6 Things They Don’t Tell You About C-Section Recovery
My second delivery proved to be a completely different experience than my first. My first delivery occurred at 36.5 weeks gestation, and was a vaginal delivery after a prolonged labor and pushing process. The result of that process was a beautiful 6 lb 8 oz baby girl. Naturally, when I was coming up to my 36th week of gestation with my second child, I figured I would be having that baby “any day”. Well, at nearly 41 weeks of gestation, the labor process finally began (so just an extra 5 weeks of waiting….). My labor went on for a LONG time, and after nearly 24 hours of my water being broken, there were some signs that baby was in distress and it was recommended that we proceed with a C-section for the delivery of my second child. Well, apparently keeping baby in utero for an extra 5 weeks compared to the first one allows a little more time for growth. After being whisked away into the operating room, my son was born at a sturdy 9 lb 1 oz weight!
I was grateful for his safe and healthy delivery, but I was certainly not expecting major abdominal surgery as part of the labor and delivery plan. I had already experienced a successful vaginal delivery of my first baby, so why would I expect anything different for this one? Well, I learned a few things about C-section recovery that I think are important to share.
Major abdominal surgery.
You will feel the incision on your belly every time you cough, sneeze, or move. This means that riding in the car home from the hospital you will feel your incision pull, tug, and possibly twinge/hurt with every corner you take in the car, or every small bump your car goes over. Since you’ve had major abdominal surgery, you may be given prescription strength pain medications. CAUTION! Many prescription pain medications slow down your digestion and cause constipation. There is nothing you want less than to be constipated and have bloating in the belly after you’ve had major abdominal surgery!! Be sure to drink LOTS of water and keep moving around on a regular basis. It might be sore to move around, but I guarantee that soreness is much better than dealing with major constipation and bloating.No Bath!
WHAT? Since you have a healing incision on your abdomen, it is recommended to avoid soaking in a bathtub for about 3-4 weeks or until the incision is fully healed and no open areas are present. You will be able to shower as soon as you feel steady and confident in maintaining a standing position. However, baths will have to wait for several weeks. No recovering and relaxing your sore muscles in the tub after a C-section! You’ll have to keep that incision area clean and dry to allow for healing. Maybe you can convince your significant other to gently massage your sore muscles instead of soaking in the tub.Reaching will feel impossible.
Trying to reach over the railing of the crib to place baby down to sleep will be a fun challenge because your sore, healing incision gets in the way and reaching with the nearly 10 lb weight of a baby into a crib can be a real challenge. I found it incredibly helpful to have a small bassinet right by my bedside, so that I didn’t have to lift baby up/over the crib railing each time baby needed to eat during the night. I also kept baby by my bedside so that I wasn’t rushing from room to room every time baby needed me. You won’t be rushing anywhere for awhile while your incision is healing, slow and steady wins the race and prevents abdominal pains!10 lb lifting restriction for 4-6 weeks
Oh yeah, your baby weighs almost 10 lbs, and that’s all you are allowed to lift for 4-6 weeks postpartum. That doesn’t even include the weight of a carseat, so carrying baby + carseat = maxing out your lifting restriction. Never mind that you may have other small toddlers and children at home who are begging to be held by their momma, but you need to let your abdominal incision heal for 4-6 weeks before lifting heavier loads. Find other ways to give your toddlers and children the attention they desperately need, such as snuggling on the couch to read a book. It might also be helpful to accept help from a significant other, family member, or friend who offers to stay with you 24/7 during your first few weeks of recovery. They can be a lifesaver with picking up the heavy lifting and chores around the house.You will still bleed for weeks after giving birth.
Even though you didn’t birth your child through your vaginal canal, you will still bleed from your vagina for the next few weeks. Your body will still shed the lining of the uterus like a prolonged menstrual period after giving birth via C-section. So keep those fancy mesh underwear and heavy duty pads handy!Urinary leakage or urinary urgency are common after birth via C-section, but it is NOT normal.
The incision on the abdomen just above the pubic bone needs to heal together, but often the scar tissue can adhere down to structures below it such as the bladder causing urinary symptoms. The C-section scar tissue can also cause tightness of the fascia which can create pain of the abdomen well after the incision is healed. You might turn to reach for something years after your C-section and feel a sharp pain as the fascia/scar tissue has gotten stuck down in areas where it doesn’t need to be. These fascial restrictions can also contribute to urinary symptoms, difficulty contracting the pelvic floor, difficulty contracting the abdominal muscles properly (which can lead to low back pain), or pain of the pelvic area (including pain with sexual intercourse). The good news, is that if any of these symptoms occur for you after your C-section - there are pelvic floor physical therapists out there waiting to help you!
At Shift Physical Therapy and Wellness, we specialize in helping women in their postpartum journey. We’ve experienced many of these things personally and have a passion to help women gain back their CONFIDENCE and CONTROL after having their babies, whether it be through a vaginal delivery or C-section.
Written by: Renee Hancock, Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist and Mom of 2!
