When should I be asking to get up???

thehauffamily · November 2012

I'm delivering at a new hospital (b/c of better bf support) which makes me nervous b/c I know the ins and outs of our other hospital. With my first c/s I was up walking within 12 hours my second c/s they made me wait 24 (I just think my nurse didn't want to deal with me), so my ? is, when I go to this hospital, when should I be asking to get up and start walking? What is the general rule?

Also, I remember having to call my dr's office and making them call the hospital so I could get off my "liquid diet" for lunch/supper. Is this the normal rule or should I make sure my dr's office calls again and lets me eat reg food?

TIA ladies.

jb2rn · November 2012

word to the wise: bring snacks. If you feel well, start sipping water you brought and go from there.

your nurse should call your doctor to get an order for a diet - that is his/her job. Just ask.

I was up about 4 hours post c section, because I am a weirdo. Not sure why I asked dh to help me up, I was out of it or something.

I would certainly want to be up within 12 hours though. When I am at work, I always have my patients get up on my shift if they had surgery. Even Kidney transplant patients get up after surgery!

tawillers · November 2012

I'd get up and walk as soon as I could. The nurses at our hospital really push you to do it, so there was no resistance from them, but I can't imagine them telling you not to do it if you feel like you want to take a few steps.

As far as the food - the policy at our hospital is liquid diet until you can pass some gas. After that you can eat whatever you want. I suppose you could always have someone (DH, mom) go get you some real food but this wasn't a big deal to me as I wasn't in a hurry to eat, even after several hours to a day of not eating due to labor and surgery.

RayRay007 · November 2012

At my hospital the nurses said the policy was to try to get up and walking within 6 hours. I was up and walking around within that time. I would definitely want to get up before 12 or 24 hours.

Neener73 · November 2012

Wow! The nurses and my OB wanted me walking as soon as I could handle it. I got sick from the spinal block (I was puking before my OB got started.), so they left the catheter in for longer than normal to measure my output. That delayed things a little bit, just because the nurses wanted to make sure that I wouldn't pass out. I walked down the hall (with IV and catheter) about 8 hours post-op. Before surgery, I was told that they have the majority of women up and walking 5-6 hours post-op.

As for food, I didn't have any restrictions once I was in my room (less than 2 hours post-op). Since I was still vomiting, the nurses obviously encouraged me to take it easy on the food, but I was still allowed to order whatever I wanted.

tevagirl · November 2012

I had an unplanned section at 2am. They brought me real food for breakfast around 8am. I was up and walking by late afternoon - probably a little more than 12 hours later. I felt awful until we discontinued the IV pain meds. Breakfast and Lunch both made me throw up. I was fine by supper time.

ladybugpjb · November 2012

My surgery was at 5:30am. I know I was up within 12 hours because I went to the NICU to see DS. I don't remember exactly how long it was, or if I got up before that.

I don't remember breakfast or lunch, but I know they brought me real food for dinner, even though I was told I'd be on a liquid diet.

EDL06 · November 2012

I wasn't aware (ahead of time, or even during) of any policy at my hospital, but it must have been around 12 hours. I got out of recovery around 6am, and after being told all day by nurses to "ring if I needed help getting up and going to the bathroom," by the time the night nurse got on shift, I buzzed (for my bathroom request), and was nicely told "At this point in time, you should be trying that by yourself now."

Not sure about food--I had a liquid lunch, but a solid dinner.

jussagirl02 · November 2012

RayRay007:
At my hospital the nurses said the policy was to try to get up and walking within 6 hours. I was up and walking around within that time. I would definitely want to get up before 12 or 24 hours.

mine as well. As far as the liquid diet, I had to be on it until I ate one meal and kept it down. After that they lifted it.

capulet · November 2012

I had my c/s babies at two different hospitals. I was up around 12 hours after surgery for both, and it wasn't an option, they insisted I get up and I was ready at that point. As for food, both kids were born in the early morning (between 12 and 2 AM); as far as I remember I had a regular breakfast with DD, and a soft breakfast with DS (jello and stuff) and regular food after that. I didn't have to pass gas or have a BM, they just wanted to make sure I wasn't nauseous (I threw up right after DD was born but they let me eat breakfast because I was fine after tha).

Vegasbb · November 2012

My doctor wanted me up 6-8 hours after surgery, but the hospital wanted me to wait 24 hours. It was actually a huge fight but the nurses finally obliged and let me walk around 6-8 hours or so after. They had to call my doctor and get special permission. That being said, if I do another C/S I will definitely request to be walking around 8 hours or so after the surgery. I think it helped - I recovered really quickly.

As for food, I had a morning C/S and had liquid diet for lunch. I didn't really bother with hospital food for dinner - my parents came to visit and I had them bring me whatever I wanted. I think if I ate hospital food I would have had to eat "soft food" for dinner. I do advise bringing snacks just in case you do feel good enough to eat and the hospital food is either bad or they try to limit you.

mommytoconnor · November 2012

I'm an OB nurse and while there are variations from hosp to hosp, the standard is to get up and walking within 6-12 hours after cs. You also don't want to just get off liquid diet because you want to eat. There are reasons you are on liquids, and you shouldn't just "bring snacks" like a previous poster suggested. You first need to be able to get up and walk well with minimal assistance. You should be beginning to pass gas thru to make sure your bowels are " awake". If you start solids too soon, you could end up with and ileus and that is horrible and couls lead to bowel obstruction. So take it slow. You need to start off with small amounts of clear fluids, then if you tolerate that and get up ok, your doc may advance your diet. Also keep in mind, don't call your doc's office cause no matter what they tell you, he must speak to the nurse to give her the actual order, just as an FYI.

Shawnee11507 · November 2012

My hospital made me wait 24hrs.

Nwlywed07 · November 2012

As soon as you can! I had to keep my cath in for about 16 hours after surgery because of non-baby related health issues but the second it was out, I was up and walking. I felt tons better after being able to get out of bed. I needed help showering (24 hours after surgery) but DH helped with that.

I could barely keep food down the entire time I was there so I didn't eat a whole lot but I could have whatever I wanted. Lots of graham crackers, soup and applesauce. (Turns out the nausea and puking was from taking Ibuprofen on an empty stomach and the morphine in my spinal)

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