X-post C-Section - Tips for Recovery?

[bellabelly]

Hi, i'm booked in for a c-section in 2 weeks time (although the docs and m/ws keep suggesting that the twins will probably come early anyway...) at Chelsea & Westminster and am just wondering if anyone has any good tips for how to help recovery go as smoothly as possible? I'm starting to get quite anxious and any advice would be very welcome!

try and get on your feet as soon as possible but don't over do it and listen to your body.

take the pain relief at the times you are told to. don't wait until the pain kicks in.

remember everyone recovers at different rates. one midwife made me feel like sh*te cos she had been up and doing the school run the next day or something.

drink lots of water.

don't try and please anyone but yourself and your babies.

buy some BIG pants.

good luck!

Thank you! I have bought some UNFEASIBLY ENORMOUS pants from the NCT website. They look a bit like dishcloths sewn together...

Have a couple of pillows wherever you plan to sit so you can get comfy, also very handy to pop one across your lap, up by your tummy when you are feeding.
I second the call for big pants! Also, remember that you are working very hard to feed and manage your babies, so all other chores are not your problem!

Don't worry, it will be ok. Just relax and look forwards to meeting your little ones.
Good luck!

Arnica, arnica and even more arnica.

another call for arnica capsules start taking them NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bring peppermint tea in hosp, it helps with wind just after the operation (most women get lots of wind in the days after the operation) and walk about as soon as you can. Also, have a shower as soon as you can after the surgery, you will feel 100% better. Ask whilst in hospital if they have a physiotherapist to talk to you about recovery exercises to do at home. They gave me some printed info about recovery exercises and it really helped. Also, you HAVE to take it easy. You will not be able to push a double buggy for a while, and it's really important that you take your time before doing anything using your tummy muscles. Good luck!!

Thanks - I have got some peppermint tea languishing at teh back of a cupboard - will definitely pack some. How weird that a c-section would give you wind...

Buy cheap pants that you can throw away, buy pyjamas, much easier than nighties, drink lots of water after not coke etc, have some food in your freezer, arrange for nice food to be brought in (like home made soup in a flask)be prepared for the wind! take in big slippers for your swollen feet, and it's all plain sailing! Relax and don't fret, it'll be fine.

Also I have found that having a chat with the aneastetist (SP?) before the surgery is reassuring. Ask him/her to show you exactly wehre the needle will go (ahead of time if you can, not in the surgical suite) and to explain you which position you will have to take so that youwill know what to expect.

Has someone gone through the procedure with ou in detail? For example, do you know if you will have a spinal or an epidural? Did you know that with both methods, you will be put on a table that tilts to the left, and to the right, so that the drug go all over the bottom half of your body. You might feel like you are slipping on the table!

Another thing: ask them if the weighing scales are in the surgical room with you and the baby. For my first C sec, everything was right there so the team never took the baby out of the room. For my second section, I was very VERY surprised that they took the baby to another room to have him weight and to dress him. I didn't like that one bit! Your babies might have to go in incubators if they are small, ask if the incubators are in the same operating room as you.

Let me know if you have any other s
uestions, I've had two sections in different hospitals.

try not to do too much in the first 6 weeks! I overdid it thinking the pain wasnt bad because the painkillers were working and ended up getting an infection in my scar which wasnt very pleasant. Get friends and family to help with house chores and its great if others can cook meals for you. And make sure dh/dp does the running around when your visitors come to the house, we had so many visitors it was quite overwhelming and I kept tryng to get up and make them all cups of tea and cake. Oh and treasure the precious time with your new bundle and as they grow up too fast.

Good luck

I wouldn't start taking the arnica now. I'm not sure, but I'm wondering if you could build up a resistance to it and then it wouldn't work as well when you need it. I would, however, start popping it as soon as labor appears or one day before the planned section. Get the strong stuff and eat it like candy. The more the better. I have had two section, I am usually no fan of alternative medicine, but I think Arnica is fab.

Arrange for someone to bring you good food in the hospital.

You might find the day of surgery you are bloody starving and there are no midwives to bring you food. Cook and freeze some stuff that DH can reheat and bring to you (or get him to cook).

Big pants are a must.

You can probably play your own music in theatre. So you might want to bring some CDs and a player. My DH made the music for the surgery and we have kept it as a keepsake for DS. Did this for DD too.

Hurts like hell if you laugh so avoid funny people. Hold a pillow of your stomach and have someone around to help you for the first week.

at "avoid funny people". So true.

get dp to bring in loads of good food. I was starving all the time in hospital and think this contributed to me getting aenemic. Iron tablets=constipation=really really painful with c-section wound

The wind is awful after a section! They have a rummage about while they are in there to check there is no damage apparently..
I asked for something to help with the wind and they whipped up a "wind cocktail" for me. No idea what was in it, but it really helped. So don't be too brave to ask for help if you are in pain at all.

If they offer you codeine phosphate as a painkiller afterwards ask for something else as codeine is very constipating and being constipated is not much fun after having a c-section.
Walk tall when ever you are on your feet. A friend who had twins said she could not have breastfed them so comfortably without the aid of her big goose-down V pillow.

definately avoid funny people. and insist that your DP doesn't make you laugh as it really hurts. i ended up doing a weirdy panting thing whenever I needed to laugh .

the same goes for taking painkillers before you need them. it is not fun feeling that sort of pain kick in when you are recovering.

take a couple of sarongs to hospital too. they are light and you can tie them above the scar and don't have to bend over to put them on.

move around as much as is comfortable when you want to. it is not much fun being confined to the bed / sofa as you will go a bit mad. do little bits when you can.

it does seem crappy at the time but you will get better. it is a major op so don't be hard on yourself.

2 things

big knickers so not rubbing on scar

and

arnica
(lots of it)

how long does it take to recover??

I know I was able to go for a 30 mins gentle walk to the shops after 7 days. But my DP had to push the pushchair. I think I got out every 2 or 3 days for the next couple of weeks. My DP was back at work at 2 weeks so I was on my own, although I didn't really do anything during the day apart from baby stuff. We survived on junk ready meals as there was no way I was cooking. I felt a lot better after a month had passed , was drving too. Think I stopped the painkillers after 5 weeks.

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Just to add to the advice re wind - I was in dreadful pain with it until a new midwife came on and told me to drink peppermint tea and then stand in the shower with hot water running down my back and massage both sides. Worked a treat! Good luck with your c-section.