being at home after elcs

[nervy555]

Hi,
I have read threads on elcs with interest and picked up loads of tips! So thank you to anyone who reads this :-)

I'm 34 wewks and have placenta previa, told today that I will almost certainly have a c section in a few weeks. My question is to do with recoving at home. DH and myself live in a small terraced house near a town centre. We have kitchen and front room downstairs, large bathroom and nursery with nice new comfy sofa bed in first floor and then our bedroom in an attic conversion.

So, anyone who has had a c section. ..should we move ourselves into the nursery so that I have less stairs to contend with and am near the bathroom etc?

Any other tips much appreciated, I'm fairly anxious. Also interested in how much help people need. I've kind of asked my mum to be around and maybe stay when DH goes back to work.

Thanks in advance :-)

Hi Nervvy, many congrats on your imminent new arrival
I had an EMCS with DD last year. We live in a 3rd floor duplex flat with the bedrooms on 4th floor (no lift in the building aarrgg). We had already decided that I would room in with DD in her nursery (previously spare bedroom with bed still there) so that DH would sleep at night in our room by himself and therefore be rested and much more help to me during the day! I found the stairs fine, just uncomfortable initially... I limited the trips upstairs as much as I could - we had a changing station downstairs for baby and she slept in the Moses basket downstairs during the daytime. The changing station we had was given to us by a friend who was finished with it, took up a lot of space but was a godsend in the early days when bending over was out of the question. Ikea do a nifty fold up version which could be very useful to you so you're not going up and fiwn the stairs umpteen times a day to change baby. If the bed in your nursery is comfortable I would probably stay there for the first week or two at night until you're feeling more mobile. My mum came to stay to help out during week 2, DH was able to split his paternity leave so for the first three weeks I wasn't on my own. By the end of that time I was recovered enough to manage on my own. But you might recover even faster than that I'm sure lots more ladies will be along soon to offer their tips!

PS you have probably already read this on various c section threads but you MUST get black cotton Lycra enormous passion-killer pants (2 sizes bigger than pre-pregnancy size) that will come up over your scar.. I found the M&S ones fab.

And expect to keep wearing maternity trousers a while longer, you won't want and pressure or waistbands cutting accross. Over the bump leggings by far the most comfortable item I had.

Thank you for such helpful and positive posts :-) hope I do heal quickly! Definitely going to look into changing station too.

Thanks lunatic fringe...good advice re matress..I hadn't thought of that!

Thanks lunatic fringe...good advice re matress..I hadn't thought of that!

they get you up for a walk to shower the next morning.
Take it at your pace, take analgesia BEFORE you get too uncomfortable.
Yes baby should be with you, rest as much as you can

Thanks lunatic fringe...good advice re matress..I hadn't thought of that!

I wouldn't bother to move bedrooms, which might be more trouble than it's worth. I was quite uncomfortable after my first cs, but never had any problems going up and down stairs (turning over in bed, on the other hand...). Also, you shouldn't need any more access to the loo than usual, and less than when heavily pregnant.

You may or may not want the baby in your room. We had our dc in their own bedroom, in a big cot (no Moses basket) from day one. That worked for us because when the baby cried in the night, I could go and feed them without disturbing dh. Also the baby never had to go through a transition from Moses basket to cot or one room to another. But do whatever works for you.

You will want a changing mat on every floor though.

Get lots of help arranged in advance if you can. What you most need after a cs is rest.

Just to clarify, we're not considering being in a different room to the baby, just whether we all use the nursery to start with or not. Thank you again, changing station downstairs willl mean I have sonewhere to change him on each floor. Feels good to start getting properly organised!

I'd sleep on the same floor as a loo. Does the baby's room have a proper bed? Getting into / turning over in bed were the worst - stairs were ouchy but not too bad.

However - I didn't keep on top of pain meds (ds was in nicu and I always missed the drugs trolley) - make sure you take everything you can!

So maybe comfy bed should come above fewer stairs? Soda bed is ok but obviously not as great or roomy as our own bed. Hmmm now im confused. Guess should just see how I manage stairs once home?

sofa beds tend to be quite low so not ideal - you might feel totally fine though so try not to get too hung up on it - see how you feel. Everyone is different.

Try to make sure stuff is at waist hight where possible for a little while to avoid bending. I found sitting up in bed to feed hard too - my back hurt because I over compensated for stomach muscles being shot and used my back muscles more in the day so slouching on a ned to feed was sore.

Thanks double cake. . Now moved on to vanity panic so setting up thread about the whole shampoo thing...

Shampoo?? Lol!

www.mumsnet.com/reviews/nursery/cots-cribs-cotbeds/9963-arms-reach-universal-co-sleeper-bedside-cot

You will need to keep the baby as close to you as possible.

This cot made my life easier with the section but also easier with a new born and I wish I had had one first time round.

You wont want to be lifting and twisting much and definalty NOT reaching in and out of a moses basket in the night, that was bad enough on my stomach muscles even after normal birth!

Also a V pillow so you can rest the baby on it and not use your arms or have it on the scar.

I was fine with stairs just slow.

Some babies happily co sleep in the bed and never have a problem with transfer to cots or their own beds. So do not get stressed about what may not be.

www.mumsnet.com/reviews/nursery/cots-cribs-cotbeds/9963-arms-reach-universal-co-sleeper-bedside-cot