C Section - Arlington,TX

I had two c-sections less than a year apart. Both of mine went wonderfully, and I was feeling great after just a few days. It took about two-three weeks to really be able to lift stuff and be back to normal, but it wasn't near as bad as I had imagined!!!

Good Luck and Congrats on the twins!!

I had to have a c-section with my son (now 17 mo.). I healed pretty quick, with no problems at all. The first couple of days in the hospital were the worst, but not terrible. I was able to rest a lot since my mom stayed for the first week to help out. Since you have a 5 y/o and you will have newborn twins, I would recommend taking all the help you can get! The best thing for you to heal quickly is to get lots of rest, which will be hard for you! I was fully back to normal within about a month. The pain wasn't too bad, not anything tylenol couldn't handle. Congrats on the new babies!

I've had two c-sections. My first was an emergency c-section due to my daughters heart rate falling and not coming back up. I opted for a repeat c-section with my son because I was scared to let that happen again.

My first piece of advice is to get out of bed as soon as they let you. Walk. Don't over do it. Take the pain medication on the schedule they are intended for. Even the best nurse may forget your pain medication, I reminded mine about 15 minutes before I was due to have it. The trick is to stay on top of the pain. It is easier to prevent it by taking every dose of pain meds versus trying to get the pain to go away after it starts. Ask the nurse how often you can take the pills and remind them about it.

Walking and moving will keep the muscles from getting to stiff. Now, I'm not saying to any yoga or anything, but don't lay in bed all the time because it hurts. Yes, it's going to hurt - it's major surgery. Walk. Walk. Walk.

My recovery was pretty quick. My daughter was born a few days before the 4th of July. I was out of the hospital on July 3rd. Went to my parent's house on July 4th for a BBQ with family and was shopping on July 5th. I took it slow on the shopping trip and I was fine. I pretty much had the same recovery with my son. I think that taking my pain pills and walking were what helped me feel better so soon.

Don't go home and clean house or do the laundry, let somebody else do that. Accept any help that is offered, but that help should be things that you can't or shouldn't do like cleaning, laundry, preparing meals, etc.

Congrats on the babies and good luck!

Edited to add that I totally agree with Kaycee about the tummy wrap - that thing is awesome!! Wear that 24/7 for a while.

Hi! Congrats on the new babies! How exciting.

I had a C-Section with my son (he's 5 as well) and had NO PROBLEMS. One tip I had heard ahead of time that stuck with me (I didn't go in planning on a CS) was to get up and walk as soon as they will let you and as often as you can.

I did that and ended up having a fabulous recovery. The doctor also told me to not be afraid to take the pain meds, so I wasn't! I came home from the hospital after 48 hours without a problem, and was home alone with my son from the time he was 1 week old. I even cooked and cleaned some.

My BFF had a baby 1 week before I did and ended up having a CS, as well. She had LOTS of help for several weeks and she ended up having a long drawn out recovery. I really think it is because she didn't have to do anything and she was afraid to take her pain meds very often (because they can cause constipation). Luckily, the nurse told me before I left the hospital about that side effect and suggested I use a stool softener.

Anyway... I hope that your recovery goes as well as mine did! Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions!

My first c/s I was home 48 hours later, and back to normal at 2 weeks - work at 6 weeks. The second I was home 26 hours later, and back to work at 2 weeks - wasn't back to normal for 3 months... but I think that had something to do with no 'time' to recover.

I am a maternal-child nurse and have personally delivered my first 2 children vaginally and my 3rd c/s. You typically have a catheter in place for 12-24 hours after the procedure, IV fluids/IV access for 24 hours, and need help getting up - you must get out of bed when the nurse tells you - it is better to get up and get moving. Use pain medication so that you are comfortable enough to move - but not asleep all the time. It is surgery - my c/s was an emergency - and I had it on a Friday morning - by the following Thursday (Thanksgiving) - I was cooking for everyone and fine! My recovery post c/s was actually easier than my recovery from a very traumatic vaginal delivery where I had 4th degree tearing - so just pain in different place.

I haven't read the other responses, but I thought I'd give you my 2 cents. I had an emergency one with my first. I panicked when I found out because I was living with my sister when she had one. Several weeks afterwards, my brother-in-law was still having to help her sit down on the toilet. I'm the kind of person that can't stand being cooped up and dependent on people like that. That said, I had my c-section around dinner time that evening. I felt very nauseated and sore that evening (I got the dry heaves very badly). The hospital gave me something to help and it knocked me out. The next morning, I was walking around the hospital room. I was sore, but it was nothing unbearable. I just moved slowly. I stopped taking the pain pills a day or two after going home and just took Tylenol. I hated the way the pain pills knocked me out. I do remember my husband having to get the baby the first week or so home because I couldn't get up fast enough.

With my second, it was a scheduled c-section. I remember pretty much the same exact experience with the nausea (all those drugs on an empty stomach did not sit well with me), but again, I was walking around the hospital room the very next day. I went to the grocery store on the way home from the hospital and was a Christmas Eve service at chuch when my baby was only 9 days old.

I didn't feel that it was that terrible. I moved slowly, but by about a week or so, I was moving just fine. The second was a little harder because I had a 2 year old who liked to come at me which was frightening at times :) The only problem I have with my scar now is when I wear low cut underwear. I can't stand for the underwear elastic to touch it, so, gone were my "pretty" underpants! Good luck!!!!

My first was awful, but probably just because it was an emergency. I was totally freaked out about another, but the scheduling made all the difference. Most of the horror stories you hear are people who had emergency C-Sections. When it is scheduled like yours, you are much better off. Like others said, walk, walk, walk... as soon as they let you. Not only does it stop you getting sore, but it helps your "bodily functions" to get flowing again. I am not kidding when I say the worst part of my recovery from my first was constipation - do all you can to avoid that!!!!! Pain killers can make that worse too, but they are necessary. Take them when you need them, but try to schedule a short walk with every one. It took me about a week to feel normal again after my scheduled C-section.

I delivered my twins via c/s. I'll be honest...the first day wasn't that bad. The second day post delivery, I was hurting!! Take your pain meds. They recommend walking around. I walked like I was 90 yrs old, but it helps. Hot green tea helps with the gas you're going to get. I was off of pain meds within a week, and feeling good within about 2 weeks. Good luck. Twins are lots of work, but a wonderful blessing. Mine are 15 months and a blast!

Congrats on your soon arrivals! I had 3 c/s in 4 years. It's definately a longer recovery. Since it is scheduled you will probably not have an epidural, but a block. My first was an emergency so I had the epi, the last 2 were scheduled so we did the block and I had feeling back in my legs with 4 hours of delivery. Remember that they are cutting tissue and muscle and it takes a long time to heal You don't realize how much you use your abdominal muscles to get up and down. I'll be honest, I am a whimp. That first go round was rough-but the more you move around the better you will be. Take your walks, the babies back to the nursery when you need to. That will help. Also take the pain med in the hospital. by the third week you should be feeling pretty good. One thing that really helped me was something we got at walgreens. it's called and bed buddy. You warm it up in the microwave and put it on your tummy. It felt wonderful because it keeps the muscles warm as opposed to cool and tense.

I really felt good about 5-6 weeks after each one of mine. Best of luck to you.

My First one was HORRIBLE. However, they keep the epidural in your back for 48 hrs and you are able to squeeze the pump for pain medicine whenever you need it (you can only do so much for every 10 minutes I believe) and my epidural was not in place right so none of the pain meds were reaching me. It was a nightmare.....
My second C was wonderful!! My epidural worked great and the pain medicine worked great for relieving pain. I was given the pain medicine in the epidural along with percocet ?sp.....
Anyway, the recovery for both was about 2-3 weeks before no pain at all but with pain meds you can control your pain pretty well. TRY and TRY to stay off your feet as much as possible. With a 5 y/o you should have lots of help and that should make things easier.
Good luck with your twins!!

recovery was nothing for me and i was actaully glad that i had a c-secction (i was scared to death of a vaginal delivery and even started tearing up when the nurse thought i would go that route)..

i was up and walking that same night.. now i was sore and i walked as slow as a turtle but i walked. after a week i was driving again and able to easily get out of bed and i was off my pain pills. i was in more pain from recovering from 14 hours of labor than the c section.

You are getting great advice, I just wanted to add that each person is different as well. I had a c-section with my last. However, he ended up being in NICU on another floor from me. I walked around a lot, back and forth, pretty much anytime I could see him (they were awful and had only certain times you could go in). I don't remember that much pain, only the first couple of days but still not that much. I also had my tubes tied so I wasn't sure which was really causing the pain. My mind was only on my son, plus my hormones were out of wak... I was driving in less than a week, but we were moving, I didn't lift too much, only my 9 lbs son. My circumstance wouldn't let me just lay around anyway, I had two other kids to take care of and move at the same time.
Good Luck, and if you have extra help, take advantage of it.
God Bless

I had a csection more than 3 years ago due to a complicated delivery. C Section was easy! In the hospital I was pretty sore and did take the pain pills when I got home. I think I had the dr refill them one time because I was paranoid about running out, but needed one or 2 more than the ones she gave he when I left the hospital. I even left the hospital a day earlier than they reccomend. Use the belly wrap they give you. I looks and feels silly, but it really relieves the pressure and the pull on your belly while it heals.

I had a c-section and it was great! I was up and walking the same night (had it early in the morning). My doctor used the pain ball and it was wonderful.

I only took pain medicine for about a week. All in all it was a good experience. Do not sweat it.

First of all, congrats on the twins!

My second child wound up being an unscheduled (but not emergency) c-section. Definitely a longer recovery than vaginal, and I had a 4 1/2 year old as well. Anyway, I don't know anything about keeping an epidural in for 48 hours . . . never heard of that! The nurses wanted me out of bed walking about 6-7 hours later . . . that sucked (pardon my French!). It was very painful. I learned to take the pain meds at least 20 or so minutes before attempting to move, and that took the edge off. And once I was out of bed, I would walk quite a bit and for resting I would sit in chairs vs. lay back down again, because for the first week or two it was painful getting up from bed. Also, don't sit in low furniture because that is also painful to get up from. I had my husband buy me a nice cushy office chair (with arms) that I could raise/lower and that was my "throne" for a couple of weeks. After the first two weeks it got better. I'm not a big fan of using pain meds long term, so I switch to OTC (Tylenol/Advil) by that time. And three weeks after my C-Section I went on a pre-school class trip with my 4 1/2 year old (I'm sure my doctor would not have been pleased!) but as long as I didn't make any sudden moves (which could rip the stitches) then all was well. I don't know if you're planning to breastfeed, but that was also an issue for the first couple of weeks because I preferred to lay her across my abdomen but obviously it was painful from the incision (even with a pillow as insulation) so I tried the "football" method for a short time until my incision wasn't so sore.

Anyway, I would say that by the end of the second week you'll be sore but not in pain. The overall healing takes about 8 weeks. Oh, and you won't be allowed to drive initially either (I can't remember exactly how long but your doctor can tell you) . . . again, the sudden movements could possibly rip the stitches.

I'm going to second much of what Cindy said. It's nothing you can't deal with, but I, personally, was unprepared for what was involved. Take all the help you can get, so you can concentrate on doing what you need to do to recover. We were clear in my house that my jobs were: 1) get better, and 2) feed my DD. Period. I didn't change a diaper until DD was 3 weeks old. Take your meds, take it all slow, and let everyone else take care of the house, shopping, etc. It is major surgery, and you're going to be trying to recover without ever sleeping more than 2 hours at a stretch. The hardest part for me was accepting my limitations and not beating up on myself for not doing more of my normal activities. You'll be fine, but you need to take care of yourself. You deserve it!

I was up and out of bed the same day--it hurt, and I didn't go far, but the sooner you start walking, the better you'll feel. Within about a week, I was taking slow walks around the neighborhood, longer each day. At about 1 month I was back to normal, basic activities. I felt mostly normal at about 6 weeks; I started yoga again at 8 weeks. Congratulations, and good luck!