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C-Section after 3 weeks
Hello,
I had a C-Section on January 9th 2011 and was wondering what I should expect at this point, now that it's been 3 weeks. (A little info about the c-section: I was in labor over 48 hrs, pushed for 3 hrs and then had an emergency C-Section that took almost 2 hrs instead of the average of 10-15 minutes. No. No one would tell us why it took so long.) At this point, I can use my abdomenal muscles to sit up and do other things now. It is nice to no longer need assistance to get up. However, my skin is sensitive to touch (extremely sore as if touching an open wound) and I have deep soreness that radiates through to my lower back making it almost impossible to sleep. And embarrassingly enough, I have had the worst gas I've ever had in my life, as far as frequency. It's non-stop! Eh... And lastly, I have been passing blood clots through my urethra when I urinate, not just vaginally. I gave a urine sample to the doc a week and a half ago and am still waiting on the results.
Also, many of my friends who had vaginal births told me their bellys slimmed back to normal within 4 weeks. I still have quite the round belly, meanwhile, the rest of me has slimmed back down, now to 115 lbs. I feel happy about my body but concerned that I will have a skinny body with a belly pouch forever. I wonder if walking more would help, or perhaps massaging my abdomen? Or is it totally normal for a belly after C-Section to still seem swollen and round? If it's normal, then great! If not, any tips of things I can do for myself other than just calling the doc? I don't have an issue with calling the doc if they can give me info over the phone. It just seems they always want me to come in, costing $$ and time without providing answers, so I would like that to be the last resort if possible.
I had a C-Section on January 9th 2011 and was wondering what I should expect at this point, now that it's been 3 weeks. (A little info about the c-section: I was in labor over 48 hrs, pushed for 3 hrs and then had an emergency C-Section that took almost 2 hrs instead of the average of 10-15 minutes. No. No one would tell us why it took so long.) At this point, I can use my abdomenal muscles to sit up and do other things now. It is nice to no longer need assistance to get up. However, my skin is sensitive to touch (extremely sore as if touching an open wound) and I have deep soreness that radiates through to my lower back making it almost impossible to sleep. And embarrassingly enough, I have had the worst gas I've ever had in my life, as far as frequency. It's non-stop! Eh... And lastly, I have been passing blood clots through my urethra when I urinate, not just vaginally. I gave a urine sample to the doc a week and a half ago and am still waiting on the results.
Also, many of my friends who had vaginal births told me their bellys slimmed back to normal within 4 weeks. I still have quite the round belly, meanwhile, the rest of me has slimmed back down, now to 115 lbs. I feel happy about my body but concerned that I will have a skinny body with a belly pouch forever. I wonder if walking more would help, or perhaps massaging my abdomen? Or is it totally normal for a belly after C-Section to still seem swollen and round? If it's normal, then great! If not, any tips of things I can do for myself other than just calling the doc? I don't have an issue with calling the doc if they can give me info over the phone. It just seems they always want me to come in, costing $$ and time without providing answers, so I would like that to be the last resort if possible.
OMG. That is scary. I'm glad you and the baby are ok. I did not have anything like that happen. No blood. I did pass out but that was just from labor pain. I hope your experience doesn't scare you so badly that you never have any more kids. It's amazing how quickly you bounced back though. Best of luck to you. And thank you for the info on recovery. Feels good to hear someone tell me how much I really need to take it easy, since I have been pushing myself unecessarily so, not realizing. It is also good to know that I need not worry about getting back to my normal belly size just yet. And I will call my doc today to ask about my urine lab results. It really hurts to urinate. Perhaps the catheter did a little damage. If so, I'm sure it will heal soon along with the rest.
Thanks again. :)
Thanks again. :)
Oh wow. I had no idea I wasn't supposed to be even driving by 3 weeks. No one told me that. I have been driving and doing lots of things. The nurses at the hospital and my midwives have all been giving me the impression that I shouldn't be in pain and should be active by the end of the first week by how they have been treating me. I keep feeling like I am behind schedule based on that. They wanted to discharge me after only 2 1/2 days recovery in the hospital but I was in tears from the pain and couldn't even move at that point so I begged for one more day. They sent me home after 3 1/2 days recovery with 1 and 1/2 days worth of pain killers. I was scared because I felt almost as helpless as an infant. I'm 32, this is my first baby, I was in good shape/weight pre-pregnancy, gained 28 lbs during pregnancy, lost almost all the weight already and am breast feeding. It's all new to me so hearing everyone elses experience is quite eye opening.
It was an emergency C-Section and I was given general anestthesia. My husband wasn't allowed in the room. It was also unplanned as I wanted a vaginal birth but my water broke over 48 hrs prior to delivery. It got to the point where they thought the baby would die and I was getting a fever as well. 17 hrs after my water broke, there was meconium coming out of me too. I was told that was normal and nothing to worry about. After the fact, several doulas and nurses told me otherwise. I have no idea if that played any role in how things went. However, it could be that they had to work the baby out of my pelvis for awhile since I did push his head down far enough for me to see his head full of hair. I had no idea something like that could cause surgery to take awhile. Good to know. Makes sense, totally. Just wish they could have at least told us what happened while they were working on me. Your info is really helpful. Thank you.
It was an emergency C-Section and I was given general anestthesia. My husband wasn't allowed in the room. It was also unplanned as I wanted a vaginal birth but my water broke over 48 hrs prior to delivery. It got to the point where they thought the baby would die and I was getting a fever as well. 17 hrs after my water broke, there was meconium coming out of me too. I was told that was normal and nothing to worry about. After the fact, several doulas and nurses told me otherwise. I have no idea if that played any role in how things went. However, it could be that they had to work the baby out of my pelvis for awhile since I did push his head down far enough for me to see his head full of hair. I had no idea something like that could cause surgery to take awhile. Good to know. Makes sense, totally. Just wish they could have at least told us what happened while they were working on me. Your info is really helpful. Thank you.
Passing blood in your urine is not normal. Call your doctor about the results on that test. I had and emergency C. It took only minutes. The cut was from my belly botton down. My son didn't have a heartbeat. The bleeding started at home. Advanced life support saved my son and me. I don't remember much about that night, just waking, going into the bathroom, calling for my husband telling him to call an ambulance. Walked into our kitchen and passed out. My stomach went back to normal before I left the hospital, was in for 10 days. I had gained 13 pounds while pregnant with my last child. He was a month early. You will get your shape back. When the time is right you can exercise, right now you need to rest and heal. Love and care for your self and your new baby. Eat well, and try to sleep whenever possible. Call your doctor with any question, he or she should answer them over the phone without a trip in. Best of luck to you and congratulation on your new arrival!
I have a couple questions - was this truly an emergency c-section, or was it an "unplanned c-section". In an emergency they do what they can RIGHT NOW to get the baby out, the dad has to leave the room and it's a complete emergency. This happens if they feel the baby is nearly dead, and is without O2, or the heartbeat has slowed waaaayyy down and won't come up. It's a code Red, everyone is running.
If that's what you had - an emergency c-section - they often don't have the luxury of very careful gentle surgery. Is that what you had?
Or instead, did you have an unplanned C-section, where at some point they decided this wasn't working and the baby was showing distress, so a c-section seemed necessary, and an epidural was given, and the surgery performed?
I've had 3 c-sections, and they didn't take 10 - 15 minutes. The first one, my first baby was so far down in the pelvis that they had to work him back and forth back and forth forever to get him back out. It was long.
At 3 weeks, you're not even okayed to drive yet. You're still in serious recovery from abdominal surgery - and shouldn't be lifting or walking more than you need to do to get around your home for usual daily tasks.
Best wishes. Give it time. Your body will never look the way it did pre-kids, but you can certainly return to a healthy pretty physique.
If that's what you had - an emergency c-section - they often don't have the luxury of very careful gentle surgery. Is that what you had?
Or instead, did you have an unplanned C-section, where at some point they decided this wasn't working and the baby was showing distress, so a c-section seemed necessary, and an epidural was given, and the surgery performed?
I've had 3 c-sections, and they didn't take 10 - 15 minutes. The first one, my first baby was so far down in the pelvis that they had to work him back and forth back and forth forever to get him back out. It was long.
At 3 weeks, you're not even okayed to drive yet. You're still in serious recovery from abdominal surgery - and shouldn't be lifting or walking more than you need to do to get around your home for usual daily tasks.
Best wishes. Give it time. Your body will never look the way it did pre-kids, but you can certainly return to a healthy pretty physique.
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