Liked this post? Why not share it?
If you click on my affiliates/advertisers links, I am going to receive a tiny commission. AND… Most of the time, you will receive an offer. Win/Win! The products that I advertise are the ones I believe in.
C section recovery can be a very long process unless you do it the right way.
I am saying this from personal experience. I’ve had my baby via an emergency C section and my recovery wasn’t as fast as I expected. Partly that was my fault, keep on reading to find out why.
Another huge mistake of mine was to don’t research about C sections and C section recovery tips. I was one of those mommies who believed that it can’t happen to them.
Such a stupid way of thinking. Sadly, I learned that the hard way!
Therefore in today’s article, I am going to share what I’ve learned from my experience and find out all the C section recovery tips every mommy should know.
You might also like:
Get up as soon as you can!
If you are anything like me and you’ve never had surgery before or maybe you haven’t done your homework (aka research) you are most certainly going to wait for your doctor or nurse to tell you when you can get up. Am I right?
Well… Please don’t do that! I learned it the hard way.
My mom told me to get up, but I guess I was too stubborn (or maybe just a side effect of the anaesthesia) to listen to her. I wanted to wait for the doctor to “allow” me to get up, but he never did. He didn’t even come to check on me after I’ve had the surgery.
So I stayed in bed for 2 days!!! Yep, that’s right, 2 days!
Big mistake! I felt like I was disabled when I first got up from the bed and it was so so painful. Plus I wasn’t confident enough that my legs can support me…
Compression stockings
It is highly recommended to wear compression stockings before and after any major surgery. And be certain that a caesarean IT IS a MAJOR surgery, imagine how many layers are before your womb.
They were extremely uncomfortable at one point, but I wore them all the time, even after I got home for another week. Which was around 14 days including the hospitalisation period.
Their role is to prevent blood clots and improve blood circulation in your legs, especially when you have reduced mobility, like when you stay in bed for a long time.
I got mine from the hospital, so you should too, but just in case you don’t, check out this one here.
Keep your stitches clean
I was lucky enough to get absorbable stitches (sutures) therefore I had a very clean area throughout the entire time.
But I know that this fairytale is not applicable to everyone. So before you leave the hospital ask your nurse how you can keep a clean incision and what products to use for that.
This is extremely important! There are so many risks that could happen – infections and openings are just a few.
And speaking of infections, ensure that you are checking your suture regularly and if you see anything out of ordinary or any signs of infection GO BACK to the hospital ASAP. Don’t wait just in case it will go away because it won’t. The longer you wait for the more dangerous it can be.
Wear comfy bottoms and massive knickers
Apologies if I am going to disappoint you in any way with what I am about to say, but these will be your new best friends. I couldn’t stand anything on. Everything I used to wear, was high waisted.
Even now, 15 months later, I feel uncomfortable when wearing bottoms or knickers that end on my incision. So chances are you’d be the same. It’s perfectly normal, especially in those first 6 weeks after you’ve had the surgery.
Keep your pelvic floor exercises going
Oh, that’s another important thing that you have to do every single day. I am guilty of not doing it daily and I can feel the consequences.
I guess all you need to do is associate these exercises with one of your daily activities. For example, do your exercises when you watch TV, when you breastfeed your baby, or maybe whilst in the shower.
It can be any task you do on a daily basis and then associate your pelvic floor exercises to it. Sounds simple and easier said than done, especially when you have other million things to think about.
Have a pillow on hand
Say “Goodbye” to coughing and laughing for a while. Why?! It’s super painful!
But if you don’t have a choice, the pillow will become your new best friend.
You’ll have to hug it and keep it very tight on your incision. Please ensure you don’t overdo it. You don’t want to end up with an opened incision.
Use a belly wrap
If you can stand it, use it! Otherwise, your after-baby-belly won’t go away very soon. That’s what happened to me and now I regret that I didn’t push myself a little harder. If you are wondering what belly wrap I have, check it out here.
Stool softener, trust me you’ll need it
Another painful thing you have to endure. I don’t mean to scare you in any way, I just want, to be honest with you.
But it feels like your incision is opening up. That’s why I highly recommend asking your doctor or nurse to prescribe you a stool softener.
Things will get going and will be much easier for you.
Plenty of rest
For the next 6 weeks, you are not allowed to do many things. You can’t physically do much anyway. So be prepared to get plenty of rest.
My midwife told me that in those first 2 weeks to don’t lift my baby up. How crazy does this sound?
Ask and accept help
I’ve never ever felt so useless in my entire life. I needed help for everything, especially in those 2 weeks post-surgery. I couldn’t even take a shower on my own or get dressed. I felt so down, but as soon as I changed my perspective and accepted the situation I felt much better.
So my last tip and advice for you are to accept that this is just a temporary situation, it won’t be like that forever and ask for help.
Heads up mommy, you are strong and you can do it!
