ELCS recovery times and tips please?

[Keepontrudging]

Hi all after a rather difficult pregnancy, I have now been told baby has IUGR (suspected it's linked to a low PAPP A hormone) I am going to have to give birth at 37 weeks of static growth, or 39 weeks if there is continued growth seen at next scan. I am currently 35 + 3 weeks. This will be my second baby, my first labour was traumatic. I was induced 11 days over, after days of labour it resulted in an DD getting distressed, an instrumental delivery and PPH. I was very, very weak -and generally physically not right for a while after.
I have there for declined induction on these grounds, plus I feel the baby would cope better with an ELCS.

Sadly though I had hoped a spontaneous labour this time; with the aid of some hypnobirthing techniques (though was open to c section if I went over due again)

I know I can still practice my relaxation techniques and read my affirmations before surgery, but I am now wondering about the aftermath. How long did it take for you to recover? Any tips? Advice on what extras to bring to hospital ? I have lots of help , but a 19month old too: so ideally hoping for a fairly quick recovery. I am a busy body ...! Thanks in advance :) sorry for the essay !

*i am going to have to give birth at 37 weeks if there is no growth.

• should add baby is just under the 10th centile, so not major IUGR.

*sorry for typos !

I am a month post ELCS. The biggest problem I had was getting into and out of bed to tend to the baby and to hold her. I knew my DH would be tolerant, but it really requires one other full time person as well as you, to pass the baby to you, to hold him/her while you manoever around, to help you out of bed, cook you food etc and that is a 24/7 job.

I also found breast feeding very difficult because I was in bed most of the time recovering, and laying a 8lbs baby on your stomach or anywhere near it, pushes down on the wound and causes pain and blood pooling. I had to do the football hold for a while, which was fine, but it was an art to be mastered and I couldn't do it straight away. The midwives didn't seem to get why I wasn't doing any of the normal breast feeding positions and kept questioning me, but it hurt so much to have her weight or her feet near any part of my stomach.

When my breasts engorged on day 3, the combo of pain in my stomach and pain in the breasts was just awful, so I had to keep on too of my pain meds. After one week the pain was bearable and I was off all painkillers. And it only got better from there.