C-Section Recovery

***NOTE: This is a very long post. Longer than I intended. BUT since I am writing it for my future self, I wanted to put as much detail to help me remember. Feel free to just skip out on this one altogether, especially if you have never had or never will have a c-section.***

Having a c-section wasn't my first choice.  Now that I am about 2 1/2 weeks out, I can definitely see some benefits to it.  My lady parts are totally intact.  I don't have to sit on a donut.  And bleeding post-c section is much better than vaginal deliveries (or maybe that is in part because of my clotting disorders as well).  But the first week or so afterwards, I was absolutely hating the fact that it was the route we had to go. 

I may have even said, "I'm never doing this again" one or two...or twenty times, despite the fact that we still want at least one more kid!

With that said, there are things that I would do differently next time, mostly in the pain management department, which I think will expedite recovery a bit.  And so, because we do want more kids, and a c-section is a great possibility in the future, I want to record my first 2 weeks post-c section to have as a reference. 

*2nd Note (if you're still hanging in there with me): If you're a man, you may want to skip this post entirely; I don't leave any gruesome details out*

Day 1- The day of the c-section I got the spinal block which took about 4 hours to wear off enough for me to move my legs a bit.  They put morphine in there for pain management that would wear off at 2 am the next day.
-->About 2 hours after the section was over, the RN offered pain medication through my IV, but my pain was a 1/10 so I declined.  2 hours after that, she offered again after asking to rate my pain which was then only a 3/10, so once again I declined.  About 2 hours after that when I was transferred to the Post-Partum unit, the RN there asked when the last time I got pain meds was, and the recovery RN said "She hasn't taken any yet."  The RN's response was "WHAT? She hasn't had any pain medication at all!?"

I remember being a bit shocked because I didn't think my pain was all that bad in the grand scheme of things.  Yes, I was definitely feeling quite a bit of cramping that felt like really bad period cramps.  And some decent incision pain.  But I just thought this was par for the course, and took it as it was.  Hence the 3/10. 

I felt like a higher number should reflect some serious surgical pain.  I also am not really good at the whole numerical pain rating thing despite using it daily at work.  And, I tend to tough out pain, or "fight the poison" as Jon likes to say, so I just kept low-balling my number.

Here was my first mistake!

*Note to future self- TAKE the IV pain medications every time they are offered!  It is so much easier to handle pain before it gets bad.  It won't hurt your baby.  You will be SO much better on day 2 if you do this! And on day 2 they take away your IV altogether, so any pain meds will be given orally, which are not as good!

Aside from pain management, I was absolutely exhausted and felt like I couldn't keep my eeys open after the surgery.  Part of this was due to the fact that I hadn't slept in about 24 hours in anticipation, and partly due in fact to the meds I was given.

That night, Jon and I really didn't sleep. We fed the baby pretty much every 2 hours, and just couldn't get settled down enough to actually sleep.

And one last note-  fundal massage is NOT fun.  It actually sucks.  I have no idea why they call this a massage b/c that is so misleading.  Luckily I wasn't really bleeding all that much and they didn't have to do "extra massages."  

This is the look of one drugged up mama right after the c-section...probably the only time throughout my hospital stay that the pain was well controlled!

Day 2: The early morning of day 2 started a disaster in pain management.  I got one dose of IV pain medications (I was told it was toradol, although later they said I wasn't allowed to take that because of my clotting disorders, so I'm not really sure what it was), however by then my pain was pretty bad, and while it took the edge off a little bit, it didn't help a ton. 

Then came the morning when the day nurse came in, took out my foley, asked what my pain was (by this point a 9/10), and then told me I needed to walk to the bathroom in a couple hours to pee. I reserve a 10/10 pain for getting run over by a semi-trunk about 15 times...so yeah, the 9 was bad!

She brought in oral pain medications that I was allowed to take, although I found out an hour later, it was tylenol.  HELLO! Regular tylenol!  When she brought them to me, I was too exhausted and in too much in pain to ask what it was.  Mistake #2. Know the meds you're taking...duh!

An hour after I took them and the pain was worse, not better, and she came to re-evaluate, she said, "Yeah, I'm not surprised tylenol isn't going to help too much.  We usually give other medications but most of them you are not allowed to take with your clotting disorders."  She then called the doctor and was able to give me oxycodone 3 hours later which unfortunately didn't help much either. I'm not sure if it was because my pain was so bad at this point, or if it is just a medication that doesn't work well for me.

So after one more round of oxycodone to give it a try in the evening, and being unsuccessful, I pleaded with the nurse to call the doctor again and find another option that may work.

Don't be deceived...this was not a nap.  Thanks babe for literally capturing every moment in the hospital : ) Just trying to escape to the beach in my mind to help the pain!  And snuggling with my baby girl to remind me what this was all about. 

By the late evening she brought me Norco, which apparently nobody was thrilled about giving b/c og the clotting issue, but let me tell you it helped in a great way! Finally, a medication that would help with pain, although it did make me pretty nauseous and break out in a sweat. 

Backing away from pain management- I did have to go to the bathroom about 3 hours after the foley was taken out.  Let me tell you, climbing out of the hospital bed and walking the 8 or so steps to the toilet was probably the most painful thing I have ever done. I tried timing it after I had taken the first oxy so I could pee and then take a quick shower as well, but by the time I reached the toilet, I wasn't entirely sure how I'd even squat down to sit. 

And then once I was on the toilet, peeing was even more excruciating.  I felt like my entire bladder and urethra were spasming, and there were intense cramps and sharp stabbing pains every time I actually tried to pee. Later my doctor told me she had to manipulate my bladder and other abdominal parts more than normal because of everything going on in the OR, so healing would take a bit more time (also explains the crazy bruising above and below my incision). This would take about 5 more days to get better.

Let's just say I was profusely sweating, my heart was racing, I was in terrible pain, and then felt like I was going to pass out...all while stuck on the toilet.  And getting back into bed was just as much fun!

Again, take any and every pain med that is offered to you along the entire way!!!

Bleeding was still pretty minimal today which I was very surprised about.  While my pad and lovely Victoria Secret mesh panties were changed about every 4 hours, I could have gone all day and not changed it (if I wanted to feel disgusting), that's how little bleeding there was.

That night, Isabella was a bit more fussy (which is really she was MILDLY fussy, but seeing as she hadn't really cried up until this point, was hard for Jon to see), so we probably got about 4 hours of sleep in 30-45 minute increments.  Complete and utter exhaustion, and yet adrenaline was running high for me, so I felt ok in the sleep department overall. 

Day 3: I was determined to get pain under better control today, and my goal was to take a shower, and walk in the hall.  For some reason, I still was hesitant to take 2 norco at a time, and more hesitant to take it every 4 hours.  So I stuck with 1 norco every 6 hours.  As I type this, I have NO idea why!  TAKE THE PAIN MEDS NEXT TIME!!!! 

Part of me was a little concerned the meds would make Bella sleepy and not eat well, and since she was so tiny I didn't want her losing more weight and not be able to go home with us.  And part of me though I was being a wimp with how much pain I was in, and shouldn't "need" pain meds like that.  As a side note, Jon told one of the nurses that I felt that way, and she told me I was taking far less meds than most people, and handling the pain much better.  And then she said, "And now I'm bringing you more pain meds b/c you need to take them!" 

I was able to get out of bed, take more of a sponge bath than a shower, and walk around the room about 7 times.  Not exactly meeting my entire goal, but it was progress.  

That night we had a nurse that went to our church which was a small world.  She made me take my pain medications, and she made us sleep since it was going to be our last night in the hospital. Both were amazing.  We still woke Bella up every 3 hours to feed her, but in between feeds we had some great sleep. This was a great set up to feeling ready to go home the next day. 

Day 4: We were discharged home today, and after a decent night's sleep I actually felt ready to go.  I took a walk in the hall for about 5 minutes in the morning, just to prove to myself that I could. 

I took one norco in the morning, and then one about 5 hours later, right before we were to go home.  The nurse told me to expect more bleeding today because of the increased activity in going home.  Really though, there was a very minimal increase which doesn't say much.

The car ride home was rough.  Every little bump and turn makes you acutely aware how much you use your abs.  And the walk into the house seemed a bit longer than I've ever imagined!  But once I was home, I parked it on the couch and didn't get up much other than to go to the bathroom.  Peeing was still extremely painful and quite the ordeal. 

I took one more norco about 45 minutes before I was planning on going up the stairs to go to bed.  The stairs took me about 50 times longer to get up, but weren't as bad as I was anticipating.

However, getting in bed was horrible! I didn't realize how tall our bed was until I had to get into it.  And unfortunately the only step stool we own was also too tall for me to step up on (about the size of 1.5 stairs which just made it akward).  So when trying to get into bed, Jon was helping me, somehow I managed to get my butt on the bed and then end up in a V-Sit which was excrutiating!  I felt like all my abdominal organs were going to spill out of my incision, and I didn't have the strength to pull myself up to sitting, and falling backwards was equally as horrific in my mind. So for a good 3 seconds I stayed there in a V-Sit, crying "help me, help me" to my husband.  He stood there looking terrified, not knowing how to help! 
Awful!  Don't want to every re-live that moment again!  

 
Day 5: After the events of the night before, I decided to not get out of bed the entire next day. Probably not the best decision in terms of getting up and moving in order to aid in healing, but I was traumatized so I stuck by that decision.

I also decided to take one norco every 6 hours and that was a great decision.

I got in and out of bed to pee, but otherwise my amazing family delivered all meals right to my bedside, and Isabella was handed to me every time she needed to eat.  I think on day 5 I realized I had yet to change a diaper since getting out of bed had been pretty much reserved for bathroom breaks!

Snuggle fest all day long : )

Day 6:  I got out of bed in the morning feeling ready to take on a new day.  I took a norco in the morning and then got up the courage to take a shower which while wasn't the easiest shower in my life, it felt amazing. Several days of sponge baths were getting really old! 

I also decided that since I wasn't bleeding much at all, it was past time to ditch the diaper sized pads, and even the oh so lovely mesh undies.  Pantyliner and real underwear did the trick.  I was nervous about underwear rubbing the incision, but it never bothered me. 

After putting on a little make-up just to feel human (AKA: only mascara), I went down stairs, parked it on the couch, and didn't really get up much the rest of the day.  Some best friends came to visit which was a great time! 

We had Isabella's first MD appointment in the afternoon, and because her jaundice appeared to be getting a little bit worse we drove to the hospital to get her bilirubin level drawn.  That involved another car ride which went better than the first, although curves were still a bit painful, and a decent walk fromt he parking lot through the hospital.  By the time I got home, I was definitely ready to sit again...for the rest of the day!

In the evening, I took another norco (really, I should have taken one in the afternoon as well, but my mind was weird in regards to pain meds! Grr...change this for the future!), and went up to bed, stairs were a little easier this time.  Slowly and surely making progress.

 

I got a plugged duct this day as well which was NOT fun!  It was huge...and it took almost 3 days to clear up by feeding and pumping every 2 hours, plus a crazy ice regimen between feeds and heat right before feeds.  Hoping I never have to do that again.

The other eventful moment of the day was the first poop.  Let me tell you I hadn't had any gas pains whatsoever up until this point.  I had heard that these were worse than surgical pain for some people, but thought I was getting lucky without them.  Until today!  Whoa mama, I literally felt like I was in labor (if I knew what that felt like). It seriously was some of the worst pain, and I had to "hee-hee-hoo" breathe through them!  And then came the actual moment to poop which was awful!  I was bracing the wall and the sink like my life dependend on it. And after it was all over (hallelujah!) I proudly announced that I gave birth to a 9 lb poo baby...and felt much better.  Holy moly...never want to do that again.  But unfortunately this would be a daily occurance for the next 6 days. Gas pains suck.  Take that mylicon like there is no tomorrow (this I actually did...max dosing every single day!).

Day 7: By day 7 I was starting to feel a little more human. Still pretty sore, but getting up and down the stairs and getting in and out of bed was getting so much easier. My MD only wanted me to do stairs once a day, and I'd be lying if I said I did it less than 3 times a day by day 7.  I took one Norco in the morning (after trying tylenol which did nothing), and that was the last of my pain medications that I took. Honestly, I needed something for the pain, but if I could have taken motrin, that would have been sufficient. 

Jon and I took a walk around our neighborhood for about 20 minutes, which was probably about 10 minutes more than I should have for our first big walk. But, we went SUPER slow, and it was so nice to get out and breath fresh air.

This girl has her daddy's big feet and long toes!

So there was the first week of recovery after c-section. I had planned on documenting week 2, but here we are about 2.5 weeks out and the last week seems more of a blur.  Plus, who has time for another long post like this one!?!?

Overall I will say that every day gets better and better.  At 2.5 weeks out, I am feeling like I am able to move more like myself. Not ready to go for a run just yet, but feeling so much better. My energy is back, I'm cleaning the house lightly, have gone for walks every day, went shopping with my mom and sister a few days ago, and all the sharp pains or harsh pain with movement is essentially gone (with the exception of one tender area right behind my tattoo near my right hip bone).

So in the end, having the C-Section wasn't as terrible as I was initially thinking. That being said, the most important lesson I learned was to stay on top of pain, rather than getting so far behind you won't be able to effectively catch up. 

And to future self, if having a c-section...you can do this!  The incredibly sweet, chill, snuggly, beautiful baby girl that it gives you in the end makes it more than worth it!