Moms who recently had baby-- was the "relief" instant?!

l_elizabeth · November 2011

I'm 5'3 and have gained 45 lbs, and MISERABLE. I'm not saying I want to have this baby now, but I am really looking forward to my scheduled c-section in two weeks. With my son I just can't remember-- did you instantly feel better, once the baby was out? Meaning, was there instant relief to having some of that weight removed (literally)-- baby, placenta, fluid, etc? I know it takes weeks to lose majority of the weight, I am just so TIRED physically and emotionally. I feel like my body can't take make much, and really hoping I'll feel instantly better once this baby comes.

mben1119 · November 2011

Short answer, no. I swelled up worse than when I was pregnant, which took over a week to go away. I am finally starting to look like my old self again.

miesl · November 2011

Not even a little.

Between the incision pain and swelling up like crazy - I felt a lot worse.

l_elizabeth · November 2011

Grrr! I don't remember swelling at all last time!

pepomntpat · November 2011

No. I never had any swelling in pregnancy. My feet and legs and hands and everything swelled to astonomical size after my c/s. Not to mention the painful incision. I felt much worse after my daughter was born than while I was pregnant. I would say relief took about 8 weeks. And several months to be normal.

cassoppea · November 2011

I did have swelling and was in pain but I did feel some instant relief from all the extra front weight. I could breathe better and my heartburn was instantly gone. I can't say I actually felt "better" but it was a different discomfort.

MAprincess · November 2011

For me, no. I also swellled up then had an allergic reaction to one of the medications. The relief was instant when I had the VBAC, which was great. But c/s's and I do not get along well.

magdalina.h · November 2011

The relief I felt was the ability to breath without an ass in my ribs.

krzynluv1031 · November 2011

mabenner1:
Short answer, no. I swelled up worse than when I was pregnant, which took over a week to go away. I am finally starting to look like my old self again.

This, my swelling took about 10 days to go away and I ended up gaining a pound because of it. As soon as the swelling went down, I was back down to my PP weight in 3 weeks, but I still have a swollen puffy area above my incision. I don't anticipate being back in my old clothes for a while.

nosoup4u · November 2011

I didn't swell up after I had my second son (though I had a VBAC with him, but I don't think it should matter?).

Even though I was tired and had to recover from DS2's birth (it's hard work no matter how they come out!), I did feel better not being pregnant anymore, even if my body wasn't its usual shape, etc. Hang in there, you're almost done!!

samm1983 · November 2011

Not really. I'm starting to feel better now (7 weeks PP), but I swear I feel bigger now than I did when I was pregnant. Recovery was way harder than the last weeks of pregnancy for me.

girllennon · November 2011

I never had water retention issues during pregnancy, but all the fluids pumped into my body for the c-section had me horribly bloated. The worst was my legs and feet. They hurt so bad from the fluids.

During the last trimester, LO bruised my ribs on the right side due to him being frank breech with his head jammed into my ribcage. That pain was constant and so was all the pressure/gravity from carrying a baby. As soon as he was out, I felt like 15 lbs was lifted off my abdomen. My rib pain was significantly less painful, no more constant pressure and no bladder pressure. I remember telling DH in the OR moments after LO was born that I felt instant relief.

Granted, there are other things you don't get instant relief (soreness, bloating, aches/pains, etc), but those three things were at the top of my pregnancy sh!t list.

hopkins5 · November 2011

Nope. Physically, I felt the worst right after DD was born. I had no swelling throughout my entire pregnancy, then blew right up after the surgery. It took about a week for it to go down. Add to that a sore incision and all that goes with a c/s.

shibby00 · November 2011

Yes and no. Yes in that I could breathe again, had no more heartburn, and no back pain but no in that I swelled up like a balloon from all the IV fluids and it made my legs and feet freaking hurt, and of course the soreness from the incision wasn't awesome. Oh and not having to pee all the freaking time was GREAT!

l_elizabeth · November 2011

Thanks for all the comments ladies, very interesting. I guess we'll just see how it goes. I had a really good experience with my c-section, and while I don't remember exactly how it felt to not be pregnant anymore, I know I had no pain throughout my entire recovery, and did not swell. LO was breech though, so my relief might have been from finally being able to breathe.

jenb_99 · November 2011

I felt better right away, just a few hours after surgery. I did swell up with fluid retention that didn't go away until 11 days later, but I got 9 and half pounds of baby out of me without ripping my vagina to shreds, so my relief was instant. The worst pain of my c-section recovery was not nearly as bad as my strongest pitocin-induced labor contraction, and in three weeks I've lost 35 lbs.

I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

bcnoelle · November 2011

I felt instant relief from the following: feeling swollen, always needing to pee, difficult breathing, less pressure. Of course I had problems walking too much, getting in and out of bed, dealing with huge maxi pads, sensitivity at the incision, worrying about my 1st BM, and trying to pee on my own when they removed the catheter.

Cotton · November 2011

Instant relief for me! From the moment she started pulling my baby out, I was like "Oh yeah! Keep pulling!!!" It felt so much better! I had been absolutely miserable, though. I'm short and not very big and I had what turned out to be a 10lb 14oz baby in there! I hadn't been able to breath, sleep, eat, walk or anything without pain in weeks! I thought the recovery was no biggie. Swelling, incision, whatever. All of it was better than those last two weeks of pregnancy!

Elizabeth

mrsjenniferg2010 · November 2011

No I didn't start feeling relief until my second week.

Ardmhs83 · November 2011

I would say, no. I was miserable while being VERY pregnant, but the recovery from a c-section while trying to take care of a newborn and learning to breastfeed...way worse and not easy at all.

RumbleLina · November 2011

Nope.

I gained 25 lbs with my pregnancy and lost only 2lbs when I had my son. I had sooo much water weight.

Although there was giant relief of not being cervix punched.

araine10 · November 2011

For me I felt 100 times better after the c-section. During the month or so of my pregnancy I gained 30 lbs as a result of fluid retention so my legs and feet were killing me, and I felt that the swelling immediately came down a bit after the delivery. I had also been having false labour for the 3 last weeks and excrutiating lower back pain from the baby's position. All of those discomforts went away immediately. I suppose I was one of the lucky ones because I didn't have much discomfort from the c-section itself. Other than the medications I received in the spinal, I was only taking tylenol every 8 hours the first 2 days post-partum then after that I took it as needed which wasn't very often. I was actually up walking around about 10 hours after the section and for the first time in months felt like a human because I wasn't having that awful back pain/leg pain and wasn't being kicked in the cervix/bladder anymore.

capulet · December 2011

I feel like one set of discomforts replaces another. I have what I think are pretty easy c/s recoveries, but I also have easy pregnancies, so it's a wash, I guess. I don't swell during pregnancy but I get IV bloat (it wasn't so bad this time; I think it helped to get moving and go home sooner), so at 6 days PP I've only lost 10 lb. and that's great compared to how I did after DD was born. I don't have much incision pain, but I had awful back pain a couple of days ago. I found out last time that Percocet gives me hives, so I've just been taking OTC meds since the morning after my c/s, but it's inevitable I'll get somewhat itchy from the pain meds in the IV and/or being in bed 99% of the time for a couple of days. I feel a little better every day, though. And I'm still tired (no getting around that with a newborn).

carrielb12 · December 2011

miesl:

Not even a little.

Between the incision pain and swelling up like crazy - I felt a lot worse.

me too

Houstonmom · December 2011

Short answer is YES!

My first c-section was an emergency under general anesthesia after 72 hours of labor and I was trying to be a hero by not taking all of my pain meds so the pain was really horrid when I would have to get up to pee...which was every 15 minutes after they took the catheter out since I was pumped full of fluids while I was under anesthesia. Lesson learned: TAKE THE MEDS!

Second was a nice, calm, planned c-section with a spinal block and I had so little pain that I almost wanted to leave the hospital the day after I had my son. I did have *some* walking pain about 4 days after the c-section b/c I overdid it by walking around Target for an hour. But other than that, I took my meds as reccommended and did great.

Houstonmom · December 2011

Oh and I just saw you and I are the same height. I gained ~50lbs with each of my 2 kids (working on NOT gaining that much with this one) and let me tell you, the joint and pelvic pain was MISERABLE b/c of all the weight.

So even with all of the horrible incision pain with my first c-section (b/c I didn't take the meds like I was supposed to) the "overweight pain" was 100% instantly gone once the baby was out.

Ack! This is bringing back memories!!! It was painful to laugh for a few days after my first c-section and my dad kept telling jokes in my hospital room. I would shove a pillow onto my incision and laugh/cry. But with my second I don't remember any of that happening.

Mrs. Alice · December 2011

I remember feeling somewhat "deflated" after the babies, placenta, and their bags of water came out. However my uterus was still the pregnant size and the weight of it was uncomfortable with my incision for a few days. Oh and the swelling! I had horrible edema on my feet for over a week. So no, it's not really instant relief.

HBaylies · December 2011

I actually weighed only 20lbs less for nearly a month and I am 5'2 and had gained 60lbs. You are given so many fluids while in the hospital that take some time to go down. Mine took more time than most and I had to go back weekly for 3 weeks for both issues with my swelling not going down and my staples. When I got home from the hospital my legs were too heavy for me to lift up from the floor to lay on the couch the first few days. The combo of the surgery plus the extra weight in fluid just made it impossible for me. I did however get instant relief from heartburt, acid reflux, and lower back pain.

katie4253 · December 2011

I didn't swell at all, but the pain from the c/s was awful. I wanted to die. LO was also in the NICU, which lead to my feelings I'm sure.

RA1109 · December 2011

Ummmm....no. I gained 65lbs and had severe PUPPPS and pre-e with my first. Having a baby is HARD. Not just physically...emotionally, and you will most likely tear and have pain for awhile. And even if you don't, having a newborn means sleepless nights while you're trying to heal. It's rough. It's SO worth it, but "relief" is sort of the opposite of the direction you go in.