Movement post c section

Sherrita82

My c section is scheduled for next Friday. I've been planning on putting baby straight to crib. Yesterday a family friend said I would t be able to bend over to put the baby in the crib post surgery. She also said that her daughter couldn't leave the bed at all and that everyone just took the baby to her when she needed to be fed.

This seems a bit over board to me nor is this a possibility as i am a single mother. But she has me questioning my plan to put baby straight in the crib. I received both a pack n play and a rock n play at my baby shower but both are currently on my maybe return list since my space is limited. Should I reconsider?

TIA!

EmR22

After each of my c sections I could bend over and definitely get out of bed (that seems a little extreme). I can say our crib was at the highest setting so you don't need to bend over really far. Additionally I used a step stool to get in and out of my bed and it took a minute but it was not impossible.  It wasn't pain free the first few days and I couldn't get up and sit down fast.

For me the key was walking around the hospital as soon as you can. I've heard others say in the hospital they have had nurses help hand them their baby so they didn't have to get up and down but by the time I got home I was able to manage.

mnj05

It's possible to do those things but it hurts. I didn't bend over to get DS out of anything for about a week, but I'm not a single mother so I had that opportunity for someone to help me out.

I walked at the hospital and moved around as much as I possibly could, but I still had DH get DS out of the bassinet and put him back. FWIW, I felt better and very close to normal by a week and a half out. That's also when I stopped the pain meds and just took ibuprofen or aleve.

xDanniellex

We have both the crib (on the highest setting) and the pack-n-play with bassinet feature set up in our house and honestly the crib is easier.  I didn't have problems with the incision, but I have had back issues and bending over to put down/pick up out of the bassinet has been harder on my back than the crib. 

What works for you is best, other people may have opinions but that doesn't make them experts.  If you don't have room, just go with the crib.

tracy41

I am a single mom and I had a c-section a little under 4 months ago.  I was at home alone with the baby and was fine without help.  I am thinking that your friend's daughter had the help so she did as little as possible.  Good for her.  But probably not necessary.  Everyone deals with their pain differently, but for a normal recovery I would think getting out of bed and leaning far enough to put the baby in a crib (as PP said on the hightest setting) is totally in reason.  And just as a side comment, I didn't use one, but the RNP seems to be a loved baby item on the boards.  You might want to hang on to it in case your LO prefers being at an angle.  As a single mother you want every trick you can have because there's no back up!

amie444

Wow! They couldn't keep me down after my cSection I was up and walking the day off. It has made my recovery do easy. I would side eye a DR who told me not to get up after my procedure. That being said I was even able to pick stuff off the floor when leaving the hospital.

biblionerd

No, I was unable to put DS in the crib and take him out. I'm 4'11" and even with the crib on the highest setting it was too much pressure on my abdomen and bending over. The urge to have him in the crib seemed silly (for us) once he was home anyway. He slept in a rnp then pnp next to our bed. FYI, the rnp and pnp were two of the most useful baby items EVER. I can't imagine us having gone without either of them. My kids were junky from the c/s though, had acid reflux, etc., so the rnp was amazingly invaluable. As far as the pnp, it was used infrequently in the bedroom, but sooooo much when needing to have them contained in another room.

mysticl

I could not get in and out of my bed the first couple of days home because it is high (a step stool did not help) so I slept in the guest room.  I was able to ds in and out of his crib since it was on the highest setting.  However, he did not sleep there at night until he was over 6 months old.  I kept him in the pack n play next to the bed until then.  

I'd keep the pack n play.  We have 2 and one of them is in our great room for ds to use during the day.  They also come in handy when traveling.