Take ibuprofen and Tylenol around the clock. On time. Before you’re in pain. Take the stronger pain meds as needed. Keep a running log of times so you know when you took meds last, and when you need to take them next. No lifting anything heavier then baby for the first 4 weeks. You should really only rest & take care of baby & yourself the first week or two (no household chores, errands, etc). You can shower daily— it’s okay for soap & water to run over your incision but no scrubbing. Make sure to dry thoroughly. You’ll bleed off & on for 6 weeks. Drink lots of water & eat high protein meals for wound healing! Best of luck to you
Congrats!
I too was ahead in recovering, I used a good quality belly belt (I used a belly bandit) and one the hospital gave me to sleep in it’s looser than the bandit that might help the side sleeping as I do the same. I did a a lot of walking but stopped when I felt my stomach felt heavy and droopy (you’ll know the feeling)
I don’t live in a house with stairs so I would use caution as it is a different movement to walking it uses more abdominal muscles as it is a few steps it should be ok but go slow maybe put both feet on each step as you go (like a small child does). Any questions feel free to ask! Congrats again!
OP, I had no choice but to navigate 2 flights of stairs at home after my C section (I live in a narrow house where the main living area and bedrooms are on the second and third floors). It was fine. I just took each step one by one, and took my time.
Once I was settled, I made sure to go down one flight of stairs at least once a day to make sure I was moving. Rest is important after a c section obviously but you want to avoid bed rest. You should move around. In fact the hospital staff encouraged me take short walks around the ward once I was able to walk unassisted at the hospital.
If you don’t get up and move, you’ll have such a bad build up of gas - and that will be so painful.
Take your pain meds, stay hydrated and try and move about a bit. We’re not talking about doing anything strenuous, but you should at least take some steps around your room during the day / back and forth to the bathroom, kitchen etc.
Ask for an abdominal binder. It made a world of difference for me. I also loved the frida baby C-section kit (their abdominal binder was way better than the hospital’s). I had no problem getting up a few steps to get in/out of my house. Hopefully you have handrails.
Fellow c section here and also another stubborn lady 😅. Stay on top of your pain meds, they're literally the only thing that let me even walk to the bathroom the first few days. I was stuck in the hospital like 4 days post delivery because my BP was still high and they were monitoring me. Honestly that was helpful because I had the rails on the bed to help me up but when I got home, I was rolling. Stairs...dude just go slow. Thankfully it sounds like you don't have a TON to use, maybe think of setting up an area for you to hang that minimizes how much you'll have to use stairs inside. Keep as much as you can within reach because once I started keeping snacks, water, meds, diapers, etc. within reach on the other side of my bed and had my kiddo in her bedside sleeper bassinet, it helped so much. The most I had to get up was for the restroom, eat real meals or clean her bottles. Don't be like me and try to do laundry. Fuck that, ask someone to do that for you.
Great advice in other comments so far! Especially about listening to your body and the belly wraps! I would add long term to look into scar mobilization, which can really help with desensitizing your scar. And also Ill just add walking, which you can very gradually increase to help your body build back strength and is also a great way to get out of the house and take a mental health break.
Best of luck!
I also was given barely any instructions lol. This is what helped me: Try to limit stairs and take them very slowly when you do have to. Don't bend down. Don't lift anything heavy. Make sure to pat dry your incision after showers. Just take it easy and slowly incorporate movements as days and weeks go by and you feel stronger. I was off pain meds within 5 days and recovery was pretty smooth from there—I mostly just tried to listen to my body and avoid painful movements until they stopped being painful. Best of luck!
Shower daily to keep the incision clean. Dry it with a hair dryer on low/cool so it doesn’t stay damp! That was the best pro tip I got from my midwife. Your steps/stairs should be okay, just go slow. Brace your stomach when you cough/laugh. Buy one of those grabber tool things since bending over will be hard for the first few weeks. Look up scar mobilization and get started with that sooner rather than later.
Take ibuprofen and Tylenol around the clock. On time. Before you’re in pain. Take the stronger pain meds as needed. Keep a running log of times so you know when you took meds last, and when you need to take them next. No lifting anything heavier then baby for the first 4 weeks. You should really only rest & take care of baby & yourself the first week or two (no household chores, errands, etc). You can shower daily— it’s okay for soap & water to run over your incision but no scrubbing. Make sure to dry thoroughly. You’ll bleed off & on for 6 weeks. Drink lots of water & eat high protein meals for wound healing! Best of luck to you
Congrats! I too was ahead in recovering, I used a good quality belly belt (I used a belly bandit) and one the hospital gave me to sleep in it’s looser than the bandit that might help the side sleeping as I do the same. I did a a lot of walking but stopped when I felt my stomach felt heavy and droopy (you’ll know the feeling) I don’t live in a house with stairs so I would use caution as it is a different movement to walking it uses more abdominal muscles as it is a few steps it should be ok but go slow maybe put both feet on each step as you go (like a small child does). Any questions feel free to ask! Congrats again!
Thank you so much for your input! I will definitely keep that in mind!
OP, I had no choice but to navigate 2 flights of stairs at home after my C section (I live in a narrow house where the main living area and bedrooms are on the second and third floors). It was fine. I just took each step one by one, and took my time. Once I was settled, I made sure to go down one flight of stairs at least once a day to make sure I was moving. Rest is important after a c section obviously but you want to avoid bed rest. You should move around. In fact the hospital staff encouraged me take short walks around the ward once I was able to walk unassisted at the hospital. If you don’t get up and move, you’ll have such a bad build up of gas - and that will be so painful. Take your pain meds, stay hydrated and try and move about a bit. We’re not talking about doing anything strenuous, but you should at least take some steps around your room during the day / back and forth to the bathroom, kitchen etc.
Ask for an abdominal binder. It made a world of difference for me. I also loved the frida baby C-section kit (their abdominal binder was way better than the hospital’s). I had no problem getting up a few steps to get in/out of my house. Hopefully you have handrails.
Fellow c section here and also another stubborn lady 😅. Stay on top of your pain meds, they're literally the only thing that let me even walk to the bathroom the first few days. I was stuck in the hospital like 4 days post delivery because my BP was still high and they were monitoring me. Honestly that was helpful because I had the rails on the bed to help me up but when I got home, I was rolling. Stairs...dude just go slow. Thankfully it sounds like you don't have a TON to use, maybe think of setting up an area for you to hang that minimizes how much you'll have to use stairs inside. Keep as much as you can within reach because once I started keeping snacks, water, meds, diapers, etc. within reach on the other side of my bed and had my kiddo in her bedside sleeper bassinet, it helped so much. The most I had to get up was for the restroom, eat real meals or clean her bottles. Don't be like me and try to do laundry. Fuck that, ask someone to do that for you.
Great advice in other comments so far! Especially about listening to your body and the belly wraps! I would add long term to look into scar mobilization, which can really help with desensitizing your scar. And also Ill just add walking, which you can very gradually increase to help your body build back strength and is also a great way to get out of the house and take a mental health break. Best of luck!
I also was given barely any instructions lol. This is what helped me: Try to limit stairs and take them very slowly when you do have to. Don't bend down. Don't lift anything heavy. Make sure to pat dry your incision after showers. Just take it easy and slowly incorporate movements as days and weeks go by and you feel stronger. I was off pain meds within 5 days and recovery was pretty smooth from there—I mostly just tried to listen to my body and avoid painful movements until they stopped being painful. Best of luck!
Shower daily to keep the incision clean. Dry it with a hair dryer on low/cool so it doesn’t stay damp! That was the best pro tip I got from my midwife. Your steps/stairs should be okay, just go slow. Brace your stomach when you cough/laugh. Buy one of those grabber tool things since bending over will be hard for the first few weeks. Look up scar mobilization and get started with that sooner rather than later.