My Top Tips - Healthy Csection *Graphic photo #10

Hello Lovely’s 

I am so excited to be a guest on One Sharp Mama's blog,if you haven't managed to check out her page, go and have a look below is my guest post which will be going live on her page soon.

My top 10 tips of a healthy Csection

#1 Research-Research-Research!

I was petrified about my upcoming C-section! I have never stayed in hospital and never had an operation so I researched everything there was to know about what I was about to be going through. I must have watched every video out there on the whole procedure and what happens (which granted was a bit too much to handle!) but when it came down to the wire I am glad I did as I was fully prepared and felt much better about it!

#2 No question is a silly one

Before my planned C-section I had a million questions and I didn't want to go in without knowing them. Some were random questions like "Do I need to shave my downtown area" and others more on point. The Dr’s were so helpful and answered all my questions even if I thought at the time they might have been silly! Being from England I had read a lot about what was going to happen but some of the things I had read were American and the procedures might be slightly different so always ask!

#3 "Voodoo"

I worked in Wholefoods in the health and beauty department before my maternity leave working with, as my husband would say, "voodoo potions" *sigh* and I would again read up on all the herbal remedies which might help me heal after. My top products would be Arnica 100c - this helps with swelling and bruises, I took this the day I gave birth and all the time I was in hospital which was 4 days and I didn't have ANY bruises from having Daphney! Which when you think how much pulling, cutting and tugging goes on during a C-section I was shocked about! 

Secondly I would highly recommend Vitamin C as hospitals are known for all sorts of colds, flus and nasties which as a new mum you don't want to be getting! I popped 2 - 3 a day and again didn't get sick whilst I staying there!

#4 Sweet Treats

I’d recommend taking some sweet treats! This really cheered me up and here in England before a C-section you can’t eat anything from around 9pm the night before. We arrived at the hospital for 6.45am and John was eating my sweets and coffees so when Daphney was born I couldn’t wait for that little pick me up which sugar peaches would hit.

#5 Rest is super important but keep moving?

My thoughts before I had Daphney were that I wanted to play with my new baby girl and share my excitement with the world. In reality I was shattered, physically and mentally exhausted. Having a c-section is a major operation where 7 layers of skin, fat and muscle are cut so take it easy Lady’s!

#6 Day after keep moving…

Ok so this sort of goes against what I said in my last post but bear with me! The more you move…gently, the quicker you will heal and the layers will get back to normal, don’t get me wrong it HURTS but it’s a must! Trips down the hall even trips to the bathroom are a massive achievement. The day after I had Daphney the midwife told me to start moving around and I thought she was joking but honestly it is the best thing you can do, plus means you aren’t going stir crazy in a hospital bed as much!

#7  Positive vibes

Another massive thing in healing is positive vibes and thoughts. I am awful with pain but I knew if I thought I was going to be ill, sick and in pain I would be dreadful, so instead I told myself I was fine, took my meds and I was fine, everyone was so shocked at how quickly I was recovering.

8# Borrow Bridget Jones’ knickers

This on makes me laugh all the time and yes ladies I’m still wearing granny pants, they are the most comfortable things ever!!! They sit just over your belly button so don’t sit on your new healing cut – Same goes for maternity leggings, I lived in mine for months after giving birth as I didn’t want anything to irritate my incision.

9# Drink plenty and take stool softeners

*Ok so TMI alert* my first poos after labour hurt but nothing to when I stopped drinking water – let’s just say it looked like I had been eating sticks like a bear *shakes head*

10# Don’t be scared of your new wound

When I got home from hospital and it finally came to taking off my bandage I was so scared and cried. Looking back I’m not sure what I was so scared about seeing, the midwives said the Dr’s had done an amazing job but I was still scared. Don’t be scared, keep it clean, washed and dry and it will help stop any infections popping up.

Thank you so much for reading

Mummy Stephens x

Questions about Csections

Hello Loves

I always get asked how my Csection went... So I thought I would talk to you about it and maybe help you if your having one, so here goes, just keep in mind these are my own views on my experience.

Myth #1 Epidurals/Spinal Taps or Blocks won't Hurt                        
Ok... so I had a Spinal Tap which is a injection which goes into the spine to numb the lower half of your body.  So did it hurt?? Simply no. It didn't hurt....just VERY uncomfortable!! I had to sit on the surgical bed with my knees up which when your 39 weeks pregnant - isnt the most easiest thing. I then a local anethetic to numb the area ready for the spinal tap. They tried to 45 minuties to get the spinal tap in, every time they missed and hit the nerves I would get a almost electric shock which ran down my back - again very uncomfortable but not painful as such. Finally when the spinal tap was sucsessful it worked straight away - So in short don't worry about the numbing side of things its just uncomfortable.

Myth #2 The room will be cold

Yes, the room I was in was cold, I was in a hospital gown with an open back – Who eles woudnt be cold?! I remember my teeth chattering but who knows if that was from the cold room or the excitement!

Myth #3 Movement in your lower body will be limited until the freezing wears off

This one makes me laugh! I couldn’t feel anything from the collar bone down – limited time –HA! I couldn’t feel my body proberly until the early ours of Saturday morning, then getting up felt so weird! Like I was walking again for the first time *picture Bambi on ice

Myth #4: You might feel a slight tugging sensation as we get the baby out.

People have said they felt their babies being born but if I hadn’t been told this or when it would have realised what was happening but as I did get told before it happened I was waiting for it! It felt like someone was using my tummy as a washing machine, as Daphney was breech and high up I did feel them pushing and pulling quite a bit but was only for a few moments!

Myth #5: As the morphine leaves your system, you might notice an itchy sensation.

YES! I remember feeling like a army of ants were crawling over my skin! I had itchy feelings during my pregnancy but nothing like this, but only lasted a few days

Myth #6: You may have less feeling and be swollen around the incision area for a while.

This is 100% true! This for me happened months after Daphney was born tho, my tummy above where I was cut open was SO sore, like I had just had her all over again. Still now nearly 7 months pp my insision is still numb and I’m still rocking the super sexy bridget jones knickers *yeahh buddy*

Myth #7: Holding a pillow over your incision when you sneeze or cough stops the pain.

Holding a pillow when laughing, coughing, sneezing and going over bumps DOES NOTHING!!! I took a soft pillow into hospital with the thinking I would concur the world when laughing but HOLY COW nope! This is 100% LIES! Its painful to laugh or any of the above. I remember telling john not to make me laugh because it hurt so much, if you know where we live you’ll know there is like 1 million speed bumps – these are also not fun!

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Myth #8 You don't get skin-to-skin after the birth

Again this didn't happen with me! Once Daphney had be weighed and all checks had been done she went straight to my chest and stayed there until we went into recovery where John changed the nappy and we started breast feeding.

Myth #9 You can’t photograph the birth.

We did get told at Gloucestershire hospital that photos were not allowed.. saying that when we got to the hospital the morning of the surgery I kept asking and asking and they finally said to ask the surgeon as it depends how they feel about it and clearly mine where ok with it. I would always ask the hospital you go to and if they say no just ask the surgeon!

Myth #10 You won’t be able to breastfeed easily.
Right… this one I think is true, for me anyway! So because I didn’t go into labour naturally (IE no contractions, waters break ect) none of the hormones got realised until a lot later. Daphney was also 75% tongue tied which is high for a tie. She was having a lot of trouble feeding until she the day before we left a breast feeding specialist came to see us and she noticed Daphney’s tongue tie (Daphney couldn’t move her tongue out of her mouth) we were booked in for a procedure to cut the tie, which was pain free as Daphney didn’t have any feeling there yet. After it was cut breast feeding got slightly easier but Daphney stopped latching on after 9 weeks

Myth #11 C-sections aren’t painful.
….Who ever says they are not painful is lying! Having a csection is major surgery where 7 layers of skin, fat, muscle and tissue are cut and sewed back together. Even though you don’t feel anything during the procedure the few days I was in hospital we by all means were easy. The day after the surgery were painful as the nurses on wards tell you to start getting up and moving around, I walked as slow as a snail up and down the ward. Luckily I was the closes room to the bathroom so didn’t have to hike around trying to find one. They give you medication to keep the pain down but as the wards as so busy it took around 30-40 minutes for me to get mine.

If you have any questions about Csections feel free to leave a comment below 

Thank you for reading

Elyssia x

Birth of my beautiful baby girl

Hello Lovely people

This post is going to be about the birth of my daughter….if you are squeamish don’t look at the photos as there are some of the birth.

So starting from the beginning, my daughter was breech from 21 weeks, we got told we might have to have a C-section if she didn’t turn but the midwife was convinced that the baby would turn,needless to say she didn’t turn by herself so we were booked in for a ECV (External cephalic version) which is where they injected me with something to relax the uterus and try and manually turn the baby from the outside…it was so uncomfortable and failed so we were booked in for a C-section on Friday 11^th November.

We went in for a pre-surgery meeting about a week before my section was booked where I had bloods taken, questions answered and I got re-scanned to see if the baby had moved(she didn’t) they then gave me some tablets to take the night before the surgery and the morning of (I think their like anti-acid tablets) and I got told what I could and couldn't do in regards to eating/drinking and wearing.

The morning of the surgery we had to get to Gloucestershire woman's hospital by 6.45am and we were shown into our private room where a midwife came in and gave us a rough idea of what would happen thought out the day, I also got re-scanned as I got told I wasn’t aloud to have a C-section if the baby had turned but again she hadn’t which by this time I was glad as I had hyped myself up. 
I was so nervous as I have never had any type of surgery before.

We dressed in our surgery clothes and the anaesthetist came in and again explained what will happen and also inserted the canola into my hand, which I think looking back hurt more than anything! I cried - John took photos...It was great fun...

The midwife who came to see us earlier in the morning came to get us, me and John walked to the theatre, it was a lot bigger than I thought it would be, id watched so many videos on what happens but I never expected it to look the way it did. Everything was so sterile and shiny, there was a bed in the middle of the room with massive lights above with all these woman looking excited at me.

I hoped onto the bed and the I had to hold my knees close to my chest whilst the anaesthetist gave me the local injection to numb the area, once that was in I had to hold my knees close to my chest for them to put the spinal tap into my back which took around 30 minutes every time they missed the gap in my spine it felt like small electric shocks which just felt a bit weird and uncomfortable. Finally they got it in and I was told to lie down on the bed.

Once that was done they started to put up a sheet so I couldn't see what was going on and I was hocked up to loads of machines and a blood pressure machine. 
The anaesthetist tested how much I could feel with an ice cube and I couldn't feel anything from the collar bone down, we were talking for a while to the anaesthetist who was stood to my right and John on my left.....I was getting a bit impatient and asked how long it would be till they started and to my surprise she said the baby was nearly out!!!
Moments later I we heard a swooshing sound and that was my waters being broken and sucked up, I was told I might feel a slight pulling sensation, I wouldn't have noticed if they hadn't told me!

Seconds later John was told to stand up and take photos as our baby girl was out... that is where things when wrong...

I could hear the nurses and surgeons talking and then all of a sudden "CODE BLUE" was being shouted across the room.I will never forget what happened next...The anaesthetist said "there is nothing to worry about your daughter just isn't breathing" she needed extra help and was placed on the breathing station with the little mask to help her breath. My heart stopped and then the room got very busy, around 7 Drs ran into our room then its all a bit of a blur after that, the same lady who told me she wasn't breathing was talking to me telling me what was happening but I wasn't listening, just praying my little baby would be ok. 

The Drs walked out and everything returned to being calm and our precious little girl was ok and breathing on her own. John walked over and cut the cord and she was placed on my chest whilst they finished the surgery.

The surgery in total lasted around an hour, she was out within 7 minutes and the rest was sewing me back together.

We named our little beauty Daphney Ann Stephens.

Daphney was born at 1.20pm on Friday 11th 2016 weighing 8oz 11lb

Csection update

Hello lovely people.

I thought I would quickly give you a update on how my Csection recovery is going.

I had my Csection nearly 7 weeks ago and I haven't had any problems so far, the cut is healing nicely and hasn't been a problem and the ends of the cut have started to turn into a scar. I have had a pain above where they made the cut started getting really sore and uncomfortable if I touched it or nocked kg but when Daphney had her 6 week check I spoke to the dr about it and they said it's fine!

I still have been wearing maternity leggings and nassive granny nickers to johns dismay but I'm finding wearing normal jeans really hard at the moment so I'm sticking with maternity for now! 

But all in all I'm doing great! I think the advice that the midwives say is true moving around early on helps so much! We had Daphney on Friday and by Tuesday we were walking around and doing everything we were doing before! Everyone is different though so listen to your body and don't over do it if you feel up to it! 

Thank you for reading 

Mummy Stephens 

Daphney 6 week update

Hello lovely people! 

I hope you are all well. I thought I would do a blog post about Daphney and her 6 week update! 

Daphney had her last visit from the health visitor this week and has put on weight which is great! 

Daphney is sleeping though the night now and has been from about 2ish week, it takes her about 2 hours to get to sleep but when she does drift off she stays asleep until about 7.30/8am! 

She's still having breast milk as a first feed and at her last feed and is bottle fed formula milk as the other feeds which is working really well for us. It means John can help with feeding and we're not tied down to the house

Daphney has started to really smile now which is soooo cute, and she looks around the room to the sound of our voices which I think she can tell it's us! 

D (Daphney) has been a lot more vocal now and gurgles away to us and seems to be awake and a lot more alert in the day times now which is nice, she's also grunting now like a little piggy which is adorable.

Daphney's started to enjoy baths now which is good as we have booked her in for a trail swimming lesion at the end of January! 

We went to the Dr for her 6 week update and they were really happy with her, they checked D's head and chest and answered the questions I had.

Daphney's been loving all the Christmas lights and she will turn to look st then and seems to be focused more on them now which is good.

She was getting a bit spotty but they seem to be cleaning up now, she's had colic but again clearing up and now I think she has slight cradle cap on her eyebrows so that's the next thing we'll have to sort out!

But all in all Daphney is on track and doing great!!

Thanks for reading

Mummy Stephens