Tips for post c-section recovery

[LaCerbiatta]

ds was born this Monday via emergency c-section. It was a complete shock - dd was such an easy labour.... 6 hours from beginning to end, home after a few hours, really quick recovery. I was expecting it to be at least as easy...

It turned out placenta was in the way (in spite of many scans this was still a surprise ) so it all ended in c-section.... The section itself and the day after were not too bad, but I'm now finding the recovery sooooo slow and painful... First night home with ds was hell - the constant reaching out to feed him, etc, left me in agonising pain!

So, those of you who've been through this and survived: please give me your best coping tips! How much or how little did you move? And how long until you felt normal again?

Thanks!!

My biggest tip is a bit of a serious one Im afraid, if you feel unwell, have a temp or your stomach starts to look red or feel hot then go to your doctors ASAP.

I had this and my midwife convinved me all was fine and I in fact had a very bad infection to my wound which took 12 weeks to heal and I had to spend some of that in hospital.

Its very rare for this to happen but wanted to let you know so you know what to look out for.

On a lighter note, wear big big pants, take things slowly and you should start to feel more normal in a week or two.

Congratulations btw.

Congratulations!

Big pants definitely and wear clothes that don't press anywhere near the wound.

We had all the changing gear/spare clothes etc downstairs so I didn't have to traipse up and down the stairs all the time. If you have a changing unit that you can bring downstairs so you don't have to bend down and change ds on the floor that also helps.

Walking around does aid the recovery as long as you don't go mad.

I found that avoiding getting the wound wet in the early stages speeded up healing (although it can be difficult to do).

Take your painkillers religiously because they not only help with the pain but reduce inflammation.

I was pretty lucky I think (I felt a lot worse after I had my appendix out) and was moving around fairly normally after a week/10 days.

HTH

Thanks Baileys - I was not told about that!

Sorry you had such a bad experience...

Thanks loueytbg - feeling normal after 1 week or 10 days is quite encouraging!

As for painkillers I was only given Diclofenac and was told to take paracetamol if needed. I don't think the paracetamol will make any difference to the pain, but is it worth taking anyway?

Ta!

I think I took them both. Diclofenac is the anti-inflammatory and is a stronger painkiller so you definitely want to take that.

How much help do you have - or could you possibly get?

I ask because my top tip is to do as little as possible for at least a month. I ignored this after my first section and was shopping and visiting people within a week. I didn't feel physically well for the entire first year of my child's life .

After my second section I rested completely for about a month and delegated anything I could (shopping, housework, care of my older child) to my DH and mum and sister and any willing friends. I recovered in no time at all, and by my 6 week check felt better than I had done after 6 months first time around.

My baby slept in a moses basket pushed up right against my bed so I could easily lift her. I kept a box with nappies, wipes etc beside the bed within reach, too.

Take your painkillers, use arnica or a gentle, unperfumed oil on your scar once it starts to heal properly, and get it checked out if it hurts, oozes or smells.

All the above are great and I won't repeat them but as much as possible drink lots and lots of water and then a lot more. When I had a C-section 3 years ago they said it would flush the system of all the bad stuff and make you feel revitalised (sp)

It really helped and also to keep moving as much as possible without being to strenuous.

Good luck.

i religiously had a shower morning and night, and also afterwards, would lay down, and air my wound so it would dry up well, also had mahoosive pants and tucked a maternity pad sprayed with savlon against the wound in my knickers!

drinking water also helped me, and i had eggs every day ( 2 scrambled ) ( protien helps the skin heal quicker ) - a tip from my surgeon!

i had no pain from my c section at all, apart from the uterus contracting back, and i felt like i could do everything again after a few days, however i went for a long walk and shop on day 8 and man i paid for it, i realised i just had to really leave it 6 weeks to heal inside aswell.
so i did that, i really just ate, slept, washed, and looked after baby

This first week I have a lot of help because my mother is here but after that I'll have to rely on dh... I think he might take a week off.

I found one of those cheapo breast pads (the ones that are useless for their intended purpose) are ideal for cushioning the scar: I found the maternity pads too bulky and annoying.

Get as much help as you can. My scar had a nasty gape and took ages to heal and I don't think I helped matters by scuttling about doing the laundry and so forth.

As others said, take the drugs (yes to both Diclo and paracetamol), get as much help as possible and don't try to do too much too soon. DH used to get up through the night with DD1 and lift her into bed for me to feed (lucky it was DD1 - by DD3, he never even noticed when she was crying through the night ). We were also lucky that he had 2 weeks paternity leave then took another week's holiday. Drink lots of water to avoid getting constipated.

It took me about 3 weeks to feel better, but then I had a general anaesthetic and had been in labour for 14 hours before it. In addition, she was my first baby so I was in PFB shock too!

Congratulations on you new son!

tugamommy, congratulations!

Glad that your little one arrived safely. I had a c-section thanks to a low lying placenta, it also wasn't picked up at the scan, so I can imagine it was quite a shock for you.

My best advice would be much the same as everyone else's! To get as much help with the physical stuff as possible, and just try to rest as much as you can. So if your DH can take time off, that'd be ideal.

In the end to help with the discomfort of getting baby for feeding, I invested in a 'snugglenest' which meant I could have baby in bed, but protected, and made everything, including getting rest, alot easier.

Feeding-wise if you're breastfeeding, I found laying on my side most comfortable, and when I was sitting up (in a chair where my knees were lower than my hips!), I piled cushions on my lap so my baby came up to boob and I didn't have to bend down.

I found some very gentle pottering about, and little walks out were good for getting the blood circulating. Don't lift buggy up and down curbs though!

Also made full use of the Co-codamol and other (can't remember what they were) drugs I was prescribed to make it all more comfortable.

I think I felt vaguely human again after 10 days, but time spent resting now will help so much in a speedier recovery.

Thanks everyone.

Yes Decaff it was a real shock... The placenta was low at 20 weeks so I was scanned again at 36 w and was told it had gone up. After the first bleeding episode, at 39 weeks, was scanned again and once more the report said the placenta was out of the way. It was thanks to a clever mw who felt some tissue out of place when she was checking the cervix that they started suspeting that it could be the placenta after all.... If it wasn't for her I would have gone trough a very messy induction, which would have ended in a section anyway....

Best things for me were teaching DH it was HIS job when baby needed feeding at night to pick him up and pass him to me, and to help me sit up if necessary; as sitting up and picking him out of his basket were the most painful movements for me. He also did all the night nappy changes (and a lot of the day ones!).

Also I was told to walk as much as I was able, so started with VERY short walks prob about 5-7 days after birth (can't remember exactly) and then built up gradually, I think this did help.

Congratulations!

I found going up stairs on hands and knees helped, also have a cushion handy and if you are going to laugh/cough/sneeze hold it against your scar.

Also I made the mistake of thinking i felt well enough after 5 days to not bother with the stronger painkiller diclofenac and just took paracetemol - horrid mistake and it seemed to take forever for the stronger tablets to kick in once i had realised my foolishness (blush)

Get a "caesarean belt" from mothercare or online. Like a big shin pad for your scar. I kept mine in the car for about two months as the seat belt sits right over your scar and the caesarean belt just makes it much more comfortable and less daunting. Also good to wear under trousers where the waist band runs over your scar.

i know it sounds strange but i put a nighttime sanitary pad on the outside of my knickers but with my trousers holding it firm to my scar helped xx that along with the "cesar shuffle" was what go me through xxx

Another vote for mahoosive pants.

Hanabananar - yep, I made that mistake too.

I found a horseshoe pillow v handy in bed, so I could sleep sort of half-sitting-up. That made getting up easier for me.

It did take a while before I felt I could go for a decent walk and push both DCs in the buggy, but recovery was much faster than with forceps delivery!!

Rest as much as you can, and then rest a bit more. I didn't rest enough after my em cs and felt crap for weeks, but I did nothing for at least 2 weeks after my planned cs and was much better for it, less painkillers needed as I was resting too. I did even less after my hysterectomy and was off paracetamol after 4 days and did nothing for 6 weeks (extreme, but I was lucky my family looked after the dc's for me). As decaffeinated said, gentle pottering is the way forward .

A few weeks of down time will mean you recover properly. Do as little as you can get away with, you will be fine in a few weeks.

Yup, massive pants and keep on the painkillers.

Lifting DD from her moses basket in the night was the most painful for me too... and to feed her it was more comfortable to have her perched on a pillow at breast height. My bedroom is small and I don't have a bedside table so I had my Dad put up a shelf at head level at my side of the bed so I could reach my phone, lip balm, glass of water etc. as the first few nights I was leaning over to reach such things from the floor. Bad idea. Don't overdo anything. I was itching to get out too early and about and DH stopped me, thankfully. When I did get out about a week later I found very tiring and was glad I hadn't done too much earlier.

Congratulations btw!

Congratulations!!

Would recommend Arnica C200 every 2h and also calendula for healing and reduction of swelling.

Highlly recommend a maternity 'belt'. Like a strong wrap-around to hold your tummy together, place it quite low, over top 1/3 of your bottom so it's low enough for the scar. Let someone wrap you in, not too tight but so you feel supported. It'll help you move.

For the scar I was given special latex stick-on strips after about 6 weeks. Cannot remember manufacturer but ask a pharmacy. It's a clear, thick adhesive strip that you place on the scar. It will stop it from forming a keloid scar. Take it off for showers and place it back on when you've dabbed it dry again.

Rest and don't carry much! Let people help you.

a week is really not much help at all. Can your mum not stay any longer? Your dh should def take a week off to help you through it. Do you have a cleaner, etc? having help will aid your recovery. sleep when the baby sleeps and as others said, drink lots of water.

I struggled to sit up in bed, and was given a 'bed ladder' in hospital, which was like a little rope ladder attached to the foot of the bed, to help me pull myself up without using my stomach muscles. When we got home OH improvised by getting me a cheap lead rein from a horse tack shop and tying knots in it. (A lead rope is a soft cotton rope with a clip on one end - for leading horses - they only cost about a fiver.)

But the main thing, as everyone says, is to rest.

Glad to hear the mw was switched on tugamommy, and that you avoided a messy induction.

xxktxx - you've just reminded me of the sanitary pad protection! That helped me too!