I already had an emergency cesarean section with my first child and then for my second child I opted for a planned section. Now the most obvious after care of a cesarean is that you cant use your stomach muscles. You do not realise how much you rely on your stomach muscles! Wow, is all I can say. I feel like the realisation came flooding back to me as I forgot how awkward it was to even just sit up on the bed. Just keep it in mind, take your time and I used the rails on the hospital bed to help me pull myself up.
Sneezing after a cesarean. This. Was. Horrific. Especially if you are holding your baby at the time this sneeze decides to pop up. You need to cover your mouth, you need to hold your cesarean wound as you feel like you will split in two (you wont). The best way to handle this is holding a pillow on your section wound and apply slight pressure. Very slight pressure though, don't hurt yourself!
The big boobs! Even if you do not decided to breastfeed the milk will still come in. Get yourself some cabbage leaves to stick in your bra. I had heard this years ago and thought it was an old wives tale but let me tell you, when the milk comes in you will stick anything in your bra to soothe those boulders you are smuggling. Get yourself a tight bra and bind those bad boys. Such a glamorous life!
The first poo. I'm not going to go into any detail about this. I'm just putting it out there. Its pretty self explanatory, just prepare yourself. Black coffee and lactulose are your friends during this pressing time.
The bleeding is also a shock. I probably sound a little naive here. But I forgot just how much you bleed. Get yourself the biggest pants to come over your section wound and buy yourself the biggest sanitary pads you can find. You will thank me. On the subject of bleeding, I took my first period right away. Let me tell you she came back with vengeance! Just prepare yourself and stock up on the pads, paracetamol and a hot water bottle.
If you have a section you will also need to have blood thinning injections for the first 10 days to avoid blood clots. First time around I had no idea this happened. They are very small injections and they weren't painful. The hardest thing is that they nip afterwards and slightly itch. The trick is to not rub or scratch afterwards and they wont bruise. I couldn't do it to myself so I nominated my other half to do the honors.
So there you have it. I feel like I have now passed this phase as our little Albie is almost 3 months old. My section wound is healing, after having an infection and we seem to be getting on pretty well. This is in no way meant to scare anyone. I just think that some of these things no one tells you about so you don't prepare yourself for them. We are so focused on caring for our new little bundle of joy that we forget to look after ourselves in the process. I hope this can help even one person prepare for any of these not so pleasant experiences postpartum.
**This information is based on my personal experience after having 2 C-sections. Everyone is different and your recovery may be completely different.**
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