C section - ‘you’ll feel a lot better after 6 weeks’

[Cinai]

That’s what my midwife told me to reassure me when discussing my planned c section. She meant it well, and I’m aware that recovery is tough, but still it floored me….feeling better after 6 long weeks. I probably had a sheltered life so far and I’m lucky to never have had any major health problems. Any illness or pain I had so far in my life wiped me out for 2-3 days max. I just don’t know how I can cope with 6 weeks.
No real point in posting I guess, I know that it is what it is, that many women before me went through this and I’ve looked up all the information there is about resting, taking pain killers religiously and taking it easy, and I’ll just need to find strength to get through it….but I’m a wimp when it comes to such things.

If it helps I felt 90% better within a week and was driving and going out visiting within 2 weeks. It was lifting things including baby that took longer.

I felt considerably better after about a week tbh. Was v frustrated not to be allowed to drive after about week 3, because I felt fine by then. (Dr said wouldn't advise driving until 6 weeks)

Thank you @GoogleWhacking!

It'll be OK. It seems like a long time but it isn't.

After my first I felt 95% better by 4 weeks and I'd had sepsis and also anemia which slowed my recovery - after my second, I felt 95% better after just 2 weeks! The last 5% took almost a year though for me.

I've had friends who have had injuries after vaginal births that took much longer to recover (eg dislocated coccyx bone, poorly executed episiotomy etc). I know not all vaginal births lead to injuries but at least with a c section, you know the extent of it.

The key is to keep on top of your painkillers, don't leave a gap as somehow once you're in pain it's harder to get out of it. I set alarms and took what I was prescribed religiously, then once that was done took paracetamol religiously too. I was walking the dogs within a fortnight. It was honestly fine and my recovery was better than my friends who had complicated vaginal deliveries. Some still aren't right years on.

Also very heigh wasted cotton knickers help you to feel more supported and less exposed.

When you consider you're recovering from nine months of pregnancy as well as birth, six weeks isn't that long. Vaginal births here, but the six weeks is usually when you feel almost back to normal. After a few days I started feeling better, and I'd say after 10 days I was at 75%. Six weeks was around the time where I'd say I was healed, although it took a few months after that to feel completely back to pre-birth body.

You will be able to do things before six weeks! About a week after birth I was walking to the shops etc. A month after birth we went on holiday.

I'd agree that if all goes well you'll be 80% of the way there physically after 2 weeks. Baby blues/exhaustion may well take 6 weeks or more but that's not a CS thing, that's childbirth.

Er, so you haven't had it yet?

I had two sections and tbh felt great after a week. No incision pain, easy mobility. The only real hindrance was no driving before two weeks

Definitely keep taking the painkillers for first week, even if you think you don't need them, you will.
Big granny knickers and a big sanitary towel over the scar and under elastic of knickers so it doesn't dig in.
Have maternity sanitary towels on hand, for some reason I didn't think of them.
By the second and third week you'll feel alot better and fully recovered by 6.

Thanks all

@coxesorangepippin no, I haven’t…I have another 8 weeks to get me all worked up about it 🫣

It was a week and I felt pretty good, didn't drive though as that has not to do with how you feel but the possibility of not being able to do a hard brake. The position of the seatbelt may also be problematic.
The first 48 hours are tough (imagine the same with any kind of birth) and that first visit to the loo is awkward to say the least! But really I'd say a week of going a bit gently is what you should expect.

I just felt a bit battered for a couple of weeks.

Its fine. they painkillers they give are great. So great, I overdid it by being overactive after my second c-section! : ) So don't do that.

Just take it easy - you have a new baby so staying at home 'baby mooning' is no bad thing. Even if you have no pain, remember that is because of the painkillers!

I felt fine after a week and would say I was pretty much fully recovered after a fortnight. I went to a gig two and bit weeks post partum (I'd bought the tickets before I was even pregnant) and was absolutely fine, it was in a stadium though so I had a seat.

My best advice is to listen to your body, get up and moving as soon as you can after surgery, rest when you need rest and most importantly take your painkillers religiously, even if you think you don't need them, take them anyway, its much better to take them before you need to than to wait until you do.

Good luck!

To be fair I had a vaginal birth with my eldest and didn't feel "much better" for 6 weeks either so it's not guaranteed to be easier! Stitches and blood loss wiped me out alone with the sleep deprivation.
I didn't feel up to driving or taking the baby out alone for over 4 weeks.

I felt fine after about 10-12 days and frustrated about the advice not to drive.

While I agree with taking it easy, try not to stay in bed or the sofa all day because it makes the pain worse when you do eventually get up. Keep moving around the house or go for a short walk.

Echoing other responses - it did take me a couple of weeks but be on it with your pain medication, set alarms etc. accept help! Don’t push yourself and listen to your body. You got this :) try not to sit and worry about it, or google too much!

All 3 of mine were more like <1 week for me. Including my final which was a double surgery because my tubes were tied too

I've had 4 c sections. With all of them I was feeling ok in myself after a few days and a lot better after 2 weeks. The pain fades and gets easier to deal with. Towards the end of the recovery period it's just when you're putting pressure on your abdomen, eg. lifting toddlers or getting up from a lying postion.

I think I'd think of it along the lines of, after 6 weeks you won't notice any c section related issues as you will have fully healed. It's not 6 weeks of the same level of pain/discomfort, it tails off pretty quickly.

The first week or so is manageable if you keep on top of pain meds and don't overdo anything. It's best to keep mobile but not to do lots and lots of walking/carrying. Then your scar will continue to heal and you won't feel as tender or cautious when transitioning from lying/sitting/standing, and you'll move into feeling mostly back to normal.

I've had 2 c-sections one emergency and 1 elective. The recovery on both was very similar

day of delivery you feel fine (morphine and whatever other painkillers are still in your system, enjoy this day bonding with your baby and walking with little pain
day 2 the pain sets in and I won't lie it is very painful
day 3-7 much of the same, hurts to laugh, cough, move but it eases ever so slightly everyday
day 8-14 it's still painful but with the edge taken off a bit
week 3-4 I was still careful with myself but I was up walking a lot more, a lot more able and a lot less reliant on pain killers.

remember even though you're in pain, you will have a gorgeous new bundle of joy to snuggle, you'll hopefully have a good support system and people around who can do the washing up and what not. It'll be a rocky 2 weeks but you get through it, and it'll be distant memory in no time. You've got this

My first was a straightforward vaginal birth - I'd say it took me the full 6 weeks to feel better again, and even then I was still suffering with some post-birth after effects as a result of the labour. My pelvic floor was shot from hours of pushing.

2nd baby I requested elective section. Actual op/birth was a breeze (genuinely) and afterwards I'd say it was only painful when trying to get in and out of bed on days 1-3. Once up it was fine. I felt stiff and slow (kind of like I'd done a crazy ab and leg workout) for about 1 week - but nothing that prevented me pottering around the house and caring for baby and it wasn't 'painful'... just stiff. I took paracetamol and ibuprofen routinely during the day up to day 5 to avoid any possibility of breakthrough pain, but could likely have stopped on day 3.

You will be absolutely fine.

I had the loveliest most calm ELCS and I loved it. First few days were v painful but after a week I felt almost normal and after two weeks was absolutely fine! This 6 weeks seems alarmist.

How old are you and are you fit ?

I'm young and fit so apart from a bit of pain I was fine a few hours after. Didn't need midwife to help me in the hospital and walked out of there fine the next morning. Felt capable to drive within a week but obviously didn't So really it just depends on the surgery being straight forward and you and baby both being healthy.

I don't remember being affected by the c-section for 6 weeks!! And I had quite a bad experience with an infection...(sorry, maybe I shouldn't have said that). I was finding things hard with sleep deprivation etc with a new baby, but the effects of the c-section itself I barely remember! I don't remember it being particularly painful even early on, I just remember feeling that my core strength had suddenly disappeared so had to roll/use arms to push myself out of bed etc. It came back gradually.