Intro and recovery question

cinderin

Hello All,

I am 31 years old, so is DH. We are celebrating our 9 year wedding anniversary this month. We live in the Seattle area. I am in HR at a large employer.  

I am a FTM, almost 36 weeks PG and high risk. I was diagnosed with GD at about 24 weeks and have been well controlled.

Baby was recently measured and he is in the 24th percentile, they expect he will be about 7.5 pounds at 40 weeks.  

My OB was willing to let me go to 40 weeks and induce me (due to the GD). However my baby has different plans. He is breech and has been for a couple weeks now.

My OB offered to do an e version at 37 weeks to try and flip him. They do them in the hospital with the OR prepped for an emergency c/s because it can cause fetal distress requiring an emergency c/s. E versions are only successful about half the time and the baby can flip back. 

I thought about it and have decided not to do it. Baby will either flip or not. At this point, it is looking like not. 

So it will be a scheduled c/s for me at almost 40 weeks. It isn't what I had hoped for as far as a birth experience, but PG has been pretty hard so far and not quite what I had hoped for either. I am trying to focus on a healthy baby and a healthy mom and not worry so much about whether it is the birth I wanted, an induced vaginal birth or c/s.  

I read the post below about how many c/s you can have. At this point, DH and I will likely only want one other child (though we are going to wait a few years to decide). But I found the post very interesting. I do know a woman who has had 7 children via c/s.

I am interested in how your recovery went. How long did it take? How did you feel? Were you able to take care of your baby?

Anything else I should know?

 :-)
Erin  

RedCherry1109

I just had my third C/S and recovery has been great. I had help for the first week and after that I have been on my own during the day. I have a six and two year old, so they can manage to get things for their self, which is helpful.

My first C/S was an easy recovery but I had a lot of help then and I only took the pain meds a few times. My second one was the hardest and was on the pain meds for a few weeks. I only  took them at night, I had a hard time laying my side for a good month. My third had been the easiest. I've only took the pain meds a few times and haven't really been in any pain. 

Take the pain meds if you need them, don't go hurting to long just because you think you need to be wonder woman.Take your time getting out of bed and walk as much as you can in the hospital.  Sleep when you can and enjoy your LO!!

mysticl

Recovery wasn't horrible but it did take awhile to be able to resume full activity.  And if I did too munch walking I would be in pain. I was able to care for my son with the exception of I couldn't do tummy time with him for a few weeks because I couldn't get down to the floor.  

I feel I was sent home from the hospital to early.  I found out at discharge they legally had to let me stay longer but were giving me "early" discharge because I didn't have an infection and hadn't passed out.  I wish I had demanded to stay to the end of the allowed time.  Nothing was seriously wrong however I couldn't couldn't get in and out of my bed because it was elevated.  Fortunately, we had a guest bed I could use, though it meant my mom had to sleep on the couch.  Even then I slept sitting up for a few nights because laying down was too difficult.  I also could only sit in the chairs at the dining table.  I couldn't sit on any other chairs in the house or our couch.  We ended up buying a glider when ds was 6 days old so I could nurse.  

Be prepared for people who think you should be all better right away.  C-sections are so common people forget they are major surgery.   You may also run into people who think you took the easy way out.  

mnj05

Ditto the pain meds, take them as you need them and stay ahead of the pain in the hospital. Walk the halls in the hospital as soon as possible, but don't overdo it. The more you can move, the quicker you recover. I walked a few times while in semi-pain but usually walked when the pain meds were in full effect. I stopped the pain meds after 3 or 4 days of being at home and just took Alev.e as I needed it.

I slept at a recline at home like I did in the hospital for about a week just because getting up from a flat position was hard. DH stayed home with me from Monday-Wednesday (we were in the hospital the previous Friday and released Monday). My mom came Thursday and my SIL Friday. I moved around as much as I could but I didn't bend for two weeks. I had to have DH or someone else bring me my son for the first week and half. Also, have someone lined up to help you take LO to the pediatrician the first few times. It wasn't until a month after surgery that I could get the car seat in and out of the car without hurting.

By week 3, I felt normal again. I could walk around the grocery store without hurting, bend over fine, and maneuver DS as I needed to. That being said, I had to remind myself to continue to take it easy. If I did too much one day, I paid for it the following day. 

Your stomach will more than likely be a combination of numbness and tingles for a couple of weeks. The tingles went away after 2 weeks for me but parts of my stomach are still numb, and from what I understand, could stay that way for a long time. My underwear rubbed against my incision so I wore depends until I stopped bleeding and that helped a lot. Plus I couldn't bend to keep a pad in place while getting dressed so it helped for that reason as well.

 

For me, the c/s and recovery wasn't nearly as bad as I have heard, although I know for some it's really rough. Take it a day at a time and just have people on alert in case you need help and don't be afraid to ask for help. Good luck and congratulations!

mobraniff

So my recovery was really not that bad at all. I was able to sleep in my bed, sit on our couch, etc. It probably helped that I was living in an apartment with no stairs- maybe avoid those for a while if you can. 

One little caveat- there will come a time that you feel pretty good and think you can do everything again. This will most likely come a little earlier than you should really be doing things. This will most definitely cause your incision to tear. So make sure you are thoughtful of your limitations and don't go being a hero!

As far as how long it took- our LO was born on 12-11 and remember walking downtown for a Christmas fair on Christmas Eve, about 15 blocks.  

Giabobia13

Hi, I had my first child almost five months ago. I ended up having to have a c/s due to non progression. My water broke at 37 weeks and from the time it broke to the time my baby was born was 40 hours and I was in labor for 22 hours with 2 hours of pushing that did nothing. I also had a fever, and my baby's heart rate kept dropping. I was terrified of having a c/s, but at that point after so many hours and exhaustion i was ready for one. i was expecting the worst pain possible and a long difficult recovery. When we were discussing my birth plan months before, my dr told me that if I wanted to schedule c/s I could. All the nurses in his office told me they scheduled to have c/s's because they see what happens to a women's business down there when they tear or require an episiotomy. Still I had heard so many horror stories I didn't want to unless medically I needed one, and my baby wasn't breach so I was hoping I wouldn't need to have a c/s. Well, things changed, and I ended up having to have one. But, I can honestly tell you that it was not as bad as I had thought. I'm mean it hurts and your sore, and by no means is it a walk in the park. But coming from someone who has no pain tolerance and is the biggest baby when I get the flu it was tolerable. I was up and walking the next morning. It is painful having to sit up the first few days but the more you walk the better. I healed so much faster then I anticipated. My baby had to be in the nicu and I was driving to the hospital on my own six days after she was born. I was also terrified of having the staples removed, but it was nothing. The antiseptic they use as they are removing them stings and is the worst part. I had great nurses and an amazing doctor! Just make sure to have the nurses give you your pain meds before you start to get sore after the surgery to keep the pain under control. My scar is tiny and luckily I never had problems. This was my first surgery in my life, and I am definitely planning scheduled c-sections in the future.

Good luck to you and I hope I provided some useful info!!

mysticl

I was the one who couldn't sit on her couch.  I will say that I think that partly had to do with the style of couch we had because I could sit on the couch in my hospital room.  We have since bought a new couch and I think I could sit on it if I another c-section.  

Oh, and  not everyone has staples.  Different doctors like to close different ways.  I had internal stitches and external steri strips that were just pealed off at my 1 week appt.  

10 months later I still have numbness.   

pamelamelanie924

My recovery went really well. The first three days were pretty bad, but I don't tolerate pain well either! From all the pain medicine I became really constipated and that was the worst part for me. I didn't want to move at all. I just wanted to lay there. I recommend, if at all possible, walk walk walk! Once I finally got up and started moving, it became a lot easier. DD was in the NICU for 12 days and by the time she came home I was good to go. Make sure you have an extra set of hands because you'll be sore for a while and sitting up was pretty painful at first. Going to the bathroom was a little rough too. I didn't realize how many muscles in my stomach it took to pee! All in all, it wasn't as bad as I thought. Check with your doctor first, but I definitely suggest taking some stool softeners before hand! GL!

greeneyed_bride

Pretty much ditto what everyone else said, especially the walking!

Mine was an unplanned c-section, and I was really worried about the recovery, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I feared. 

A few things I'll add that I didn't see here:

If/when they offer you a laxative, take it!! Eat lots of fruits, veggies and high fiber foods. The percocet made me really constipated, which honestly was the worst part of the recovery. 

If you're interested in baby-wearing, get a Moby wrap (or other similar fabric wrap.) I couldn't wear the ErgoBaby carrier for a while because it rubbed against my incision, but I could easily wear DS in the Moby pretty early on.

My incision felt uncomfortable when the waistband of my jeans rubbed against it for 8+ months. I ended up having to buy new jeans with a higher waistband, because although my pre-pregnancy jeans fit, they were uncomfortable because they were low-rise and pressed into my incision when I sat down. I was starting to worry that my incision would be tender forever, but then it got better. But it can take longer than you expect.

I was sad when I realized that I wouldn't be able to do skin-to-skin contact with my son as soon as he was born like I wanted to, so my husband asked my OB if he could do skin-to-skin with him instead, and she thought it was a great idea! They gave DH a hospital gown to wear backwards, and he went shirtless under it, so as soon as they would let him, he had skin-to-skin contact with our son. It ended up being a really sweet and special thing for him, and my OB now suggests it to all of her c-section patients.