Is recovery harder after second c-section?

[jingle443]

For those of you who have had two csections, did you find the recovery harder the second time around?

No my second one was miles easier, I was shocked! Much less pain, got back to normal much quicker. I was very active quite quickly by necessity as had a baby in the NICU so was walking back and forth from my ward so maybe that made the difference

I personally found it easier because I knew what to expect and what (not[ to do.

I would say 2nd time around was harder to recover from.

I was walking the prom 4 days after my first C-section. I had minimum pain and it healed very quickly.

2nd C-section, I found it a lot more painful to stand/sit up. It hurt to roll over in bed & pick up baby to feed her etc. It wasn't end of the world pain, but definitely took longer to heal and longer before the pain stopped when I tried to stand up etc.

Having said that, I would take a C-section ANY day of the week instead of having to go through the pain of contractions, so it can't have been that bad!'

Much easier as PP's have said. Body seemed to recover much, much quicker (perhaps as you have 1 already to chase after and therefore more active than after your first and body has been through it before?). No pain with starting the breast-feeding either unlike the first time round when it was excruciating which made a HUGE difference. I also think you know what to expect and are therefore more relaxed.

I’m surprised at the responses but hopefully. I’m also going for my second c-section in a few months and have been thinking it’s going to be worse. Mainly because I have a jumpy toddler who won’t understand he’s not to jump on me with my stitches.

I'm surprised by the responses also, but that gives me a lot of hope. Thank you.

Loads easier (and first wasn't too bad). I was doing the school run on day 4, walking a couple of miles with dc in a sling. Didn't need painkillers even.

I think I recovered more quickly the second time, although there were some short periods around day 4-6 where the pain was worse than I remembered from the first time. My first was an EMCS at midnight after 2 days of labour so I was exhausted. My second was an ELCS in the afternoon. I’d slept properly and felt more human from the start which helped.

I have had 3 c-sections and the second was by far the easiest to recover from. I think as pp have said it is the knowledge of what is going to happen and best way to manage it all. However with my third I did try to push myself too far too fast.

Yep I found it easier too. I had 4 sections in the end, got easier each time!

Far easier for me, and needed far fewer pai killers. Tbh neither were particularly hard for me, but second one was a breeze.

My second was with twins and much easier than my first

Also found the second time easier. I knew exactly what to expect and was just mentally ready, my first was EMCS and second ELCS which were totally different.

First (emergency) was absolutely awful after long difficult labour etc. Second (elective) was a breeze in comparison. I was up and about the next morning and left that day. I was at a child's birthday party a few day's later. Good luck 😀

I’ve had four! First was the hardest and last the easiest!

My second was a walk in the park compared to the first as I hadn’t been in active labour for 24 hours beforehand. I loved my calm preplenned 2nd section.

Mine was much easier, I genuinely barely noticed it. My second was prem though and in the NICU so obviously I was massively distracted. I also got fed up needing to have someone wheel me to the NICU to see DS so I walked really quickly and fairly often which I think helped

Woo. This has put my mind at ease. Thank you ladies :-)

Recovered well both times, but 2nd was definitely better. I was religious with my paracetamol and ibuprofen 2nd time round, and also started taking arnica the day I went in for my 2nd, rather than 4 days after with my first.
I'm just doing my independent prescribing module so I now understand exactly why it's so important to take regular pain relief and continue with it and it honestly makes a huge difference. Good luck!

Easier. Hardly a bother at all.

At the time I thought my recovery was slower, but given I was out every day after coming home, went for a day trip on day 4, and had dinner guests over and day 5 where I ended up chasing my toddler round the garden, it was fine. Within 2 weeks I was on the slides at soft play.

It WAS a harder section though. I felt a little bruised and for about 3 days I on/off had a slightly burning feeling across my scar, though not really painful. They had a bit more yanking to get baby out (first baby shot out with my waters 😂), hence feeling bruised I guess, but it was very mild discomfort really, no more. I did have bad constipation though.

I found them both fine pain-wise, but I did have much heavier and more prolonged bleeding after the second one.

Oh yes the constipation was the worse part of my first c section! I'm going to take something with me next time.

Also - do they go through the same scar?

Yes same scar line with all 4 of mine but my friend has 2 scar lines. She would recommend asking if they can go through the same scar line when you are
in theatre - if you remember!! I never did.