Posted by
Babeez
17 yrs ago
Hi everyone,
I am 38 weeks and getting very anxious about having my C-section on Friday. I will have to be under general anaesthetic due to back problems. I am starting to get panic attacks at night. Has anyone else done the same? I wanted an epidural but the doc reckoned it was too risky with my back in such a bad shape. Does anyone know how long it takes till the drowsiness of the anaesthesia wears off and how long did you have to wait till you could see the baby? i have my op at 3pm...any chance of seeing the baby the same day?
Please support our advertisers:
Please note that I'm no expert so the following is speculation.
Uou're not having open heart surgery. C-sections are very brief as operations go so I would think your general anesthesia will be rather "light". I will make an uninformed guess that you will see your baby in early evening.
As for panic attacks, I think anyone can be anxious before an operation, not to mention the birth of their child. Thankfully, serious complications during childbirth are exceedingly rare in modern countries. I know you know that there's nothing to worry about but my works won't make it better. My only suggestion is to get a good friend or family member to keep you company and to try and fill your days so you'll be busy and not brooding.
Please support our advertisers:
axptguy you must be a wonderful husband with all the great advice you give. I wonder if you're a full-time advisor or something with all the ready replies to help everyone.
Please support our advertisers:
PDNS
17 yrs ago
I had my baby at 11.45am and by 2pm, I was able to see my baby. I go for g/a too on my choice. yes, you can't avoid to have certain anxiousness but once you are in the hospital and thinking that I will see my baby when i wake up, other things does not matter anymore!!!!!
Enjoy every minute of your pregnancy, you will miss it for a few days after delivery - for a while. I was like 'oh, why my baby is not moving in my tummy??".... hehe, fun fun fun, either being pregnant or having baby. 'see' you when you are back from hospital and tell us how great it's having baby!
Please support our advertisers:
TO PDNS : just wonder how can you miss pregnancy, i am in my 8th month and i can't take it anylonger !! do you remember what is like the last 3 months ? I heard the women who had children lost the memory of the pregnancy.
I dun think i will lose mine and i am soo readyyyyyyyyyyy to give birth
Please support our advertisers:
"axptguy you must be a wonderful husband with all the great advice you give. I wonder if you're a full-time advisor or something with all the ready replies to help everyone."
Thanks but I'm just a regular guy who listens to his wife and tries to learn about things even if they are not "guy stuff". I probably just have too much time on my hands. And I'm a fast typist. Also my wife and her mother could probably give classes on child care and such. I try to listen hard.
"Enjoy every minute of your pregnancy, you will miss it for a few days after delivery - for a while"
Agreed with Mariannehkg. My wife was in "get it out!" mode the last few weeks. ;) Your results may vary I guess.
Please support our advertisers:
Thanks for all the replies everyone. Cara, i got your message, i am feeling slightly better now. Thanks for your kind thoughts! I started getting panic attacks after falling pregnant and had to take meds, doc said it was a hormonal imbalance. It was all under control until a couple of nights ago when i started to think about the surgery, i felt like i couldn't breathe and i haven't been sleeping. After talking to a couple of people who went under general anaesthesia, i feel a bit better. It's just that i am claustraphobic and the thought of being completely out freaks me out. I was also worried about being thirsty after and not being allowed water so i spoke to my doc for some reassurance today and he told me i was allowed a sip or two. Don't know why but that makes me feel a bit better. I don't know why i feel all this when i am so blessed to be pregnant and to hopefully be able to have a healthy little girl.
In regards to missing being pregnant, my friend missed hers but not till a year later...i think it's true, you forget what the waiting is like. I get very worried about our baby when she doesn't move much or i worry about the cord being around her neck. I would much rather have her 'out' than 'in' and it feels like i have been pregnant since 1998, time sure drags in the third trimester! 3 sleeps to go and trying to focus on all the positives!
Please support our advertisers:
PDNS
17 yrs ago
I wanted my baby out at the last month asap too as the tummy was so so heavy, taking a step forward was like dragging a 100lbs of whatever on my both legs! However, I really miss it when the baby was out as i was really enjoying his every movement! To the the truth, i really love being pregnant, I feel so energitic and vibrant all the time except the last month but i have this nesting symptom that I washed and dusted every bit that I can think of in the house and there was not time to think of anything else as I was so exicited to have the baby in just a short while.
enjoy it and have fun the last 3 days!
Please support our advertisers:
PDNS did you suffer sickness at all or any other adverse symptoms? Did you work work during pregnancy or immediately after?
Please support our advertisers:
PDNS
17 yrs ago
Hi Purefit,
No, I do not have any sickness at all except the first two months I cannot eat a full meal, the most is 2-3 spoonful and I felt so bloated and full of gas. I work all the time but not over work and doing light exercise like taking walk in the evening. I was really enjoying every minute of it. On my 4th months till 8 months, I woke up at 3am feeling so hungry and always enjoying having a slice of cake and a hot chocolate drink or milk for pregnant woman. I don't drink vitasoy chocolate flavor but I love it then, strange! The last month I cut down carbo but stay on fruits and veggies and reasonable amout of protien.
During my 6 months, I cleaned up those big wondows of my apartment which my husband can't say a word at all, he was just so amaze at how energitic I was. I cooked dinner, marketing on weekend ( no maid till now, I resigned to take care of my son full time), ironing, going out on weekend with friends..... etc, just like I was not pregnant at all. BTW, I had someone to iron my husband's working clothes as it was too much for me to iron his - he wants it nice and smooth.
Prior to having my this baby, I had two miscarriage in a year and I had sligthly morning sickness and I hate it. So if u are not having any, dont look for it but enjoy every minute of your pregnancy!
Please support our advertisers:
I feel bloated too and I am six wks but back hurts sometimes. I wish I had your energy, I feel tired in the evening s and want to go off to sleep. I also feel cramps like I'm about to get my period and I keep getting panicky as not used to it but slowly getting used to the cramps.
Please support our advertisers:
PDNS
17 yrs ago
cramps, hurt or pain in your uterus or womb... yes, normal, it is making room to accommodate your growing little one! How exciting ya. You will be able to see him or her swimming in your womb when you go for your next check up and hearing heart beats too. you will shed tears or just laugh out loud... hehe, who mind u? My doc. told me" look at the beautiful of life inside you!"
Again, enjoy and listen to your body!
Please support our advertisers:
Your reactions to a sonogram may vary. Feeling not much is normal too. Don't worry if you're completely indifferent. This doesn't mean you'll be a bad mother.
My wife "faked a sonogram" pretty much all the time, smiling happily even though she didn't feel much of anything. Our unborn babies never had a strong emotional impact. A bit thrilling that we were going to have a baby, but the early sonograms just show this tadpole anyway.
When they were born, though, that was something else.
Please support our advertisers:
At my first check-up, our doc told us our baby was the size of a grain of rice. It did amaze me that another life could grow inside me but it wasn't until our 20 week scan that i was a bit teary, seeing arms and legs and what actually looked like a real baby :)
Please support our advertisers:
i'm terrible at sussing out what's what during ultrasounds, i just nod my head so that my doc doesn't think i'm an idiot. my husband is quite good and identifying parts of the baby though!
it's fascinating esp. when we had the detailed 22 week scan and the baby's face looked so real BUT nothing beats the first time you feel your baby kick in my belly.
babeez - can't advise on c-section as #1 was natural via induction but feelings of anxiety and excitement about the impending birth are all very natural i think! i am due on tuesday and been getting lots of text messages from friends asking if i've popped yet. best of luck on friday.
Please support our advertisers:
Thanks Wheelymate and good luck with yours too. I too get the same phone calls asking if i have popped yet (mostly from my mum who tells me its impossible to carry so low and that she is coming....wishful thinking!). Totally agree with you on the ultrasound part-i also just keep saying alot of clueless 'uh-huhs' unless it is something obvious like the head, arms or legs. Baby has been so quiet today, was getting worried but is kickboxing now as i sit in front of the computer (thank God). Lucozade works a treat for waking her, feel a bit bad for giving her fizzy drinks but feel 100 times worse when there is no movement, especially so when you are so near your due date. I am going to miss the kicking, a BIG part of me wants her out here in my arms but i can't help but feel a tad sad that we won't be doing everything together anymore. But then last week i ate about 50 pineapples to try to induce my own labour (obviously didn't work) then at my doc's appointment he said drinking Guinness works, as a huge smile beamed across my face he said '...and no, that doesn't mean you are going to drink any, you will be good and wait for you scheduled op date'. I was so tempted and stared at a can of Guinness in Taste for about an hour but then thinking of drinking alcohol while she was still inside wasn't a possibility for me and plus, if she wants to stay in, then she must be happy.
And to Cara, thanks for your telephone messages. I got your message today and am feeling much better. I googled 'C-sections and General Anaesthesia and read quite a few positive stories. I have nightmares of coming out of anaesthesia in the middle of the night in the hospital and all the lights are off and i don't know where i am but my baby's gone but my husband keeps reassuring me that whatever the time, he will be there when i wake up. I will update you when i get home (hopefully) with a healthy baby and we will meet up when i'm fully back on my feet again. You have helped me heaps. Thanks!
Please support our advertisers:
"i'm terrible at sussing out what's what during ultrasounds, i just nod my head so that my doc doesn't think i'm an idiot. my husband is quite good and identifying parts of the baby though!"
If your doctor is making you feel like an idiot maybe it's time to get another doctor. ;) They know you're not a pro. Just ask. There are no stupid questions. Seriously, why are people afraid of looking like idiots in front of their doctors? My wife and I have been known to take notepads with a dozen or so questions to our appointments, both ob-gyn and pediatrician. A good doctor will patiently answer.
"I am going to miss the kicking, a BIG part of me wants her out here in my arms but i can't help but feel a tad sad that we won't be doing everything together anymore."
Well, you're not exactly going to be far from each other for quite a while after birth. ;) And think of not waking up in the middle of the night from being kicked in the bladder. Then again, that will just be replaced by another kind of waking up in the middle of the night. Don't worry. Babies are much nicer on the outside.
Please support our advertisers:
Babeeza how come you're 38 wks pregnant? Isn't that 9.5 months pregnant? I thought the maximum was 9 months? Is that the reason you're very panicky?
Please support our advertisers:
Purefit - all pregnancies are calculated from the day of your last period, not from the day of suspected conception.
This system is often confusing, but used because most women don't necessarliy know when they ovualted or conceived (and everyone's cycle is a bit different).
So all pregnancies are technically calculated as 40 weeks to cover this.
Please support our advertisers:
"Babeeza how come you're 38 wks pregnant? Isn't that 9.5 months pregnant? I thought the maximum was 9 months? Is that the reason you're very panicky?"
40 weeks is a normal pregnancy. Your typical month is longer than 4 weeks.
Please support our advertisers:
I decided to have the C-section at 38+2 weeks as i wanted to give the baby more time inside but a few of the people i know planned to have theirs at 37 weeks when the baby is considered medically mature. Last week, i was kicking myself for not having said i wanted it sooner but now i am glad that she has had that extra little bit of time inside. Can't believe that 24 hours from now, i will be having my C-section! Alot less panicky today, think i am getting too caught up in getting everything ready to stress. BTW...does anyone know how long after General Anaesthesia is food and drink disallowed and how long it took to wake up after going under? Cara, how long did it take you to get up and walk?
Please support our advertisers:
"The Pregnancy Book" and "The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy" come to mind.
Please support our advertisers:
"i had to wait for hubby to come during visiting hours to take me up. she was allowed to come down that afternoon and i had her by my side for most of the time afterward."
Why did your husband have to wait for visiting hours?
Please support our advertisers:
Thanks Cara, actually better than i thought. I thought i had to wait till the next day for a sip of water. As i am going private, hubby can stay with me till 10, hopefully i will get a glimpse of the baby the day she arrives. Still, as long as she is healthy, i am happy. Thanks for all your support over the past few weeks! :)
Please support our advertisers:
"They also do not allow hubbies in the general ward except during visiting hours. it sounds kind of harsh, but it is actually NO visitors. visiting hours are 12-1 and 6-8. i found it not bad because some people get 3 or 4(only supposed to have 2) visitors and it can get quite noisy. with the limit, it means that you can actually get some much needed rest."
"As i am going private, hubby can stay with me till 10,"
That's awful. How very 1963... :((
I can understand visiting hours and agree that it can get rowdy with all the people. So I'm all for enforcing visiting hours.
However at your typical US hospital fathers are exempt. Heck I slept on a cot next to my wife's bed... I could come and go as I pleased but mostly I stuck around. If nothing else, I got much needed takeout to replace the horrid hospital meals. I could help my wife with all sorts of other stuff and we could just be in our bubble if you will.
On another note. Equality goes both ways. We're never going to see progress if fathers are taught that there are some things they shouldn't meddle in. Note that I am a guy! Now if a couple chooses to not have the husband there, that's one thing. But to be forced? The father is half of the typical parenting team in our supposedly enlightened times. Why should he not be allowed to be around? ARGH! Makes me mad and glad we had our kids before coming to HK. :(
Of course, my wife spent most of the hospital stay following our second doing email (wireless network in the maternity ward is a great thing). #2 came as a surprise 4 weeks early and my wife hadn't really made all the arrangements for maternity at work yet. ;)
Please support our advertisers:
Don't panic Babeez. Relax and count your blessings that you're delivering in HK, one of the best cities to deliver with all the maid help etc and private care. Count yourself really lucky - wish I had your luck:) And all the best for the delivery! I'll be thinking of you. You'll be fine:)
Please support our advertisers:
"i agree... i would have loved to have hubby there...my hubby... but with the numbers of women on the ward, it would get VERY crowded. even if there was only one person for each mother."
What, not private rooms? The barbarism continues... :(
Please support our advertisers:
"the delivery suites are private. the wards are not... unless you want to pay the same as you would at matilda."
And to think people complain about health care in the US... The hospitals there run ads for their maternity suites. "Flat screen TV, wireless Internet, free classes...."
All paid for by your friendly insurance company.
Sorry. I'm a bit riled up about this. It seems a bit primitive.
Please support our advertisers:
I decided to go low-end private at the Baptist Hospital with the most general and cheapest possible ward. If i wanted the baby to room in with me, i would have to pay over 100K and all the meds and doctors visits are multiplied by i thnk 4 or 5. I have been told that i am allowed to hold and feed the baby every 3-4 hours but hubby is not allowed to be with me...what is that all about? I am going to fight over that one. Why shouldn't my husband be allowed to hold his newborn daughter? Apart from me being able to feed her, everyone else can see her through a window for 3 minutes a day, 3 times a day. You have set timeslots. I was silly, i should have got all that info beforehand, it just never crossed my mind that in a private hospital, holding your own baby would be such a struggle! Then again, i am going low-end private and i was born there so that means something to me. Oh well, as long as she is healthy, that is all i want and care for! :) We saved up hard for this because i had previously been to Princess Margaret hopital and had a terrible time there. I was admitted another time to the Prince of Wales Hospital later and was so happy with their service, as with Pamela Youde hospital. I am hoping we can go public with number 2, i hope they will consider C-section seeing my first one was C-section. Will look into that when we are all settled as we are hoping to have our babies pretty close together. For now, i will see how this one goes! :)
Please support our advertisers:
Thanks for all the kind words and thoughts to everyone who has written on this post. I am leaving for the hospital in an hour and wish you all well while i am away! Wheelymate, have a safe and healthy birth! Cara, will talk to you when i get back, axpt38guy, thanks for all the advice, PDNS, thanks for your advice and info too and Purefit, hope you have a wonderful time being pregnant, if you are not having too many side-effects, the first two trimesters were the best for me, enjoy them and don't worry. Let's all have a positive day! :)
Please support our advertisers:
"hey babeez....get some sleep girl... this is the last time for about 6 months that you have the opportunity to sleep through the night!"
Maybe. Both our daughters slept through the night from 4-6 weeks.
Your results may vary. You should certainly plan on not sleeping. Then again, I can't recall my wife sleeping through the night in the last month of pregnancy. It's hard when you need to pee all the time.
Please support our advertisers:
PDNS
17 yrs ago
You are safe when you are delivering today! Wish you all the best and realize u stay in Tung Chung. maybe i will see u someday holding ur bundle of joy walking at citygate, pacific cafe or sitting at the fountain!
Cheers!
Please support our advertisers:
Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who replied to my post in my last week of pregnancy, i was a wreck! I am now at home with a beautiful new baby daughter who weighed in at 8 pounds 6 oz. She is such a joy (even when she wailed from midnight to 5am this morning). I feel so blessed and can spend all day just staring at her, amazed that my hubby and i created a little human being. I am recovering well from my C-section, my doc cut so low i was amazed it was even physically possible to deliver the baby so far down! Won't be able to see the scar unless i wear a G-string... Loving every second of being a new mother. Thanks again, all!
Please support our advertisers:
Please support our advertisers:
Agreed with Cara. My older daughter is 2 years old and the novelty still hasn't worn off. To quote Peter F. Hamilton, one of my favorite authors, when he dedicated a book to his newborn daughter.
"We never knew how much we missed you until you arrived."
So very true.
Please support our advertisers:
congrats babeez, enjoy your baby! it will be a rollercoaster ride with lots of highs and some lows (sleepless nights, illnesses, etc) but you wouldn't want to trade it for the world!
Please support our advertisers:
PDNS
17 yrs ago
congrats to, babeez n ur hubby! whatever, enjoy her but dont forget about hubby :)
Please support our advertisers:
< Back to main category
You must be logged in to be able to reply.
Login now
Copy Link
Facebook
Gmail
Mail