Ok, so the first thing I'll say is that I'm not a doctor -- and everything I've mentioned in here is only from my personal experience. Recovery times will vary. I think it took 6 weeks for the pain to be tolerable for me. People seem to recover much faster, but the fact that I was on the wrong side of 30 and overweight to begin with also caused my recovery to be slower.
I had a C-sec in February, I had a baby boy, and the first day I was in a tolerable haze from the anesthesia. I wasn't allowed to sit up for the first 24 hours (apparently that can cause spinal headaches later) so feeding was a problem, but we muddled through it. The pain came after. I was discharged four days after delivery and I think nearly everything went wrong after. I did a lot of stuff wrong too -- and if you've gone through a C-sec recently, I hope this helps.
1. Avoid sitting up to feed the baby. Try lying on your side and doing it. It won't be easy the first few times, but persevere. I say this because I didn't. I would sometimes fall asleep sitting and it later gave me back pain.
2. Don't bend. Period. I cannot emphasize this enough. I bent to pick up dirty nappies from the floor a few times, and my wound opened. It was also because I was overweight to begin with so I had bit of a belly anyway, but the bending was the catalyst.
3. Rest. Lots. Ask for help.
4. Don't feel guilty about asking your doc for painkillers. She'll obviously prescribe stuff that is safe for the baby, and you really don't need to suffer more than you have to.
5. Support your tummy when you laugh, sneeze or cough.
6. Sun yourself. When I complained about the pain to my doc, she said sit in the sun. Weirdly enough, it did help.
And the most important -- stay where you feel the most comfortable. This being India, my in-laws were really upset that I chose to spend the first month at my mother's house. That was probably the only wise thing I did. Remember that you need to take care of yourself at this time. It's a huge operation. You need to recover, besides taking care of a helpless infant.
As my mother said "there are lots of people to take care of the child -- I'll take care of my daughter."
And keep one thing in mind. This Will pass.
I had a C-sec in February, I had a baby boy, and the first day I was in a tolerable haze from the anesthesia. I wasn't allowed to sit up for the first 24 hours (apparently that can cause spinal headaches later) so feeding was a problem, but we muddled through it. The pain came after. I was discharged four days after delivery and I think nearly everything went wrong after. I did a lot of stuff wrong too -- and if you've gone through a C-sec recently, I hope this helps.
1. Avoid sitting up to feed the baby. Try lying on your side and doing it. It won't be easy the first few times, but persevere. I say this because I didn't. I would sometimes fall asleep sitting and it later gave me back pain.
2. Don't bend. Period. I cannot emphasize this enough. I bent to pick up dirty nappies from the floor a few times, and my wound opened. It was also because I was overweight to begin with so I had bit of a belly anyway, but the bending was the catalyst.
3. Rest. Lots. Ask for help.
4. Don't feel guilty about asking your doc for painkillers. She'll obviously prescribe stuff that is safe for the baby, and you really don't need to suffer more than you have to.
5. Support your tummy when you laugh, sneeze or cough.
6. Sun yourself. When I complained about the pain to my doc, she said sit in the sun. Weirdly enough, it did help.
And the most important -- stay where you feel the most comfortable. This being India, my in-laws were really upset that I chose to spend the first month at my mother's house. That was probably the only wise thing I did. Remember that you need to take care of yourself at this time. It's a huge operation. You need to recover, besides taking care of a helpless infant.
As my mother said "there are lots of people to take care of the child -- I'll take care of my daughter."
And keep one thing in mind. This Will pass.
