c-section hysterectomy

hi, I'm new to this forum so I might need the acrynoms explained to me.. but this is my 3rd pregnancy (and was planning to be my finally.. luckily!). I'm 36 but due to pregnancy problems (I have placenta previa and placenta acreta - where the placenta grows into the womb and does not come away at all) I have to have a hysterectomy when I have my c-section.

This will be my 3rd c-section so know what to expect re that.. but obvioulsy this will be dramatically different as I have to have the hysterectomy.

Mentally I think I've worked through the emtional stuff re the removal of my womb (they told me it's a full hysterectomy but will leave my ovaries).

I'm curious to know
a) has anybody else on this forum had c-section/hysterectomy and how did they cope?
b) post surgery.. wondering what to expect and how different c-section recover combined with hysterectomy is going to be?
c) as I have 2 children already at home (one 4.5 years and one 22 months) with a new baby as well.. wondering how I will cope. I have my mother very near by so she will be there every day till I'm on my feet.. not intending to breastfeed this baby as figure i'll be to tired etc.. to and frankly want my body back.

over all.. wondering to expect post surgery.. have strange questions about what I keep thinking are silly things (too embarrased to ask obgyn) like;
a) will I still get any kind of discharge afterwards? what kind? where would it come from without a womb?
b) what is sex like afterwards... they said they will take the top of my cervix.. but not the whole things.. they have shown me a diagram but I'm still a bit confused.. trying to picture what will be left.. what happens during sex.. I mean I know the penis doesn't go into the womb but is the cervix shortened.. is there any discomfort? just a bit confused

surgery is planned for 2 weeks (2 July).

any advice would be appreciated.

Hysterectomy is more invasive than c-sections. I had 2 sections, so I thought I was prepared for recovery. This could not have been more different - You will have hundred's of internal stitches rather than maybe a hundred for the c-section. Expect to have pain in different places and take the lifting restrictions very seriously. If they take your entire cervix, then you will have a "cuff" where they stitch together the end of your vagina. I have never heard of removing part of your cervix, so someone will have to explain how that works. I over did the lifting (picked up a toddler) at 3 weeks, and wound up on 3 days bedrest due to internal swelling. I can't imagine how challenging this will be for you, you will need a lot of help to manage your "big kids" while you heal.

Best of luck - hopefully someone else can answer your other questions...

Cat72---

First thing to say is welcome to the site, this can all be very frightening but you will find many caring people here to help you through it as much as they can....

I can't speak personally to the hysterectomy and c-section but I'm sure there will be others here that if they read this post will respond to you.

As for your other questions please realize that here there are no embarassing questions and also please make sure that you do get comfortable talking to your Dr about this. We can only speak from our own experiences and those vary a lot so make sure you get your medical info from your DR.

All that being said here's some information from my understanding and perspective.

Will there be discharge? Are you talking about from your surgery or are you talking about "periods"? If your ovaries are staying you may still have monthly bleeding from your cervix. If you are talking about surgical discharge, I'm presuming you might have some from where they stitch up your surgery.

If they are taking just the top of your cervix that is called supracervical. The "top" of your cervix would be what is more a part of your uterus and not what goes into the vagina. Although the cervix is considered part of the vagina. Even for those of us who have lost our entire cervix our DHs usually don't feel anything different. If they aren't taking your entire cervix your DH shouldn't feel anything different.

As to your sex life that's a big "we don't know". Keeping ovaries helps things be the same but there are differences because you won't have as much blood flow that area, if you had a lot of uterine contractions at time of orgasm that won't happen. There are many here who don't notice any difference and think things are better. It all depends on the reason for your hyster (took me a little longer to get there but things are getting better all the time).

Take it easy, definitely get help between the hyster, the new baby and all of it you will definitely need some pampering.



G.

well.. latest update.. my obgyn just rang and set my date for surgery back again! it's gone from the 2nd of July (36 weeks) to 7th July (nearly 37 weeks). to say I'm upset is a total understatement. apprently she wants a full urology team rather than just a daily guy from urology there (which worries me even more.. as at the moment my bladder is pulled to the far far right and there is no muscle left between the bladder and the womb as they are pressed up against each other..so I figure they think they might have to cut the womb away from the bladder). I'm so upset.. I know it's only another 5 days.. but my head is done in.. it's all I can think of.. what to expect, losing my womb, losing my life possibly! will I see my kids again.. what the hell is going to happen! but it's totally out of my hands.. nothing I can do but suck it up for another few more weeks.

First of all - every week your baby is still gestating is better for their lungs! My youngest was delivered via c-section 2 weeks early. Sadly, his lungs were NOT ready to do the job on their own and he wound up on a respirator and away from me. I could only have him to breast feed him for a week. Just a few weeks makes such a difference for some kids. Count this as a blessing for your baby, and pamper yourself as much as possible before your recovery begins.