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1. If you have to have a "C" and if you have to have it early does it affect your milk coming in?

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Not in my experience. Didn't have any problem starting nursing (although I did have to call the nurse when the baby refused to UNlatch ). I was able to nurse her within a few hours -- colostrum started up right away and true milk came in about the time I went home, 4 days later.

My daughter was (and is) the brightest, most beautiful little girl that ever was. She shows no ill effects from her method of delivery.

I had gestational diabetes too, though I don't think it was as bad as yours because I didn't have to take insulin; they tried to induce labor, but it didn't work and I ended up with a C-section.

I have had acquaintances try to "console" me about my C-section, telling me "maybe you can do it the natural way next time." When they say this, I just smile and don't say what I'm thinking, which is "why in the name of all that is holy would I WANT to?" Because I got off so much easier than I was expecting.

I'm the nervous type, and the single worst part of the entire childbirth experience was, for me, lying in bed at 3 in the morning listening to the screaming and screaming and screaming of the woman in the labor suite next to mine who was doing natural childbirth. The screaming went ON and ON without a break until I was sure that soon either the baby would have to be born, or the woman would die, because nobody could be in that much pain for that long and live.

It was the most frightening thing I have ever heard. I actually had to call for the nurse to calm me down and reassure me that no, this would not happen to me because I was going to have an epidural. When the doctor decided the next day to do a C-section, I was really freaked out, because the "childbirth education" class had given me the impression that a C-section was the worst possible outcome and meant that you were basically a failure as a mother.

Guess what! The C-section was NOT THAT BAD. The entire experience was nowhere near as horrible as I had been expecting. The incision hurt quite a bit when they first made me get out of bed -- I could only shuffle forward an inch at a time -- but in less than 2 days I was walking around in relative comfort, taking showers by myself, etc. I went home after 4 days and could get around my house OK.

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And any hints on bouncing back from a "C" would be appreciated.

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When the nurses offer you post-surgery pain medication, TAKE IT. It won't hurt the baby, and you'll then find it easier to get up and move around -- and it will hurt much less once you're up and moving around and have "loosened" things up a bit, which means that then you won't NEED the pain meds anymore. Also, you'll sleep better, and you need your rest. (Ironically, you'll probably HAVE to sleep on your back, which you probably COULDN'T do when pregnant.) I went home from the hospital with a prescription for Percocet, but didn't take it, because after taking it for 4 days in the hospital I no longer needed it, and I have the lowest pain tolerance of anyone I know.

One mistake I did make was to look at my incision early on. Incisions are icky. Now it has faded to a thin line that is nearly invisible among the prominent stretch marks with which I am blessed forever.

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I am a large woman and I've heard it's harder to heal when you're bigger

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I am hoping the C incision isn't as bad as checking out the episiotomy stitches the first time.

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I never has an episiotomy (and now never will) but one important thing to keep in mind (that I had been worried about) is that the c-section incision is held together by several layers of stitching, so it's going to *stay shut*. Even if your hilarious but evil cousin visits you the day after the birth and makes you LAUGH and LAUGH until your incision hurts like crazy.

I don't know what kind of anesthesia you'll get -- they just injected something else into my epidural line. I told them I could still feel my feet and they gave me some more. Then it was all good (except I threw up right after that, which I wasn't expecting. Perhaps it was a response to the anesthesia, or maybe it was because I was nervous and had not eaten anything but popsicles for 21 hours. ).

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