Recovering from C-Section & Bedrest - How Long?

I need advice! I just had twin girls on the 18th, 4 days ago. They are big and perfect (8.5 and 7.10 and healthy). I had a c-section. BP skyrocketed from too much blood in recovery and I ended up on magnesium for 24 hours to prevent seizures and I'm on BP meds for a few weeks till my BP regulates (never been a problem before). I have been on full bedrest for 2 months and limited bedrest prior because I was SO big (I lasted until 38 weeks 5 days!) and I really had very limited mobility (the big babies explain that, I physically could not sit up). Plus I had 2 prior miscarriages and OB wanted to prevent issues. So, I've been immobile for months now.

I came home on day 3 barely able to walk to the bathroom. That was yesterday. I can't turn over in bed, I can barely do anything. I feel like I ran a marathon if I get in the shower or go potty. One twin screamed from 1 to 5am last night and my husband had to be up the entire time because I am SO winded from doing anything. I nursed and snuggled and that was it.

HOW LONG until I am back to normal?? I just can't stand this, I'm handicapped and I NEED to be super mom right now!!! What do I do get my energy level back up? Even walking to the bathroom exhausts me so it seems impossible for me to do anything to build endurance (or am I wrong?). What do I do heal from this c-section?? Is the issue just TIME?? I have ONLY 3 weeks with family here and I'm ALL on my own after that. I have a perfect awesome husband but he's NEEDED at work and can't really take off...his job (corporate accountant) is very demanding of his time and in this economy he works a LOT. So, he's great...when he's here but I NEED him to sleep so he has energy in the evenings and such for us. We already have an 8 & 10 yr old so I thought this would be easy (but no c-section or bedrest for them so I was "normal" the day I returned home).

HELP. I cried ALLLLLL last night out of frustration. I woke up today and cried for more than 2 hours because I am SO frustrated that I can't do anything. I need some practical advice. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

 

I was only on bedrest for one month and yet I found that the muscles in my back had seriously deteriorated and it took me probably a few weeks before I was back to normal. Try to leave heavy lifting to your DH or someone else who can help you.

 

:welcome: and congrats on those BIG healthy babies!

I was on 9 weeks of bedrest, had a c-section, and so I know how you are feeling! You really do have to do the bare minimum now and give your body a chance to recover. You are a supermom, you just can't fly yet!

That said, I only had help for the first week or so, and although it was rough at times, I did it!

The muscle weakness lasted for quite awhile, but gradually got better, just with doing the daily chores of lifting the babies, doing laundry, cleaning the floors, you know, all the fun stuff!

Definitely take advantage of your help while they are there, and don't try to do all of that yourself right now if you don't have to. :hug:

 

Well first, CONGRATS on your precious, amazing weights GIRLS!!! I suppose everyone is different in how fast they heal. I didn't fair too well on healing quickly after my c-section. My blood pressure went down, so I always felt like I was gonna pass out. Then I ended up getting two infections in my c-section scar and was put on antibiotics. All I can say, is use all the help you can for as long as you can. You don't need to be super mom, you just have to be mom by cuddling them, nursing them (if you breastfeed) and helping to direct your helpers. And it's ok to cry. I always did better emotionally after a long cry. It DOES get better, you will survive to share your recovery story to someone else here on TS. I survived, but didn't feel like myself until about 7 weeks. Hopefully you will turn a corner much sooner.

I can't wait until you feel better and can post some pictures of your girls! You got those two here safe and sound. Congrats again.

 

If there was one good thing I could say about my babies having to be in the NICU it was that I had time to recover. You DO have to take time. I can't imagine being on bed rest for so long. Take things easy while you have help. Do you have a recliner? I sat in ours a LOT after the csection. I couldn't get out of my bed w/out hurting myself. Lots of hugs and hang in there!!

 

Take it easy. I had similar issues and had to be readmitted to the hospital after just one day out - my bp went back up and I developed HELLP Syndrome, though they said it had nothing at all to do with my doing too much (which I did, too). No fun at all.

Anyway, take advantage of any help you can get. We put a bed in the nursery, when helped me to be close to the babies without having to walk much. For the first 3 months we all either lived in the nursery or on the couch. It was about 5 or 6 weeks before I felt well enough to walk a few blocks and that's what I did. After that, the recovery really got faster, but take baby steps.

I still feel a little sore from the c/s from time to time, but by 3 months I was feeling much much better and I'm sure you will, too. Big hugs to you! You've been through a lot - give yourself a break. You deserve it!!

Congrats on doing so well in your pregnancy and for your little miracles.

 

Hi, Congrats on your big girls!! I was never on bed rest but i did have a c-section. My recovery was actually pretty quick. I was a bridesmaid in a wedding 2 weeks after I delivered and I was not in pain by then and was walking at a fairly normal speed. Hope your recovery is quick and definitely take advantage of the help.

 

I was there too. It was miserable. No one had warned me (though if they had, I wouldn't have believed it was possible) that I'd feel worse after the girls were born than I did at the end of pregnancy. My body felt like I'd been run over by a truck, and the c-section pain wasn't even the worst part. I also had hugely swollen feet, looked 9 months pregnant, and had a stingy, itchy rash all over my body. Lovely.

Anyway, I felt pretty much the same for about the first week, then it gradually got a bit better, then at 10 days post-partum I suddenly felt a LOT better. The swelling went down and I could stand upright again. However, it took at least 3-4 weeks for my back pain to get better enough that I could change a diaper or wash a dish without having to lie down and recover. That was the worst part of it for me.

By about 4 months PP, I was pretty much back to normal except for the weight, which took another few months to come off.

I think it was the pregnancy and bedrest, not the c-section, that really did a number on me. I was only on modified BR and only for 8 weeks, but that was enough to turn me into a limp noodle. HUGS!

 

:welcome: to FY

I agree with all the pp's. It takes time to get back to having some energy. I was on modified bedrest for weeks and then on hospital bedrest for 2 weeks before they were born. I had some serious muscle atrophy. It took me a few months to get back to having some stamina and almost a year before I felt like I could exercise without falling over. Congrats on your babes!!

 

Your story sounds a lot like mine. I had high BP after delivery, bedrest before and I went to 38.4 weeks. Here I am 16 days post C-sect. and I feel great. I would say I'm back to about 90%. Hang in there!!! It gets a little better every day. So far, every day I feel better than I did the previous day. My one bit of advice is DONT OVERDO IT!!!!! If you push yourself too much, you will actually lengthen your recovery time. I think also the pregnancy hurt my body more than the C-section. I still have a heavy pelvic feeling and my stomach muscles are shot and it feels like I did about 1000 crunches. Just hang in there because every day gets better, so long as you don't overdo it. I only had help for one week so you are lucky!!

 

I had to have an emergency C-section with my now 3 year-old daughter. I stayed 4 days in the hospital. The first couple days were really rough in hospital, but I had help from my hubby and nurses. I came home and did ok - but I was in a single-level house caring for one baby. I was sore, but for the most part it wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be and I actually recovered pretty quickly. I would say I felt a lot better after the first week of surgery.

Now, with the upcoming twins- I'm not so sure. They already told me that I will have to have a C-section (many reasons behind this). I have moved and have a two-story house. And, I have my 3 year old to care for. I'm a bit worried about how my recovery will go this time around.

I wish you luck. I was never put on bedrest with my first child and she was a singleton, so you are dealing with very different dynamics with your C-section. Hang in there. It will get better with time.

Take care of youself, and know there are others out there sending good thoughts your way!

 

Yes, this does sound familiar. I was on 12 weeks of bedrest, c-section and then ended up back on bedrest when the twins were about a week old due to my bp. My twins turn 4 months this week. I'm still not 100%. i was so weak. I couldn't even lift my arms to wash my hair in the shower. After the first month, things got a lot better. My ob said it would take "months" to full recovery. I can certainly see that is going to be the case. Hang in there!!!

 

Congratulations on your BIG babies!! Good job Momma! I had a c-section as well and felt back to normal after a few weeks in terms of pain and mobility. I was not on bedrest prior to their birth but I was so big I could hardly get off the couch for the last month. It took a long time to get my stamina back but I definitely felt a lot better after a few weeks. Take full advantage of having your family around and continue to rest up! I also had BP issues post op and although I was never on meds it took 6 weeks for my BP to normalize after birth ( I had no BP issues during pregnancy).

Congrats again and Welcome to the First Year!

~Katie

 

I didn't have a c-section so I'm not sure how that factors in, but I was on hospital bedrest for 11 weeks before the babies came and it definitely takes time to feel top-notch again. The first few days I walked with my wheelchair (my babies were in the NICU) because my legs would just give way without warning. By the end of the week though I was walking all over, but EXHAUSTED at the end of every day. By the time we took the babies home at 30 days, I was able to take care of them with no problems. Just realize that your body has done an amazing piece of work, carrying those babies for so long and being on bedrest. You WILL heal, just try to give yourself some slack and relax. I hope you feel better soon and are able to get all the help you need! :hug: Oh and welcome to TS!

 

QUOTE(twinmomgirlsmarch09 @ Mar 22 2009, 03:38 PM) [snapback]1239470[/snapback]
One twin screamed from 1 to 5am last night and my husband had to be up the entire time because I am SO winded from doing anything. I nursed and snuggled and that was it.


Awww, mama, big hugs to you - honestly, in those first few weeks, if you can manage nursing and snuggling, and not going nuts, you're in good shape - honestly, I had (IMO) a fairly easy recovery, and really that's about all I managed in those first few weeks (with help from my husband and mother)

QUOTE
HOW LONG until I am back to normal?? I just can't stand this, I'm handicapped and I NEED to be super mom right now!!! What do I do get my energy level back up? Even walking to the bathroom exhausts me so it seems impossible for me to do anything to build endurance (or am I wrong?). What do I do heal from this c-section?? Is the issue just TIME??


It is normal, and you just have to take time to recover! It took me probably 1.5 weeks just to be able to get up comfortably out of bed (and the first 5 days of that was in the hospital, one baby rooming in and one in the NICU). Walk (slowly) as much as is comfortable, but really, don't be afraid to ask anyone and everyone to bring you water, bring you food, whatever - you just hang out on the couch with your babies and relax! My early post partum, my mom was here to help, while my husband was back at work.... what really helped me during that time was around 3:30pm or so (just after a feeding, mom was around to watch the babies, and my husband would be arriving home soon to help), I would go nap for an hour or two... it gave me enough energy to get myself through to the later evening feedings. I was never good at the 'sleep when the babies sleep' - because they did NOT have any kind of routine sleeping schedule at that point - so I just took a time in the late afternoon, when they had just been fed, and were normally relatively calm and napped.

As for the pain and everything else, I started feeling a lot better 4 weeks postpartum - I still had random pains around my incision until probably 8-10 weeks postpartum (nothing severe, just a random ouch here and there), but by 4-5 weeks I could at least be up, about and I think (if I remember correctly) go out with the girls by myself (on a very limited basis - like to the pediatrician and back, but hey))

 

Hello,
Here are my words of wisdom after a c-section and bedrest gone wrong. I hemorrhaged after my c-section and wasn't able to get out of my hospital bed for four days. On the fourth day I got out, nearly fainted, but made it to the washroom. I came home from the hospital on the sixth day, still barely able to get out of bed except to use the washroom. My husband would bring the babies to me to BF. However, by the 8th day, I had pain in my leg and, to make a long story short, I spent the better part of the next two months in the hospital with blood clots, pulmonary embolisms, and all sorts of complications. Please try your best to move despite it being painful. When I look back, I wish I had forced myself to move more despite the pain. Even doing leg exercises in bed may have helped my situation. When it came to feeling that my c-section had healed and I felt like doing more, I would say it took me six weeks until I could move without even thinking about the pain. I know that this isn't the case with everyone and I was also in the hospital dealing with more than most would be. However, I don't want to alarm you but at the same time I don't want to see anyone get blood clots needlessly. I hope for your sake you make a quick recovery and are able to deal with the babies on your own shortly. It gets better quickly, just the first few weeks can be very painful. Please take care of yourself and don't push yourself too hard. It's difficult to find a balance, especially with two little munchkins who require your constant care.
Lydia

 

Thank you for your thoughts everyone!!!!!

I have an update! My twins are now 9 days old. After I posted this I was continually exhausted just from walking to the restroom etc. I was huffing and puffing. When the babies were 6 days old I just could barely catch my breath. It scared me, I was afraid to fall asleep. I felt silly but called my OB and told her I did not feel right. She had me come in and sent me directly to a cardiologist once she saw how out of breath I was. They determined that I had a post natal issue...my heart was not pumping as strong as it should due to the extra volume of blood and that in turn caused fluid on my lungs. SO, my exhaustion was MUCH MUCH MUCH more than bedrest issues!!! Scary. They wanted to put me in the hospital and I just cried and cried so they sent me home but made me go in every day so they could see progress, thank God. The thought of leaving my twins (and my other 2 children) just broke my heart.

I'm now on medication to remove the fluid on my lungs (lost 17 pounds in 30 hours!!!!) and on heart medicine. It's temporary. She said my heart will correct itself and this happens to "older" moms more often than younger moms (I'm 37). I'm very healthy and NEVER had a problem prior (my bp was perfect all during my pregnancy too!).

I've now been on meds for 2 days and feel like a different person!! I can breath and I have energy again!! Now I'm just dealing with the csection pain which is still killing me!!

Thought I'd update everyone in case someone else ever feels like this. There's a website about JUST this issue http://www.amothersheart.org/index.htm. I had EVERY symptom!!

 

Wow! Thanks so much for sharing what happened. I'm so glad you called! :hug:

 

I'm so glad you talked to your OB! Oh my! Happy to hear you are feeling better and will not have any serious side effects.