Numbness 4 days after botched/failed c section?

I had my baby Jan 15 by C-Section (placenta previa, no choice really). During the procedure, I was given a spinal. Are there really over 7 injections for the spinal?





Anyway, I told the doctors I wasn't numb and yet the proceded to cut me anyway. I was completely ignored. It was the most painful, awful experience of my life - and now I get to associate my son's birth with it. I'm interviewing lawyers as we speak (theres a lot more to it than this). The spinal didn't take. Anyone else have a spinal that just didn't work?





Anyway, my son was born on tuesday and today I have numbness across my abdomen (1 inch ABOVE the incision, 1 inch below the navel in that kind of rectangle - and from hip to hip). My doctor doesn't know why its happening and said he will see me on tuesday.





Has this numbness ever happened to anyone after a C-section? Has anyone ever have a spinal not work and go through the procedure?





Thanks in advance.

Numbness 4 days after botched/failed c section?
I would guess that you had a spinal block rather than an epidural....that's what was done to me anyway. I really have no idea how much is injected for that since I was only injected with one needle, and everything was done through that.





I feel for you and really hope that you win your battle on this. I can't believe you had such a horrible experience bringing your baby into the world. PLEASE try to focus on the fact that you have a beautiful baby to show for it. Still fight for what was done wrong during the procedure though.





The numbness in the incision area is common all the way up to one year after the procedure is done. You're describing a rather large area though......My incision itself was numb, but I don't remember such a large area feeling that numb.





I wish you all the best, and a speedy recovery!
Reply:I'm sorry you had to go through something like this, but the alternative would have been a dead baby and a probably dead you too!





The numbness around the wound is not unusual, as your section wasn't very long ago, I would think its probably better to have a certain amount of numbness there while you heal. Sometimes the nerves that had to be cut through (you cannot avoid them they are so tiny) take awhile to repair themselves. On this you just have to be patient. I still feel that the 1/2 inch either side of my scar is slightly numb to the touch. My last section was just over 2 years ago.





As for the epidural - you had an emergency section? Even if you didn't, there is a limited amount of time from start to finish for your surgical team to get your baby out. Occasionally, epidurals don't quite work and you feel a lot. However, if yours hadn't worked at all, you would have simply passed out from the pain. With my first section, the first attempt at the spinal went slightly off-line (I could feel that it was affecting one side and not the other) so they had to do a second, it took around an hour to get it right.





With some people, epidurals just don't take. You have to become numbed right up to your chest before the correct nerve bundle is reached (the nerves that serve the pelvis live right up behind your shoulder blades!)





If yours was an emergency section, then there is always an element of urgency. Placenta praevia is dangerous to you and to your baby. Were there any other complications in your pregnancy?





If I were you, I would still be feeling very emotional and in a great deal of pain if I wasn't taking my meds at the correct intervals. Make sure you take yours before the pain takes hold. In other words, don't wait until you are in severe discomfort before taking them.





I can't stop you from consulting with lawyers and think you probably should, even if it ends up not being filed once you've had the legal situation explained to you. Think hard before you attempt to ruin a surgical teams reputation. Make sure you think it through completely, remembering all the factors that made the section necessary. Remember too, that the degree of pain you felt was not enough to make you pass out. Its major surgery, so you should have done if the epidural had not worked at all!





Whatever else you do, write it all down now, but sleep on it for a few weeks. Your hormones at the moment will make you somewhat irrational and certainly emotional. Give yourself a chance to recover and mend and concentrate on your new child and their needs. Stop getting angry and enjoy your first weeks with the baby. At least they are safe and you have your child in your arms. You have your surgical team to thank for that!





Edit: why no meds? get some, take some. Minimum meds would be strongest over-the-counter pain relief, probably with codeine in. Better meds are supplied to cover you for two weeks, as you are discharged from hospital. While in hospital (about a week's stay is normal for a section) there are regular med rounds. Also, before they will take you off the drip, you have to show them you can stand and visit the lavatory successfully. This is normal procedure.





Edit: look, the c-section was not entirely "botched" and certainly didn't fail - you have a lovely baby son. I'm sorry that you've had such a ghastly experience, but it doesn't change the fact that the procedure was necessary. Your surgeon obviously made the decision, somewhere along the line there, that your baby needed to come out. If he'd waited and waited and waited, would your baby have been brain damaged due to oxygen deprivation or to blood loss. Which would you prefer to have?





I don't doubt that you've had an awful experience. So don't think that. Questions need to be asked, and answered, by the surgeon and his team. There will be surgical notes written up post-section that will serve to clarify what happened and why. If they were done on the computer, then you should be able to view them at the hospital. Otherwise you may need a lawyer to gain access. Either way, an official letter may be required. Possibly you should ask to meet with the surgeon and anaesthetist together, to put them on the spot. In which case, take a lawyer with you to take notes. You may just find out that they had no choice but to proceed. No surgeon is going to inflict unnecessary, avoidable pain on a patient. The don't want to be sued.
Reply:when my mum had me she had a c section and the numbness didnt work and she fealt everything. not sure of any major details.





sorry you had to go through that. cant imagine how painful it would have been!