When I found out I was having a c-section, I started to get advice from new moms who had already traveled down that road. I found that I was hearing the same things from everyone, but I didn’t truly grasp their meanings until after the fact. Here’s my take on frequent comments I heard before my c-section:
“During surgery, you won’t feel a thing!”
Not true. I actually felt a LOT during the surgery, but of course none of it was painful. It felt like the doctors were rooting around in my stomach for something they might have lost… a strange, bizarre yet painless feeling. You don’t have to experience the pain of the baby coming out, but you will feel a certain kind of activity during the process.
“Get sleep now, while you can!”
This is true, but not only because the baby is keeping you up. I found it very hard to sleep, because after nine months of side-sleeping, now you can essentially only lie on your back. I did not find this position to be preferable, and it was even harder to sit up from lying flat (which you will need to do many times a night in the beginning). So even though I tried to sleep while the baby slept, it didn’t work out so well for me.
“You will need help during the first few weeks.”
People say this to all new moms when they are about to give birth, and in my experience, it’s true. Mr. Markers was home with us for the first week and we would not have survived without him. While recovering from surgery, it’s extremely difficult to get up and down and change positions, making it hard to take care of a newborn on your own. And inevitably you will be in the middle of a nursing session and you will all of a sudden be DYING of thirst… it’s nice to have someone get that glass of water for you.
“Recovery will take longer.”
I’ve only given birth once, so I can’t compare my experience to anything else, but this one seems to be true. For the first two weeks, it was difficult to do anything that required using your stomach muscles. This included walking, getting up off the couch, bending over to pick up the baby and pretty much any other movement of any kind. Also (and this is important!), sneezing, coughing and laughing will hurt. A LOT. This was the one and only time I regretted having a husband that makes me laugh every day! It took about a month until I really started to feel normal again, without any real pain while moving around.
Now, at six weeks postpartum, I finally feel like myself again. After being able to fully reflect on the experience, I would say my one piece of advice is to talk to your doctor about what you want and what’s important to you before, during and after the surgery. Seriously – SPEAK UP. Be vocal about your desire to hold the baby as soon as possible, your breastfeeding preferences and any role your significant other wants to play in the process. If your doctor is the right doctor for you, they will accommodate as much as possible.
How was your c-section and recovery? Did you find it was harder or easier than you expected?
C-Sections part 3 of 5
1. What to Expect When You're Expecting a C-Section by Mrs. Bee2. Do Chocolate Lovers Have Sweeter Babies? by pregnancy
3. C-Section: True or False? by Mrs. Markers
4. A Positive C-Section Story by Mrs. Bee
5. Swarm: What Would You Change About Your Labor/Birth? by Swarm
grapefruit / 4671 posts
My c-section recovery was a lot easier than I expected. Sitting up, getting out of bed and having a bowel movement were scary. But I wasn’t really in pain, I just felt like i would snap something if I straightened up too much so I tried to stay scrunched all the time:)
I don’t know maybe I just had crazy expectations that recovery would be so much more painful than it turned out to be.
apricot / 453 posts
Yeah – being able to feel people fishing around inside your body for a baby was one of the weirdest experiences of my life. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it all.
Maybe it was b/c I was too worried about my baby as a new mom but my recovery was a cinch. I think a lot of this had to do with my nurses stressing the importance of staying on top of my pain meds – and (although it was sometimes uncomfortable) getting up and getting some activity in (short walks).
coconut / 8234 posts
My experience was pretty horrible. I think because I was preparing for a med-free water birth in a birth center and didn’t even plan for a c-section.
I felt pain during the surgery! The anesthesiologist had to up my meds twice during the procedure–it felt like one side was burning and when they were cutting. I felt horrible pain afterwards, too.
It was pretty traumatic for me.
grapefruit / 4442 posts
my c-section was unplanned. I unfortunately did not have help for the first week. DH had to go back to work because he was taking paternity leave after my maternity leave. It was so hard to pick up DD for me and walk my dog.
I agree about laughing, coughing and sneezing. DD is 6 months old and it still hurts when I sneeze.
I actually took a nap during my c-section because I was exhausted pushing for 4 hours.
nectarine / 2771 posts
I’m not sure if it’s because I have a high tolerance for pain or because my baby was in the NICU (it was already pre-decided that she would be for precautionary reasons and was not due to my c-section) and that was the motivation I needed to move around, but my (emergency) c-section recovery was fabulous. My LO was born in the evening and by the next day I was walking the hospital halls and I was only taking Motrin. The nurses commented that my recovery was faster than those who deliver vaginally! I had been terrified before heading into surgery, but I certainly feel lucky to have had such a wonderful experience.
blogger / pomegranate / 3201 posts
The sitting up from bed thing was awful!! I had bad back pain from always being hunched over because I was afraid I would pop a stitch (I did pop a couple).
blogger / apricot / 366 posts
After a natural birth you will also be terrified of sneezing
grape / 89 posts
I had an emergency c-section and I was actually pleasantly surprised at my recovery. I would definitely second the advice to SPEAK UP!!
I was adamant that I still wanted skin-to-skin time immediately following the birth and the doctor had no problem with it. They stuck the baby right on my chest and kept him there (except to take his vitals) the entire time they were stitching me up.
It also help a TON to press a pillow into my incision when I laughed, coughed or sneezed.
pear / 1672 posts
Thanks for this.
pea / 22 posts
Oh man, My c-section was TRAUMATIC. It was unplanned, they wheeled me into the room and started strapping me down and cutting into me, I FELT the cuts, it felt like a horrible papercut in my abdomen, I started crying and writhing so bad they had to knock me out. I woke up 15 mins later and they brought me my son…I did get skin to skin and got to nurse immediately.
The recovery was even more horrendous, the c section didn’t close so I had to get a wound vac…which is basically where they shove a sponge up into your wound and hook a vacumn to it that sucks all the goop out. The vacuum had to be removed and the sponge ripped out of me 3 times a week to be changed. The pain of that was the worst thing i have ever felt. I had that for a month and a half. Imagine as a single mom trying to get around with a newborn and a machine attached to you with this long tube. It kept getting caught on things and i would have to wrangle it and untangle myself. ugh…so horrible.
kiwi / 538 posts
Mine was pretty easy. The only part that freaked me out was right afterwards in the recovery room when you have the chills/shakes really bad. Otherwise I think my recovery was fairly quick but I sort of pushed myself to be as active as I could once I got home. I went up & down stairs, carried my son- I was careful but I think it helped me get back to normal faster. OMG- yes the pillow is essential for laughing, coughing and sneezing- wish it wouldn’t have taken me so long to figure that one out!
grape / 81 posts
My first was tougher because it was after 30 hrs of labour and minimal progress. They used the epidural freezing and, although I felt no pain, it was very uncomfortable. Granted, my sin turned out to be 10lbs 5oz and he was wedged in very tight. My second was scheduled and it was much more tolerable. This baby was 6lbs 15oz. My biggest issue through the procedure was intense muscle pain in my neck, which can sometimes happen because there is a nerve connection between the neck and abdomen.
persimmon / 1345 posts
I had a emergency c-section and recovery wasn’t bad at all. I had read horrible recovery stories and expected the worse but it was actually fairly easy. I gave birth early in the morning and by nighttime I was able to get out of bed and even took a shower the next day. Yes, it hurt a lot when I laughed or sneezed and I had to hold the rail going up and down the stairs but my doctor encouraged it and I kind of pushed myself so that I can be there for LO.
I totally agree about dying of thirst in the middle of the night during nursing. I still make my husband get me water
coffee bean / 37 posts
@mythreeboys: I had no idea about the neck relation! I was in absolute misery because my neck hurt so bad during the procedure. The actual c-section itself was fine, but I actually begged the dr to let me unstrap my arms and cross them over my chest to help ease my neck tension. It was horrible. They finally ended up knocking me out once they took her out and I was able to see her.
clementine / 826 posts
My first C-section recovery was horrible. 30 hours of labour, no progression and I was exhausted. It took a long long time (6 weeks plus) to recover. If you can, stay on one floor the entire day to minimize going up and down the stairs. That was the worst part. I think I must have
With my second, I was prepared for the repeat, but was not prepared for going into labour two days before my scheduled C. I was in labour for 5 hours, then they sectioned me. My recovery was a dream. I was walking around 1 day later, down the hospital halls like I had never had a section and I was off the meds by two weeks out, driving by 3 weeks, and by 4 weeks, I was feeling great. The only painful part was when my toddler hit my stomach a few days after I got home.
guest
My c-section was absolutely pain-free. It was scheduled because of a very wedged, 8lb baby. I took no pain medication because I was nursing and did not want to taint my milk supply.
All of the “firsts” were frightening (getting up for the first time, first urination, first bowel movement), but were not as bad as I was expecting. I didn’t feel pain while laughing or coughing. My stomach just felt sore, as if I had done 100 sit ups the night before.
It took about 2 years for the area to go back to normal without any sharp pain, strange sensation or lack of feeling.
ALL worth it!
guest
I had wonderful luck with both my c-sections. Like many above, recovery with my first child was longer because I labored for 26 hours before they finally took me in for section. I was exhausted and my body was beat!
Second child, c-section was planned. I did go into labor before my scheduled dated but even though I’d been having contractions for over 3 months, I was only in full-blown labor for about an hour before they took me into the OR.
Thankfully, recovery has been pretty easy this time. Although, I didn’t have much of a choice. I didn’t have nearly as much help this time. No guest room makes it hard for others to stay to help, my mom was hit by a car (that didn’t stop at the stop sign) walking through the cross walk at the hospital on my 2nd day there, and my MIL has a broken foot. My husband is much busier this time with work so managing our (very young) toddler (really still a baby) and our newborn was up to me alone!
It’s all worked out just fine and I’m already starting to feel “healed” after less than 3 weeks.
I’m a huge fan of c-sections. Here’s my advice: get up and walk as soon as possible, wear compression underwear, shower as soon as possible (it will make you feel 100x more human), stay in the hospital at least 3 days, and if you’re limited on help HIRE SOME!
GOLD / apricot / 341 posts
I have had two Cs. The first emergency and the second semi-emergent following an attempted VBAC. Both recoveries have been really easy. The only hard part with the second one was not lifting my 19-month old for six weeks.
pomegranate / 3872 posts
I had an unplanned c-section and I actually can’t believe how easy my recovery was. I had it in the evening and was up walking around the next morning. I only needed ibuprofen afterwards and had no trouble going to the bathroom or sitting up from laying. Within a week I felt almost totally normal. I know that’s not usual but I just want to say it’s not terrible for everyone. It’s the only birth experience I’ve had but I can only imagine that for me, the recovery from vaginal delivery would have been tougher.
The process itself was definitely freaky though. The spinal, the rooting around feeling in your belly, and the freezing chills feeling right after surgery were all strange/unpleasant.