how long after a C-section did you....

[Ceelo]

not hurt
start going for walks
do the basic post-natal exercises
uterus start shrinking????

It's odd - my cs didn't cause me alot of pain (the worst pain was the shoulder pain the day after)-but in terms of getting out and about -apart from leaving hospital - I didn't go out until 10 days after (to register the birth), and to be honest it was a good six weeks before i had my act together,. Prior to that I was pretty dazed by the lack of sleep and just the whole experience and relied alot on other people to help organise me.

(don't know what post-natal exercises are and haven't a clue when my uterus shrank)

I think that the pain of the c/s is over egged. I walked on the same day and was honestly fine after a few days.
Uterus contracting was a fucker though...

not hurt - my scar never really hurt, as I was up to the eyeballs on painkillers, but I felt a weakness there for a long time, several months

start going for walks - 24 hours later

do the basic post-natal exercises - I did pelvic floor exercises from about a forntight post natally, but couldn't do any stretches for at least 6 weeks, maybe longer...

uterus start shrinking???? - midwife said it all felt OK by 10 days post natally and at my 6 week check all was fine, but I looked pregnant for months!

Rhonds - saying you think the pain of a c section is "over egged" is really unhelpful. Great that this is your experience (truly, you're lucky) but the implication that everyone who complains of pain and slow recovery post-section is somehow "over-egging" things (presumably for a sympathy vote?) is actually quite offensive to people who HAVE struggled.

I WISH my c section and recovery had been easier - it had a massive knock-on effect (bonding, PND, physical healing for months and months afterwards) and I truly envy people who are lucky enough to bounce back from the operation and feel relatively well the next day. I think that's a fantastic state to be in but it's at the extreme of caesarean experience, just as mine was at the other extreme.

From personal experience I can assure you I wasn't "over egging" my levels of pain post-section. I'm no wimp, but the aftermath was grim enough that I've made the decision never to have another child as I can't bear the risk of going through that again? Am I still "over egging" d'you think?

Honestly, be grateful for your postive experience but please try and empathise that not everyone is necessarily as lucky as you and it has nothing to do with stoicism and levels of bravery or exaggeration.

K

I second kitstwins in saying that Rhonda, you can't say that anyone else is 'overegging' their pain, how ridiculous. I could say you were 'overegging' your uterus contracting as mine was a breeze....

ceelo, you do need to move. Helps blood flow......which helps healing etc etc. But do rest properly as well.

Your uterus should initially contract down quite quickly but the last little bit (between post natal wekks 5 and 8) may feel like you're never going to get back to normal!!

You don't need a GP nod to run - listen to your body, but you should be going for daily 30 min very brisk walks for 7-10 days before you even think about running.