4 C-Section Recovery Tips That Sped Up My Healing
It’s been just over a year since I had my C-Section and brought my daughter into this world. However, the experience of recovery is still quite present in my brain.
I personally was talked into being fearful about a cesarean, that it wasn’t a “real birth” and the recovery was horrendous. For me (and this is real talk here), I preferred a cesarean recovery over my vaginal birth. I know, shocking. I had a third degree tear with my son that was the most painful thing I have ever experienced, and will never do again. My OB told me after I had my daughter that “a sore tummy is better than a sore bum,” and I wholeheartedly agree with her. I know not everyone feels the same way as I do about this, but there are some steps I took to help make recovering easier and less painful. Don’t get me wrong, it was painful at times - it’s the only type of major surgery where they expect you to be up and moving almost immediately afterwards! Here’s some tips for you mamas who may experience a cesarean in the future:
Stay on top of the pain meds
This one is so important. I was prescribed with Oxycontin after my cesarean, and took it very sparingly. For the first three days after my surgery, I took it as recommended by the doctors, and afterwards I switched to ibuprofen and Tylenol every 6 hours. The only time I was in complete discomfort was the one time I missed a dose in the evening - this was by far the biggest mistake I made. The pain was horrible. By switching to this method after we left the hospital, it left me with one or two of the heavier medications that I saved for any extreme pain that I couldn’t get on top of, and this was that moment. By staying on top of the pain, I felt like I could function so much better and be more comfortable too.
Keep moving
Again, another big one. They tell you at the hospital that you should try to keep moving after your cesarean to help the recovery process, and it’s no joke. The days after the few times I stayed in the same spot on the couch all day were the hardest days, and mostly because of how sore I would get. Even just a quick lap around the living room was enough movement to keep my body limber and keep the blood flow going. You do increase the risk of blood clots by staying stagnant after a cesarean, and I know its hard to get up and move, but I promise you it will be worth it in the long run!
Ask for help
I would say that this one is a no-brainer, but as someone who is hellbent on doing everything herself, this one was hard for me to do. After a cesarean, you cannot use your abdominal muscles, at all. For those of you who do not know this about me, I danced in a professional ballet company and every movement stems from your core in ballet. I do everything starting with my core, so this “no using your abs” thing was a hard lesson to learn. Every time I needed to sit up and feed Harper, I had to ask for help. Any sort of standing, sitting, sitting up, laying down - I needed help to do all of it, and that’s OK. Again, you just had major abdominal surgery, so ask for help! There is no way you can do all of this alone, and I tried. You’ll get used to sleeping in an upright position, and having your partner hoist you up so you can use the bathroom. This part of recovery I found to be the hardest, but it passes quicker than you might think.
TUMS
I cannot tell you how Tums saved me after my cesarean. You get major gas buildup after abdominal surgery, and making sure that gas doesn’t get trapped and stuck. Tums helped me so much with this. I am prone to gas building up and getting stuck, and it is quite painful when it happens. I certainly didn’t want to find out what it would feel like to experience the pain of having my abdomen cut open on top of gas pain - no thank you!
I really hope these four tips help you after your c-section! It certainly helped my recovery, and I truly felt like I enjoyed the majority of postpartum this time around. Even with being on pain meds and the lack of sleep that comes with having a newborn, I felt like I could be present with both of my babies.
Take care my lovelies!