A c-section is a major surgery and I can honestly say the first time they had me stand up and immediately sit back down in the hospital to begin my recovery I was in so much pain, I thought to myself, "I'm never going to walk again". But, after a few days in the hospital, a very encouraging nurse, and a baby in the NICU who I wasn't allowed to see unless I could stand up and get into a wheel chair on my own, (talk about motivation to push past the pain), I was well on my way to recovering and was sent home, baby and all.
But recovering remained a challenge and I learned a lot along the way. Check out the tips below that helped me heal from my c-section and have a happier and healthier recovery along the way.
Rest
Sleep when the baby sleeps. I know people joke about this, but you have no idea how exhausted you will be, and your body uses sleep to recover properly, so without sleep your recovery will not progress as quickly. I can honestly say I have been extremely lucky to have a baby that sleeps fairly well and isn't a big crier, but when you are feeding your baby every 2-3 hours all day and night long, sleep is hard to come by, and you will wipe yourself out if you don't rest when you can. The biggest thing that has helped me was having a bassinet on wheels that I roll right next to the bed or couch so I can keep an eye on my baby easily while we both rest.
Take It Slow
Getting in and out of bed was one of the hardest things about being home. Sitting wasn't a whole lot better at first. And showering alone, forget it. We also have a very large staircase, and stairs are not recommended during recovery so the day I got home I slowly made my way up the stairs, breaks included, and spent a few days upstairs forcing myself to recover. We planned ahead and actually put a bed in our babies room, as well as stocking the room with snacks and drinks, and had a chair and table right next to the bed so I wouldn't need to go far for anything I needed. I took my time getting in and out of bed, and my husband was great with helping me shower and change clothing. There were a few days where I pushed it to far, and was bending, throwing in laundry, or more and let me tell you I did not feel good afterwards and even ended up causing swelling in my incision, so take my advice and rest as much as you can at the beginning, and avoid bending down if you can until a few weeks post surgery.
Take Your Pain Meds
I am not one to take medicine ever, but part of recovery meant I had to feel ok. I denied the heavier medicine, especially since I was breast feeding, but found the combination of Tylenol and Motrin worked fine when I stayed on top of it. I took both on a rotating 8 hour cycle, so that every 4 hours something was in my system. Be careful to start weening off them too early as well, and don't be afraid to let your body heal before doing so. I stopped taking them around week 3, but everyone is different, and I had a few sore days during that week because of stopping.
Use Stool Softeners
Another thing I made sure to take was a stool softener. The hospital I was at had me taking one a day there and gave me more when I was discharged, but I found the Colace Regular Strength stool softener to be great. You will not regret it as pushing can be very painful so you will want to avoid it at all costs. By about week 3 I wasn't as sore, so was able to push a bit more, but it still helped to have the stool softeners in my system. Just make sure the toilet is close by, as you will be a little gassy and won't be able to hold it in very long, especially at the beginning.
Ask for Help and Plan Ahead
We are fortunate enough to have our parents close by and very involved, so we had the guest room ready ahead of time, and those first couple nights and weeks they took shifts with my husband, staying over during the day and at night. They rotated who would get up and help me during the night shifts and even who would be around to support me during the day shifts (as with the c-section I needed someone to hand the baby to me to nurse at first). They also took turns making sure we had food, water, help with cleaning, or even just giving my husband a break so he could take a nap too. Our church was also kind enough to set us up with a food train, so on top of all the freezer meals I made ahead of time (which you can find recipes for below) our church brought us meals every other day the first few weeks we were home. We truly would not have made it thorough those first weeks without the help of our family and church!\
Kindly Request No Guests (Except Your Select Few)
Besides our families, one of the best things we did for ourselves was we asked for no visitors for the first few weeks. We needed time to rest, recover, and just figure out what having a baby was like. We needed time to get on a schedule. Your baby is also most susceptible to catching things and getting sick the first few weeks, so keeping outside visitors away was an added bonus to protect our baby as well.
Take Care of Your Scar Early
Staying on top of my scar was huge for recovery. I was on pain meds to help with the pain, but also rotated between heat and ice to help it heal and stop the pain as well, and both felt great. Around week 2, my steri-strips had not yet fallen off, so I took those off in the shower, since you don't want to leave them on too long and cause an infection. Taking them off after getting them damn in a warm shower helped with their removal. Once they were removed I continued to use heat and ice to help with the swelling. I also started using vitamin e oil and Mederma to help with the scar, but found I really liked the Mederma, so used the Mederma Quick Dry Oil every morning after waking up, then used the Mederma Intense Overnight Cream before bed. My scar is already looking really good, after only a few weeks with the care mentioned above.
Wear Comfy and Loose Clothing
The first few weeks you are basically just eating, sleeping, and nursing, and nursing happens often, so you want to have clothing that are easy to take on and off and are comfortable so you can nap at any given moment. Since nobody will really be around you don't even have to worry about what you look like. I ordered the following robe and nursing dress off of Amazon and it was great to easily take on and off when I needed to nurse and shower and still cute to wear around the house with a pair of thick socks or slippers. For cooler days or days I ventured outside, black leggings, a pair of slip on shoes, and an oversized t-shirt and sweatshirt were my go to. You also will want to think about underwear, as you will want something high waisted to not rub your scar and absorbent and disposable for your postpartum bleeding, which yes will occur even for a c-section. The hospital underwear were great, but when I ran out of those a friend bought be a pack of these Always Discreet Postpartum Underwear, and not only were they super soft, comfortable, and absorbent, but they smelled great too.
Order a Post Partum Binder
I am very active, so staying still was a challenge for me, but knowing it would help my recovery I tried my best. But things like laughing, sneezing, and more also caused pain during the first few weeks post surgery. For those times I did have to be up and moving though I used a post partum binder, and it truly helped. I was given one by the hospital, which was great for right when I got home, but it was temporary and not great quality, so I ordered the FRIDA Abdominal Support Post Partum Binder off of Amazon and it has been amazing for keeping everything comfortable and in one place. My stomach started to flatten again pretty quickly, but the abs I had prior to pregnancy were long gone, and my stomach looked and felt similar to what a water bed looks like when you push on it. I had to use my hands to help me sit up and lay down so I wouldn't strain my scar, and having the binder on supported my movement during the day as well, especially days I was walking around the house a lot.
These are just a few of the things that really helped me make it through those first few rewarding yet exhausting weeks. I was scared the recovery for the c-section would make taking care of a newborn near impossible, but the tricks above helped make it not so bad. So get your sleep mask ready, get some rest, and you'll be recovered sooner than expected. You've got this moms!
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