c-section recovery?

Jo · Guru

c-section recovery?

Picture-Perfect · Guru

I thought my c-section recovery was super easy.

I would just recommend staying up on pain meds if she is having pain, don't let it get to hurting too bad, it's hard to catch up once your hurting really bad.

Take it easy, my incision would hurt really bad if I did too much, not with the baby but like cleaning or anything strenuous.

keep an eye on the incision, watch for signs of infection, mine did not get infected but I have friends whose did and that is not a good thing.

at first coughing or sneezing or even laughing hard can be really sore, my OB nurses told me to hold a pillow to my stomach when doing those things, that really helped.

My incision was itchy for a loooong time. I don't notice it any more but it was really annoying for awhile there.

Good luck to your friend. I thought my recovery with Bryson was 100 times easier then Hannah. Granted I had really bad tearing with Hannah but the pain and everything seemed SO much worse with her.

RedHawk · Senior Member

My Dr was very serious about not vacumming or doing the laundry for 6 weeks. He said that those thing use your stomach muscles way more than you think. For the laundry, it was the lifting the wet clothes out of the washer and bending to put them in the dryer.

I actually felt so well, that the day after I got home (I was in the hospital for 4 days) I went outside and sprayed the cobwebs of my house, watered the garden around the house with the hose. Then I felt like I was going to pass out and die and went to bed for 2 days. TAKE IT SLOW! LOL. I had been on bed rest and being up and walking had felt SO good.

The recovery and pain really wasn't that bad. But like the pp, you have to stay on top of your pain pills. Don't take them too often, but you have to stay ahead of your pain, or it is hard to catch up.

The itching happens when the nerves are trying to regrow and can be annoying. I've got a scar on my stomach that was used a few times and now is partially numb and hypersenative at the same time and does itch though it's been like a decade since it was last used. A dermatologist told me that when scars get like that, they can cut them out and just make another one that's a "little cleaner" to try and bypass that.

Make sure that she breaths deep. She prolly won't notice, but she'll breath more shallow because it hurts. They may have her do breathing exercises. Walk often to keep blood circulating, even if she is sore.

Don't take a bath right away. Showers only for a while. You don't want to soak the incision.

Keep a small pillow by her for a few weeks because like the above post says, laughing, coughing, and sneezing for sure sucks.

Hope all goes well for her.

mctex · Guru

Hey Jolynn ~

Congrats to your friend!

I agree with a lot of what's been said here, particularly the small pillow suggestion... in fact, I found the pressure so helpful to keeping me comfortable that I invested in one of these:

http://www.maternityandnursing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=33

The problem with the pillow is that you may not have time to grab it before laughing or, God forbid, sneezing.

HTH!

Juanita · Guru

mctex wrote:

Hey Jolynn ~

Congrats to your friend!

I agree with a lot of what's been said here, particularly the small pillow suggestion... in fact, I found the pressure so helpful to keeping me comfortable that I invested in one of these:

http://www.maternityandnursing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=33

The problem with the pillow is that you may not have time to grab it before laughing or, God forbid, sneezing.

HTH!

Oh my GOD, the SNEEZING!! That hurt soooooo bad!!!

I agree with all that's been said Jolynn, and I'd only add to tell her to get up as soon as she's able. The faster she gets out of bed, even just to sit in a chair helps a ton!! But you have to be careful not to over do it, but as a professional c/sectioner biggrin

, I can tell that the faster you get up and get moving, it helps the soreness.

Supafly · Guru

You have gotten good advice already. Definitely keep an eye on things-I have dealt with infections both times and it SUCKS.

Follow doctor's orders for sure, keep up on pain meds, keep stairs to a minimum for a while, etc.

Also, a friend of mine at the preschool (there are a lot of us c/s moms!!!) SWORE by having a belly band, like the following one. She said it helped her TREMENDOUSLY and she highly recommends it.

https://www.hystersisters.com/xcart/product.php?productid=16139

Congrats to your friend!!!

ETA-this is more like the one she had-just a simple binder type band. I definitely plan on getting one of these types of things if we are able to have another baby at some point:

https://www.hystersisters.com/xcart/product.php?productid=16265&cat=255&bestseller=Y

-- Edited by Supafly on Tuesday 2nd of February 2010 04:23:21 PM

-- Edited by Supafly on Tuesday 2nd of February 2010 04:28:22 PM

Jo · Guru

Thank you for the replies, very helpful info! I'll forward these responses and links, I'm sure she'll appreciate the feedback.

This is her first baby, a boy. :)

daisy · Guru

Juanita wrote:

mctex wrote:

Hey Jolynn ~

Congrats to your friend!

I agree with a lot of what's been said here, particularly the small pillow suggestion... in fact, I found the pressure so helpful to keeping me comfortable that I invested in one of these:

http://www.maternityandnursing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=33

The problem with the pillow is that you may not have time to grab it before laughing or, God forbid, sneezing.

HTH!

Oh my GOD, the SNEEZING!! That hurt soooooo bad!!!

I agree with all that's been said Jolynn, and I'd only add to tell her to get up as soon as she's able. The faster she gets out of bed, even just to sit in a chair helps a ton!! But you have to be careful not to over do it, but as a professional c/sectioner , I can tell that the faster you get up and get moving, it helps the soreness.

sneezing. my god that sends shockwaves down my spine just thinking about it. there is no bracing for the sneeze.

daisy · Guru

i agree with everything that's been said, and especially jennifer's suggestion to get up as soon as possible. the nurses really had to push me out of bed the first time bc i thought if i moved, i'd split in half....but guess what, that didnt happen.
the second time i was way braver about turning over in bed and getting up/walking around the next day.