgery but we got pushed until 9:00.  At some point a woman came by and shaved the top of my pubic area where the incision would be. They'd told me ahead of time that if I shaved myself, they'd still do it again so don't bother. 
Eventually they took me in to get the spinal; DH stayed outside for that. But then they forgot to bring him in and actually were starting the surgery! I asked for him and they went and got him. 
The anesthesiologist had one arm for monitoring and probably IV stuff, and DH held my other hand. The anesthesia made me feel really cold and shiver uncontrollably, which is apparently common. They gave me heated blankets, and there was a loud fan blowing warm air on me under a plastic bubble across my torso. 
The surgery itself happened really fast and baby was out quickly. They took her over to weigh and measure, and DH was allowed to go over there. They inked her hands and feet and made prints on his surgical smock, with the date; we kept the smock. 
Then the nurse brought her over to me and asked if I wanted to nurse. I did, so the nurse put the baby on my breast and DH helped keep her steady. Baby was wrapped in a blanket so not technically skin to skin. Nurse took a great photo of the three of us, one of my favorites. 
As part of the closing process they vacuumed up some bits of the placenta that hadn't come loose (one bit went to the lab) and that was another loud noise. My overall impression of the OR was that it's loud. Also, the nurse and anesthesiologist talked to me, but the surgery team didn't; it was weird lying there while they sewed me up and talked about a difficult labor happening down the hall. 
When they were about done closing, they sent the baby to the nursery and I went to recovery. DH had the option to go or stay: we had decided ahead of time we would stay with the baby. So he went with the baby and took pictures while she was washed and got various treatments. I saw the pictures later but during that time I was in the recovery room, still shivery. Pretty boring, hah. When the shivers receded, they wheeled me to my postpartum room and brought the baby in. I still had a catheter and couldn't feel my feet, although that wore off over time. 
We stayed in that room 2 nights. We were allowed to stay 3 but it was not restful at all, with people coming in at all hours to clean or take my vitals or whatever. We asked our nurse to limit people in the room; she put a sign on the door asking people to stay out, which caused the other nurses to think we were losing our baby. 
After about 24 hours I could carefully walk around, and by day 3 I felt amazing (it was the drugs) and the nurses scolded me not to overdo it. They gave us a real meal before we checked out: it was the first food I'd had in like 4 days and it tasted fantastic. 
My scar looked terrible at first, but it flattened out and faded with time and now it's invisible. So don't stress when you first see it, it's only gnarly for a while. 
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