How soon can you leave the house with a newborn?

[Saffra]

My little baby girl is due to arrive in mid-September, and I'm trying to imagine life with our new arrival.

If all is well (i.e. no complications during labour and baby is ok), how soon can I leave the house? (e.g. going for gentle walks, visiting family that live nearby, etc.)

I appreciate that everyone is different, but would love to hear of others' experiences or expectations on this!

I had CS early Monday morning, went home on Thursday, and took DS to my NCT friend's house on Friday morning to meet them all - had to get DH to drive me though! For me it was the right thing to do, I really needed to see friends and talk, but it wouldn't be for everyone obviously.

We also went for our first short walks in the first day or two after getting home. If you have had a CS you are encouraged to walk (within reason) to help your recovery, so we went on lots of wanders round the estate, starting with just a few minutes and working up.

With DD we were also out for short trips fairly soon afterwards, but I found it took me longer than I expected to get back to normal. I thought recovering from a (straightforward) normal birth would be at least as fast as after CS, but actually it was a while before I could walk any more than 10 minutes or so without starting to get really achy down below and needing to sit down.

Agree with waiting and see how you feel. I think DS was about three days when I took him for a short walk around our street.
My best friend, a professional classical musician, surprised a quite a few people when she, very PG, attended a meeting on a Friday afternoon, and then met the same people again on the Sunday evening while attending a church concert. They couldn't stop staring first at her stomach then the pram, then back to her stomach, then the pram.

Orangehead No I stayed in hospital for 4 days so by the time DS was born he was 6 days old and everything was fine
The only thing was that I could only do about 20 lengths and I was knackered.
I remember feeling really disapointed but looking back I was being silly and hard on myself.

Ooh, I don't really remember when we first took ds out - got home from the hospital on day 4 and went to my mum's on day 8, and we'd certainly made a trip to Tesco and taken him for a walk round the park in between that.

I also took DD to a posh birthday dinner party at 4 days old. She got a lot of attention!! (I was sleepy)

And yet again I am really left feeling Very Inferior on a MN thread...

FWIW, I felt as if I'd been kicked in the stomach by a horse for at least three weeks after giving birth to DD1. And my episiotomy was not a very lovely thing either. I do think it is not necessary to force yourself out and about if you are feeling utterly crap.

Ten years later I am really quite mobile and spritely. (As is DD1.)

Why would you feel inferior?

Everyone is different and lots of people have said they didnt rush it and if they did they now think they over did it.

With your first DC everything is a huge shock. By the time I got to DC5 I knew what to expect and was pretty prepared. I also had an easyish homebirth and drugs to get out of my system, no stitches, no tears etc.

DC1 was a whole other matter. Took me a while to get out and when I did it was never before lunch time!

I think if you had an awful pregnancy (And DD's really knocked me for six) it is a lot easier to genuinely feel better post-birth than you did before.

I'm pregnant again now and it's all going so much smoother I think a newborn (especially plus a demanding toddler) will be much more of a shock than it was first time...

motherinferior- I can remember thinking it was far too soon to go out to see friends when DC3 was only 8 weeks old!

I was shell-shocked for months after having my babies.

Everyone is different.

And my pregnancies & births were textbook, very straightforward.