c-section recovery question

I'm just full of questions today ladies!! I had my girls on Monday and had a vaginal for Allie and ended up with a c-section for Maddie. This was my first as I had my first three vaginally. I am so miserable. I have been taking the Advil and then the pain pills on occasion. I don't like taking them too much. I usually try to just take them a couple times a day. Usually one the morning when I get up and then one in the evening before I take a shower. I am trying to take it easy but it's hard. My husband is off right now and does everything for our three older children and around the house. I have just been taking care of the babies. He does a lot to help me with them as well. I haven't been lifting anything and I try not to get up/down a lot. It's hard though as everyone knows. I am supposed to have my staples removed this afternoon when the home nurse comes for a visit. My husband will be off all next week and then goes back part time for a couple more weeks. After that it's just me and all the kids. I am starting to get nervous about him going back to work. I feel like a huge baby because last night I was just bawling my eyes out I hurt so bad. Just curious though how long does it take to start feeling better?

 

Hmmm...What meds do you have? I know after the week, the lactation consultant had wanted me off the meds-as it made the babies sleeping(I was attempting b/fing). Are you taking the pain meds with the motrin? Did they give you motrin? I think motrin is better-but don't quote me-for pain relief, etc.

You just had MAJOR surgery. Do not feel like a baby! :hug: What advice I can offer you is to REST REST REST. Let your dh get up with the babies and bring them to you. Just try to rest. I know easier said than done. The more I moved in the hospital, the easier the recovery was, and I stayed on top of my meds. Listen to your body. Don't try to be superwoman-take the meds if need be-they WILL help. Big hugs to you momma! And a big congratulations on the birth of your twins!!!

 

She gave some GREAT advice! Rest but move! The more you move around, the faster the recovery will be, but take your pain meds on schedule, not only when you feel you need them. Don't worry about housework or anything.. let someone else do it!!!

 

Congrats on the babies! I was in hospital for 5 days (went home on the 5th) and although I hate taking meds, I took a tylenol and advil together several times a day which helped me move around and walk almost right away. This way I had virtually no pain. The moving around helped a lot.

I stopped taking pain meds after about 6-7 days (sort of tapered myself off of them) and I was lucky I had no issues. My OB removed my stitches on day 2 and put steri-strips on, I don't know if that made a difference.

Good luck and speedy recovery. Remember to take it easy and move as much as you can but carefully.

 

I second the advice to take your pain meds as long as you need them! I had a schedule and I took ibuprofen and my other pain med (I want to say it was Vicodin?)at alternating times so that I never had a lapse or break wear either or would wear off. It's up to you stay on top of it, and you really should take it as moving around will help with your recovery and you need to feel better to do that! I am usually a person who never, ever takes pain meds, but I listened to the advice of everyone and took mine religiously for about two weeks after my cesarean and it helped so much. The one or two times I forgot I really regretted it.

It really is amazing how quickly you'll be back on your feet, although you will have to modify what you do and certainly take it easy for a while, but you should be able to take care of your babies' basic needs while your dh is back at work.

You'll be running around again in no time!

 

You will be back on your feet before you know it. I remember after about a week or so feeling like a whole new person! Then after that it just continued to improve over the weeks. By the time I went back to work, I was feeling totally back to normal. The only thing I noticed after about 5 or 6 weeks post surgery was if my incision got rubbed wrong, it would bother me a little. I also agree with staying on top of your meds. I don't remember exactly how long I took mine though, but it REALLY made a difference. Congratulations and good luck!

 

OMG- take your meds!!! You must be in so much pain!! I took meds for 2 weeks with both of my c-sections. I was very careful to take them at regular intervals to stay on top of the pain. BTW - sorry to hear about your birth experience - a vaginal followed by a c-section - you deserve a trophy!! Hope you are feeling better soon.

 

I started feeling a lot better after about 10 days. At first I couldn't even take care of the babies -- not just from the c/s but from the wreck that pregnancy had made of my body. I could sit and feed them, but could barely stand up long enough to change a diaper.

I think you will probably do better if you actually take the pain pills, unless they make you feel awful in some other way. For me, they caused terrible constipation (which was painful in its own way), but I wish I had taken them more regularly right up front and started to walk around more. I was trying to get by with just Tylenol, and it took me several days to realize that that feeling of an iron bar pressing into my stomach was actually pain (not just "pressure" or "discomfort") and the Percocet helped a lot.

 

I can say that with my c-section 1) definitely take the meds - I filled my percocet but never took any but I did take Advil - I believe I was on 600mg every 4 hours, and Gas -X like 2x a day, stool softner a couple times. I didn't taper off the advil until the 3rd week - 1 week before my DH was going back to work.

My DH did everything as well. I pretty much was feeding baby's and pumping 24/7 and was an emotional train wreck. Before DH went back to work, we bought lots of frozen meals and easy snacks that the kids had access to w/no limits - obviously not something we'll continue to do, but for the short interim period it is a life saver.

I would say by week 4 I started feeling 90% normal. I am now 10 weeks out and feel about 98%. The last 2% is all my lack of stomach muscles so moving too quickly - like up and down the stairs still feels really awkward and who knows if it'll every feel normal again. I don't think my incision really hurt all that bad (not as bad as I thought it would). Just every now and again I get stingy sensations and my pubic hair (sorry if TMI) around the incision is growing back in the wrong direction so the friction against that is not great.

Every week will get better - I didn't think it would but it does! Also, congrats on your babies and your are amazing for delivery both ways! Take care and get as much rest as possible and try not to worry about what you are not doing (hard to do sometimes I know) it all works out!

 

Thank you so much for all the advice!!! I love this site. It is great getting advice from other twin mommies. I used to post on another parenting site which was great when I had one newborn but this is such a different experience. It's nice to talk to other moms going through the same exact thing!


I have been staying on top of the meds today. I took a pain pill this morning and then again this afternoon. I have the home health care nurse coming later this afternoon/evening to remove my staples and I really want to make sure I have the pain meds in my system (along with the Advil) so it isn't too painful. I feel really good today but am just tired. Everytime I feed one of the babies I doze. Even sitting here on the laptop my head is ready to just hit the table. My husband is going to take my three older children to the park soon so I think I might lay down and snooze since they babies will be sleeping too.

 

I was always falling asleep while nursing my babies during those first few weeks. Between the lack of sleep, recovery from surgery that your body is doing, and that rush of hormones every time your milk lets down it's hard to stay awake! I just made sure that I was leaning back a bit and had the baby solidly on a boppy or other nursing pillow and felt free to snooze a bit til someone woke me up to feed the other baby ;P

 

I didn't want any pain meds, so my OB gave me a script for a stronger version of Aleve. It was fantastic. It didn't make me sleepy and it took the edge off so I could function normally. Maybe you can ask for something that would work better than what you are currently taking that won't make you sleepy.

 

I know everyone reacts differently with meds and you know your body. My lactation consultant implored me to take my meds for at least 1-2 weeks until I could sample with skipping some doses. I did not fall of the schedule and nursed fine. I would say day 8 or 9 I started decreasing, after I had had more rest. I moved around a lot while I was on them because it was easier and they told me...get moving. I was on an 800mg ibuprofen which I took a couple times a day and percoset. I think I missed one dose early on and that was plenty enough to convince me to not do that again! I felt a bit of my uterus contracting back and I was like..."no thank you!" If you have another week I might suggest getting back on them - the focus is to get healed and rested. If you are already battling pain and feel miserable, you might not heal as quickly for many reasons. Here is a great link on kellymom.com for reading about drugs and breastfeeding.

 

Hi, and congrats on your babies!

I had a c-section 3.5 weeks ago and honestly, it took 2 full weeks before I was feeling stronger. Not 100%, but definitely stronger. DH is not working right now, so he took the night shift and let me sleep - which was HUGE for my recovery. I also had my mom and MIL over a few times a week to help with the babies and to do laundry, dishes, etc. I took percocet for the first week along with the 600mg motrin twice daily and that helped IMMENSELY with the pain. The best thing you can do is to rest. Take frequent naps and try to let someone else handle the nighttime feedings. If you are BF'ing, pump pump pump. I pumped and fed formula just so I could sleep in the nighttime. This is major surgery. Don't be so hard on yourself. I cried daily until 2 weeks passed. I was very hard on myself and blamed myself for not being stronger. But you know what? You r body can only handle so much right now. C-section recovery AND caring for TWO INFANTS is HARD!!!! Get some sleep mama.
You can do this when you're rested.

xxoo

 

Everyone gave you great advice. Just take your meds every 4 hrs like perscribed weather you think you need them or not. As for the staple removal, you won't even feel it. I felt maybe 2 being taken out.