Post-c/s: how should I be feeling?

[katandkevin]

When I had my c/s I had a nurse try to wean me off of the pain meds on the second day. I was miserable and a total mess. Take the pain meds for a couple days as they directed you to. You not only gave birth, you had major abdominal surgery. Give it at least a week before you start weaning off the meds.

[LynnWriter]

I had 2 c/s. Sounds normal but definitely check with your OB if you are having doubts. Stay on top of your meds for the first week. that will help. Take care of yourself and rest! It's major surgery and you need time to recover. Good luck!

[Deleted]

It wouldn't hurt to check. The only time I cried is when something hit my incision (like a dog) or when I shifted in a certain direction and my stitches pulled in a weird way.

[iamgrace]

I have no cs advice, but you really need to be doing nothing. Nothing! Rest now and you will recover faster. Do nothing! I know it''s hard.

[urbancowgirl]

I had a moderate amount of pain for about a week. I remember having blinding pain a few times if I moved too suddenly. I took the max dose of pain meds for a week, and then I weaned myself off of them.

ETA: I hit send too soon. I would continue taking the meds and call your doctor if you're concerned.

[eddy]

You need to be taking that percocet. There is no way you can manage the pain of ab surgery with motrin. I took it for 2 weeks and felt pretty good the whole tome.

[Mrs. ChanandlerBong]

I took the rx drugs for 2 weeks with my first and 1 week with my 2nd. The only reason I stopped at 1 week was because I began to realize how people become addicted to Vicodin. It scared me so much, I switched to motrin only at that point.

Did they send you home with an abdominal binder? It's like a big, stretchy, velcro girdle. I swear, that thing was so helpful for my recovery. If they didn't give you one, ask your doc to get you one!

[Overthemoon]

I was in a lot of pain after my first c/s. absolutely take your Percocet and make sure to take it easy. Get help if you need it for the kids or the house. No driving. If you really feel like something is wrong, talk to your doctor. If you don't allow yourself to heal properly it will just take even longer and you might injure yourself or tear your incision open. Hope you feel better soon!

[eddy]

Also if it makes you feel better, my son's doctor, who is also a friend, is total hippy dippy. Eats vegan, all natural, etc etc etc.

She chastised me big time when I came in for a 1 week check up when I said I was trying to wean myself off of percocet. She said that was a big big mistake and I had a choice to take the medication and feel good or not take the medication, feel miserable, and not be able to concentrate on my baby. That really hit home.

Call your OB if you want reassurance. But I am pretty sure you issue can be solved with keeping up on the pain medication. that is my biggest piece of advice I tell new mom's with cs. Take the pills.

[sonrisa]

It was only Thursday afternoon? Give yourself time to heal. Stay ahead of that pain curve. Pain will interfere with your recovery. This was major abdominal surgery, after your body had already gone through so much. It took at least two weeks to not need the opiates for me (I was on Norco). Luckily a friend had warned me of that ahead of time. A few people heal quickly, but I think they are the exception and mostly scheduled c-sections. Recovery (like birth) isn't a competition. Do what you need to do to take care of yourself. Then, if you have any energy left, take care of the baby. But don't push it.

C-section recovery is a marathon, not a sprint. Within a month, you will feel much better than you do now and within a year all pain and discomfort will be gone. Until then, celebrate the little things (like pain meds) and give it time.

[Amy]

I felt the way you're describing for at least a week while taking Percocet. I had another week of bearable but still significant pain. Take the meds and make yourself walk around but don't do anything else. It's awful but it gets better!

[Deleted]

Huge hugs, hope you feel better soon. Like others mentioned, you had major surgery, definitely stay right on top of the meds if you need them. I can't remember how long it took for me to feel better after my c/s, at least a week before I was functional.

[JayhawkGirl]

I had a terrible time with pain post cs. Take the meds!!!!! Set a timer for your dosage window and keep on it until you get back ahead of the pain.

I was 5 weeks pp before getting mostly off of them, and still needed them at bedtime for a week or so after that. And be careful you don't over exert yourself. Eat, sleep, nurse. Maybe a shower.

Some people bounce back quickly, all la de da I had a csection. But like sue sue said, it's major abdominal surgery. Just because it is common doesn't mean it's easy.

ETA: I was also still in the hospital 4 days pp.

[thatgirl2478]

Everyone handles pain differently, but I was only experiencing major pain when I sat up too suddenly in bed. I was using Ibuprofen exclusively when I left the hospital (after 3-4 days). Bring it up with your Dr, you may have something weird going on.

[flex]

take the meds. You're not being weak if you take them. Pain control is important.

And like the others have said, you've just had major surgery. Your energy level is going to be way down because of this. Surgery is stressful on the body. Plus you'll be experiencing sleep deprivation with the baby. Be gentle with yourself.

[vamoose]

That sounds totally normal. Take the pain meds and REST. Seriously. This is not the suffering olympics. The more you push yourself the longer this whole healing thing will drag on AND you risk tearing open the incision site or getting an infection. it took a full three weeks after my second c section before I could take my baby and my two year old to the park for even a short walk around and minimal supervision. It is so hard to just rest when you want to be up and about, but just rest. And take the meds.

[snickers]

I have no advice, but I hope the pain goes away soon.

[lolobeth802]

I delivered 2 babies vaginally and then had a C-section. It kicked my butt. I literally walked hunched over, bracing my abdomen for at least two weeks. The pain was more than I expected for sure.

[Booze Raccoon]

Aug 20, 2013 4:28:32 GMT -5 katandkevin said:

When I had my c/s I had a nurse try to wean me off of the pain meds on the second day. I was miserable and a total mess. Take the pain meds for a couple days as they directed you to. You not only gave birth, you had major abdominal surgery. Give it at least a week before you start weaning off the meds.

Holy shit!  The same thing happened to me!  she was a bitch!  I just waited until the night nurse came and she was AWESOME and let me have whatever I wanted.  

To OP - don't be afraid to take the meds, they will help!!  I overdid it myself and it wasn't fun.  I felt like it took forever to feel better.  Take your meds and RELAX!  Hope you feel better soon.

[litebright]

It was weeks before I felt normal. I got SO frustrated at not being able to do things I normally could, getting tired so easily, and just feel incapable.

The first few days were awful. I was only on vicodin and it did practically zip for me. I nearly cried every time I had to stand up, but I thought that was normal -- I mean, I was on vicodin, shouldn't that be enough when I'd only had advil after a vaginal birth? I didn't demand more/different pain meds until my anesthesiologist stopped by on the morning of day three to check on me, and told me I shouldn't be in that much pain. I ended up on the highest safe dose of oxytocin or something, and finally felt enough pain relief that I could walk, sit, stand up, etc. without feeling pain.

Don't be like me. Stay on top of the pain. That means feeling comfortable. If it means a higher dose or different meds for a few days or a week, that's OKAY. If you are feeling worse and not better, something is wrong and you need more help -- either meds, more rest, to take things easier/slower, or to be checked to make sure everything's okay physically.

[eddy]

Listen to us. Your job is that baby. Nursing the baby and laying around. Find something good on netflix and enjoy.

You are not depending your husband too much. He did not carrying a baby in his belly for 9 months. He did not have a c section. He is not feeding a baby with his boobs.

I think you two are even lol.

I get it. I am terrible at accepting help. You must accept it right now. You are going to make this recovery harder if you don't.

[Mrs. ChanandlerBong]

Aug 20, 2013 10:42:52 GMT -5 ste said:

After reading this, I've *definitely* been overdoing it. OMG. I won't even tell you my morning yesterday. lol

The first few days, my H and mom were helping a ton. But I've been pushing myself to do more, thinking I should be able to by now. My mom went home Sunday night (will come back for a few days when H goes back to work), and I've been feeling like I'm putting too much on H. I've also been taking the bare minimum meds, which I will rectify.

I'm not thinking anything is WRONG wrong, just unsure of "normal" wrong. I hate that so many can commiserate.

I had help for 2 solid weeks!

We have a 2 story house, I only went up once a day to shower. I had to sleep downstairs because our bed was too high for me to get into because of the surgery.

Feed the baby, let your house go to hell and if you have an older child, turn on the tv or ipad.

Huge huge hugs!

Take care of you first.

[BAMFMrsB]

I have to LOL at "I've been feeling like I'm putting too much on H". HA! He did not just have a tiny human removed via surgery from his abdomen, now did he? No. He is able-bodied and you are infirmed. Allow him (and your mom) to do all of the heavy lifting. You have the next 18+/- years to be Wonder Woman. Take a few weeks to recover. Your DS will not think less of you for it.

and for God's sake. TAKE THE DRUGS. My nurses gave the best advice: stay ahead of the pain. Stay on schedule and keep up with the pain management. You cannot get heal if you are trying to overdo it!

[sonrisa]

Aug 20, 2013 10:42:52 GMT -5 ste said:

After reading this, I've *definitely* been overdoing it.

Stop. Now. If you do something to further injure your already weakened body it can take months to heal from that. This wasn't labor. Labor has it's own recovery curve. This was major surgery + a newborn. Don't expect to be able to do what your friends could, when your friends could. 

[julesf84]

Yup. It's rough to recover from a c/s. That sounds normal, especially if you're only on day 6. It will get better! Keep on top of your meds to make sure you're covered.

[sonrisa]

Aug 20, 2013 11:39:32 GMT -5 Que? said:

 Your pain should be getting a bit better every day, not worse.

I agree with your previous statement of go to the doctor if you have any concerns.  I disagree with this statement. I've had more than one person tell me that for her, week two was worse than week one. That wasn't true for me, but the pain didn't start to get better day by day until more than a week in. Those first few days you also have the endorphins from labor on board to help with pain management. They end and you are left feeling like crap.

[eddy]

sqeeeee, baby!

[AlpineSlide]

Rest and take care of yourself!

[JayhawkGirl]

I had help for a week and a half after DS was born and have help lined up for 3 weeks this time (very nicely timed Christmas Break for my mom).

I came downstairs once and stayed there til bedtime. Your house can be dirty. Laundry can pile up. Have DH pick up paper plates tonight.

Any visitor- ask them for help. Dishes, grab a bag of trash, flip some laundry over.

Eat, sleep, shower. That's it for you and that flipping ADORABLE baby!!!!

[EloiseWeenie]

I've had 2 c-sections. I took the percocet until the prescription ran out (2 weeks). Rest, rest, rest! No dishes, no household chores, just relax and enjoy your baby. Take it slow. The more you overdo it now, the longer it will take to heal. H and family/friends are there to help, so let them.

Also, get some support panties from any dept. store (the ones that cover your whole stomach). It makes you feel supported, and it's easier to get in/out of bed/chairs.