Struggling to carry my baby

[sarah00001]

Hi, I had my baby daughter just over a month ago by c-section. She was a big girl weighing 9 pounds 10. Currently she is 10 and a half pounds and growing fast. I'm small at 5 ft 2 and have very little upper body strength. In addition I have a condition called Divarification of the abdominal muscles, where the muscles come apart in pregnancy. I have a 2 inch gap between each side. This makes it painful and even more difficult to carry my baby as I have no strength in my abdomen.

I'm a single parent and have virtually no help at all. Each day it gets harder and harder to lift my baby and carrying her up and down the stairs is a nightmare.

I'm so worried about this, I don't know what to do. The only thing I can think of is to rent a stairlift to overcome the problem with the stairs.

Does anyone have any advice?

Thank you

Sarah

Have you tried a sling? It might help to distribute the weight differently on your body. Try and find a local sling group and try some different slings out to find one that works for you.

Was also going to suggest a sling

Have you spoken with your HV? Did you receive any advice when in hospital? When I had my CS I had a session with a physiotherapist plus booklets to refer to at home for things like posture, how to compete certain tasks.

Home wise try forget the non essentials and don't do too much too soon it really will ultimately slow your recovery

I agree that a sling library would be worth a visit to see if that can help you.

Also, can you arrange two of everything. One up stairs and one downstairs to look mit the number of times you need to go up\down stairs til your stronger.

Baby will be fine left downstairs briefly if you need to pop upstairs briefly.

My stomach muscles split too. I saw a physio who recommended tiny sit ups. Literally lift your head 1 inch from the floor. It made a huge difference very quickly
K

I would also suggest a good sling (NOT a high street carrier like baby born or anything with a narrow base) and get your GP to refer you urgently to a physio for help.

i dont know if you can find this in your area but i went to (bring your baby) post natal pilates which was fab for regaining that core strength that just disappears in pregnancy. Do see your gp about physio, and get a sling which fits you well, but it does get better!