VBAC
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experience after csection and experience after vbac
What was your csection recovery like? ie how long in hospital? in bed? etc
What was your VBAC recovery like?
I have only ever had a csection and was wondering what the difference was like when recovering from a VBAC.
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Re: experience after csection and experience after vbac
Birth is hard work either way, but I got back to normal a lot faster after my VBAC.
I'll be honest, I was surprised about how exhausted/sore I was after my VBAC. I pushed for two hours with DS2 and had a second degree tear, so I was tired, and it was hard to move. But! I was only really laid up after my VBAC for 2-3 days. After that point, I was still recovering, but it wasn't hard getting up and down, etc. I felt pretty much back to normal by 2 weeks, and I never took anything stronger than ibuprofen.
With my c/s, I pushed for 4+ hours before having it, and had been in labor for a full day+, so I was really worn out afterwards. Hard to move, etc. etc., and I remember being wiped out going to the store with my MIL 3 weeks postpartum with him. I think it took the full 5-6 weeks before I felt "normal".
DS2 - Oct 2010 (my VBAC baby!)
With my vbac, I was easily moving within a short time, my nurse kept fussing at me. I wasn't hardly in any pain. I did have quick labor and pushed for less than 10 minutes, but I tore and had an episiotomy. Baby is 3 weeks old today, and I have felt like my self for well over a week.
My c/s was at 9:20PM, and I didn't get out of bed until 4 o'clock the next day. I couldn't eat solid food until dinner the next day, and I spent 3 nights (including the night immediately after my c/s) in the hospital. My recovery wasn't horrible as far as c/s go, but it was still a recovery. I could feel if I was trying to do too much, and I swear it took me 2 weeks to have the color return to my face.
I wound up not getting an epi with my VBAC, and an hour after delivery, I was out of bed and in the shower. I was able to eat lunch after that. I spent 2 nights in the hospital, and when I got home, I was fine. My bottom was a little swollen, but a few days of Advil took care of that. I know that not all labors and vaginal deliveries are as easy as mine were, but I felt like I hardly had a recovery. And having a 2 year old at home to take care of along with a newborn, that was a huge difference.
I had an OB appt on Friday and the OB I saw asked me if my VBAC was easier, and I answered him yes. He replied, "from immediately after, right?" and he was right. For me, it was easier from the moment my baby was delivered.
With my c-section, I spent 3 nights in the hospital, but wish I had stayed for the fourth. I was in a lot of pain, but I managed to do most things with some assistance. I was about 80% healed within 4-5 weeks, and that's where it dragged on and on. I didn't feel 100% until DD was about 17months old. I had pain, soreness and just the general feeling that my body wasn't mine any more (crazy, I know). I think some of it was mental, because I just couldn't get over how things ended up. I couldn't look at or touch my incision site for over a year.
My VBAC was amazing - physically and mentally. Yes - birth hurt like hell and I was screaming like a banshee. But, I was up and around the next day. I could pick up my toddler immediately. I had some tearing, some broken blood vessels on my face and some wicked hemmies. But, I'd say I felt 100% at about 3 weeks pp. I was also ready to be intimate again so much faster with my VBAC - which you would think would be the opposite.
I think night sweats might be part and parcel of a c/s. I remember having nights sweats for a month or 2 on and off after my c/s, but it never happened with my VBAC. I think I retained so much water after my surgery - my feet and legs were puffy for 2 weeks - that my body had to do everything possible to get rid of it, including night sweats.
csection was difficult. 4 or 5 days in hospital. the birth was horrible. i was put under. i was on really strong meds for awhile afterward to deal with the pain. i hated it.
with my VBAC, it was maybe 3 days in hospital. the only pain was that it was difficult to sit for a little more than two weeks (2nd degree tear). at three weeks right now, i am fine. with the csection, i was still in pain for much longer.
also, i only pushed for 20 minutes.