As you all know I was not happy about the way Liam's birth turned out. After we had planning a peaceful home birth I was whisked away in an ambulance and put under general anesthesia to deliver him by cesarean I'm getting over it, slowly. But there were some things that I was shocked weren't told to me at the hospital. I'm not sure if this was because I am a fourth time mom, but I was literally given no information about what to expect for the coming weeks. Thanks to some other c-section mamas I got a lot of questions answered. Please share this blog with anyone about to have a baby. I know all too well that although you may not want to have a cesarean birth it may just happen!
- You'll feel numb around the incision site. Not for a few weeks or months but permanently. At 5 months postpartum I still do not have feeling around the incision Apparently this is normal, some people get the feeling back eventually, some never do especially if you have multiple sections so don't hold your breath.
- You might grieve. Planned or emergency be prepared to deal a little grief. Whether it's those moments you missed after the birth, or the c section wasn't what you expected. It's perfectly normal to grieve.
- You'll want to carry a pillow around. Sneezes and coughs can come out of nowhere and using a pillow to put pressure on the area can help with the discomfort.
- Your incision site could break open - I know, gross right? But it happens. It's more common than you'd think. Usually you'll know because you'll start having some bleeding or seepage at the incision site. Make sure to see your doctor in case it's serious but most of the time it will just take some extra time to heal.
- It's a good idea to massage the incision site (once it's healed). I've with a few c section mamas and no one is aware of this at all. Small adhesion's can form around the scar connecting tissues to places they shouldn't be. These adhesion's can cause pelvis and lower back pain and can even keep you from flattening your tummy, even with exercise! Here's a great site that explain how, when and why you should massage your c section scar.
Do you have any tips for c section recovery?
What weren't you told that you wish you knew?
2 comments:
Mostly the grieving - I wasn't expecting to be so upset about missing a birth (although I really appreciated the extra hospital stay time, since my husband had literally started a new job the day they did it so couldn't have been home right away). I'm already worried I won't be able to do a VBAC when we have another one, which is something else they didn't mention.
Also, even now almost a year later my incision is sensitive to touch - it itches easily, can still be painful to touch, and is also numb in places. It healed kind of crooked too as my body does not deal well with healing incisions of any kind.
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