ok, so i have never had a c-section, but i have had 2 kids. i think we all have the same fears about childbirth regardless of what method. with my first, i had horrible anxiety about getting an epidural. that's all i could think about for months was how scary that was going to be. but in the moment, it was absolutely nothing compared to everything else going on and the fact that a baby was coming soon. you'll be able to do it :-) keep in mind, i think it takes all of 5 minutes to get the baby out. the rest of the time while they are stitching you back up, you'll have a little baby by your face and you'll forget entirely about what's going on on the other side of the curtain.

i don't know the level of pain with having a c-section. your spinal will be relatively quick so you won't have a ton of that medicine in your body to dramatically slow everything down. i think it'll depend more on the pain meds you take afterwards. with regular childbirth, i was able to just take a couple ibuprofen the day the baby was born, and then i never took anything else after that. my friend who did have a c-section said that she was able to manage just fine with a high dosage of ibuprofen. if you can tolerate that, you shouldn't have to worry about slowing down your bowels. my labor was quick so i only had the epidural for a couple hours. my bowels were mostly back on track the next day.

best of luck to you :-)

Do not under any circumstances rent or watch the movie "Prometheus" between now and your C section. If you want to know why send me a PM after your C section and I will tell you.

First, congratulations! I remember the last few weeks as exciting and super terrifying (I think I joined this group a few days before my son was born, needing reassurance!) But hang in there - the best is yet to come.

I had a c-section 15 years after pouch creation. As clz81 mentioned, you're not able to see anything until they show you the baby, and the whole procedure is surprisingly quick. I wasn't able to hold the baby in the OR, but my husband was there cracking jokes and taking horrifying pictures of my innards as the baby came out (irritating, but definitely distracting).

The pain afterward was certainly less than post-colectomy pain, but I did have an ileus for a few days. They kept me in the hospital during that time, running IVs, with the baby in my room/in my arms the whole time. Back then they didn't give you food or drink with an ileus, but walking and chewing gum were key to starting my gut up again. The baby was healthy and my recovery was uneventful after that.

Best wishes for a quick and easy delivery!

Best wishes to you. I had my son after I turned 40 years. My K pouch was at the age of 28. Had previously had surgery for adhesions on ovaries.

Anyway my son is now 26 years and was born perfect weight and perfect baby.
Normal birth but forceps. Caused no concern for staff even all those years ago. Keep us posted. Patricia

THe C-section will feel surreal to you. They don't sedate you, but I swear something about what they give you makes everything seem a bit other worldly. You won't feel pain, just some pulling and tugging. My husband stayed at my head most of the time talking with me about bringing the baby home so I was distracted. The anesthesiologist did too, and that was a big help.

Once the baby was out, my husband went to be with the nurse and see him get cleaned, weighed and wrapped. We were told by the hospital that my husband should never let the baby out of his sight at this point. He gave me a play by play of what was happening.

My husband and the nurse brought baby over to me and I got to kiss him and talk to him - all the while they were working on me and I did not care one bit...before I knew it, everything was done, baby was in the basinet and we were all being wheeled to recovery.

The anticipation is way worse than the reality. Try to put it out of your mind for now. Live in the moment and enjoy your last few weeks without baby...when you get home from the c-section, life will never be the same - it will be great, but different - so enjoy your present.

I had a vaginal birth before my jpouch and a csection after jpouch and I was just as anxious for the csection as I was the first time. Honestly, I had such a horrible delivery the first time I'd choose the csection if I had to pick.

I haven't read all the other replies in detail but agree, it's a little surreal and a lot of tugging, but the thing itself does not hurt, that's what the spinal is for.

I tried really hard to get better too quickly. I refused almost all pain meds post-section and tried to get back to eating too soon. I ended up puking the day after the operation. I also puked when I woke up from my pouch operation. Let me tell you something, it is NOTHING compared to the pouch pain. NOTHING. I mean, it hurt, it was awful, but the intensity was much less than after pouch surgery, and lasted much less long as well.

I was really freaked about it too, I think it's normal. Just do what the doctors tell you to do for recovery and you will be ok, I promise. It's not that bad. Pouchers know REAL pain, you got this.