Recovery from planned C-Section experiences

[Bells3032]

I've previously had severe vaginal pain caused by my pelvis misaligning and took 18 months of physio and some medication to get it under control.

Currently 17 weeks pregnant and have first consult with Obs tomorrow and debating whether to push for C-section. I've had 14 surgeries in my life - the most invasive of which was a rib fixation surgery which i was up and walking around from about 3-4 hours later although in a lot of pain particularly at night for a few days.

I am debating whether to push for a C-section as scared a natural delivery will bring up all my old issues although worried about the recovery from the surgery with a young baby. Worried will be in hospital for days and no family allowed to visit too :(

can people tell me about their experiences of recovery.

Thanks

@Bells3032 it's not fun but the pain relief helps you need to keep on top of it. They had my catheter out in the shower and dressing off about 10 hours after an emergency section I only stayed in one night it was tough at home but I don't have any support so that probably
Is a big factor for people. X

You have been through so much, recovery of planned section won’t be that hard for you! It’s hard as any abdominal surgery would be but if you have support I’d go for it. I only have 1 child so I don’t know what is like to take care of one while recovering, but I was moving slowly on the second day post surgery and pretty much normal within 3 weeks - pains here and there but functional.
Also if you’re condition puts you at risk of emergency section, I would rather plan it - recovery would be much easier. Maybe worth asking about this to your doctor?

I've had 3 planned c-sections. I don’t think you'll be in for days if all goes well. They get you up and about and in the shower asap and you'll feel human again! They'll pack you off with painkillers before you know it.

How recovery goes will really depend if you have support at home. If there's someone there to look after older DC, make dinner, etc then you'll be fine.
For me I found as long as I was just shuffling between couch, loo, bed, and fridge I was okay. Achey when laughing or coughing but just hold a pillow against you at those times. Once the stitches were out (day 5, I think) I felt mostly back to normal. Still had to pace myself for a week or so more but could just get on with things as normal really.
It's the days until the stitches are out you'll probably need the most help but even those days I didn’t feel bad as long as I kept on top of painkillers. The pain wasn’t unbearable even when I'd forget to take the pills.

Good luck!

Recovery from a c section isn't bad. Yes it's painful the first couple of days but you can manage it well with pain relief. Once you're moving around carefully you'll feel a lot better. Never had a vaginal birth and don't want to. Will push for another c section if I have another.

Well they discharged me after 24 hours with a packet of paracetamol. And I was a geriatric mother. I found recovery and the birth much easier than my previous vaginal delivery.

Had a planned section 2 weeks ago. I think I was more scared of the actual operation than the recovery but both were so completely fine I cannot even begin to tell you. The surgery was great, so so quick and painless. The recovery has been a million times better than I imagined it would be. Obviously in hospital the first night you need some help to stand but I just went extremely slowly and it was fine. My baby was born at 2:30 and by 10pm I was up and sitting in a chair beside the bed. My catheter was out during the night and I walked to the toilet early the following morning. I was out of hospital around 24 hours after the birth and walked quite a distance to get to the exit. Day 2-4 I just walked very slowly round the house and getting up from a lying down position was the main issue, it had been so much easier in hospital when I could sit the bed up to swivel my legs round. I think it was on day 3 I had done too much moving about and it caused the blood to increase so (tmi) when I stood up from the toilet blood ran down my legs and some was on the bathroom floor. It was like a really heavy period probably, not like massive amounts of blood but a lot. I hobbled back through to my bed and started pathetically crying about how I couldn’t do anything and I was bleeding so much 🙈 My partner did most of the getting up during the night and passed me the baby for the first few days. By day 4/5 I massively turned a corner, the bleeding completely stopped and I felt almost normal other than the lying down to sitting up thing still hurting. I’m now 2 weeks post section and I feel great. I don’t regret it for a second and I actually can’t believe how little pain I’ve had through the whole thing. I’d say as long as you have 24/7 help the first 5 days you’ll be fine. The majority of things I found I was able to do myself, even in the first few days, but I’m still just avoiding any heavy lifting etc

I went into labour the night before my elective with dc2 so ended up with a semi emergency section. No pain killers post theatre. Walked out the following day. Went out for lunch the day after that. Just didn't hurt that much. I was an anaemic exhausted almost 41 year old at the time.

Thanks guys...this is very reassuring. My husband is taking two weeks paternity, my dad, my sister and my in laws (who I am very close to) all live within a 5 minute drive so will have tonnes of support during those early days.

I am so anxious about vaginal birth exasterbating pelvic issues that took me 18 months of physio to deal with. So think a csection may be a better option for me. Not scared of the surgery itself and respond well to painkiller so hopefully it will be OK.

The worst part of the rib surgery was actually the constipation that was caused by one of the painkillers I was given. As soon as I stopped thst I was fine

Ah it's great you have all that support. You'll be fine. I think the painkillers can constipate you but you can get by with paracetamol after a few days anyway. Best of luck