Questions about C-Sections???

I was told when i was diagnosed with a unicornuate uterus that it is most likely I will need a c-section when it comes to having my baby. As with most things I was told when I was diagnosed, I put it to the back of my mind, I couldn't even think past the getting pregnant part! lol! Now I am starting to think about these things so have some questions for other mum's who had a C-Section.

How long would you say it took you to feel "back to normal"?

How painfull is it for the first few days after the op?

How long were you in hospital?

How big is the scar? And how long did it take to heal?

Did it have a real effect when it came to taking care of your newborn? How long was it before you were able to bathe your child and what about lifting the baby say from a moses basket or from something simular?

How long was it before you could drive?

What pain relief did they give you after? How long were you taking pain meds?

I know this is a vanity question but did you get a flat belly back? I have read on-line that it's very common to have a slight overhang after the surgery that never goes away

How much help did you need after you came out of hospital? In the UK, fathers get 2 weeks paternity leave, is this enough? After 2 weeks are you able to cope?

I think thats it for now! lol! Any answers would be appreciated

Hey White Lily!
I had an emergency c-section so I will try to answer your questions as best I can remember!


How long would you say it took you to feel "back to normal"?
I felt almost completely "normal" after 5 weeks. By 6 weeks I was doing all my usual activities!

How painfull is it for the first few days after the op?
I am not going to lie. It is quite painful. I took my pain meds religiously!!!! TAKE THE MEDICATION!!!! You have so much going on - there is no need to be in pain if you don't have to be! It will not hurt the baby!

How long were you in hospital? Here they keep you for 3 nights if you have a c-section.

How big is the scar? And how long did it take to heal?
My scar is about 6" long but very light. It took a good six weeks to heal although I had numbness there off and on for over a year. The first few days you may feel like it will never heal but it does!!!

Did it have a real effect when it came to taking care of your newborn? How long was it before you were able to bathe your child and what about lifting the baby say from a moses basket or from something simular?
Absolutely none other than not being able to get him out of the bed while in the hospital. Once home, I pretty much did everything. My hubby did bring him to me to nurse for the first few nights. My bed is high and I had a hard time getting up and down. We did sponge baths until the umbilical cord fell off at 6 weeks and I did this on the bathroom counter so no problems there either!

How long was it before you could drive?
I think they recommend 6 weeks and that's what I did. I had no reason or desire to leave on my own before the 6 week mark.

What pain relief did they give you after? How long were you taking pain meds?
I was given oxycotine and another medicine (can't remember the name) I KNOW I took it religiously for the first two weeks and then after that only if I hurt bad for some odd reason. THIS IS A LITTLE FUZZY TO ME - SO IT MAY HAVE BEEN LONGER. ?????

I know this is a vanity question but did you get a flat belly back? I have read on-line that it's very common to have a slight overhang after the surgery that never goes away Cry
ummmm. I still have a little tummy but that's probably because I was already a little chubby! lol!!!!

How much help did you need after you came out of hospital? In the UK, fathers get 2 weeks paternity leave, is this enough? After 2 weeks are you able to cope?
Two weeks should be plenty. You probably will wish he could stay with you longer but you will be able to handle it unless you are experiencing post partum despression. However, everyone handles stress differently and if you think you may need help for longer I would try to arrange to have a family member stay with you some. My hubby was only home for a week!!!!


Hope this helps some!!!! Keep in mind that EVERYONE has a different experience but in all honesty a c-section was not a bad thing to me. It did not hinder bonding in any way. I gave birth to a champion nurser and we did great. You are going to do great!!!!

My c section last time was an emergency too. I have heard that planned ones go much easier and are sometimes easier to heal from too. Cause the emergency ones are done quickly and after your body might be worn down from labor. I will let you know if it is different since I should be doing a scheduled one this time.

My experience to is similar to lou lous. But different circumastances, different experiences too.

How long would you say it took you to feel "back to normal"?
Agree with loulou, 5 to 6 weeks. Seems like I had pain here or there if I moved certain ways or did too much.

How painfull is it for the first few days after the op?
It wasn't as bad as I thought, but I was very careful and had someone doing everything for me, Getting out of bed was the worst also standing after sitting on the toilet. Just take the meds ontime don't wait til you feel bad again.

How long were you in hospital?
I was in for 5 days but I was anemic going in and aparently you lose alot more blood if you are anemic to begin with so they almost had to give me blood so I think they kept me to watch me.

How big is the scar? And how long did it take to heal?
Same as lou, 5 or six inches. You don't notice it after awhile. It heals pretty quick but it took awhile for me to be able to wear tight jeans or a waist band that hit there.

Did it have a real effect when it came to taking care of your newborn? How long was it before you were able to bathe your child and what about lifting the baby say from a moses basket or from something simular?
I didn't do any lifting, diaper changing for at least 2 weeks. Someone would literally hand me the baby so I could nurse. Emys cord fell off after 4 days so while I was still in the hospital, so I know I did kneel down to help DH with a bath on like day 8.

How long was it before you could drive?
I waited til they gave the ok too. Its important to try to stick with the doctors timeline for these type of thing. Especially going up and down stairs. It can ihbit healing plus I knew someone that didn't listen and ended up with a twisted bowel from doing stairs too early.

What pain relief did they give you after? How long were you taking pain meds?
They left the epidural in overnight and then they gave me percocet and I had them switch me to vicodin because the percocet was too strong for me. I was on iregularly for at least 3 weeks or so. I kept trying to just stop it and would just be too freakin sore. I think at my six week appointment she gave me a refill too but it wasn't everyday at that point just occasionally if I went on a walk or something like that.

I know this is a vanity question but did you get a flat belly back?
I didn't get the overhang and my tummy went back flat, but not flat in the same way. Just not as perfect as it was before but still pretty good. I feel like a baby changes your hourglass shape a bit. I don't know how quick it went back, I know it was longer than I thought it would be, they say it takes longer for your uterus to go down after a csection than a natural birth. I had Emy at the beginning of march and I was rocking a bikini by july at the pool. You couldn't tell I had a baby by then but I definately didnt feel like it was way flat either by then, at least by my standards.. I know I was good by the time I went to the beach at christmas but its hard to give a timeline. I don't work out either so I'm sure that would have helped. Yor not vain at all, When I was 5 or six month pregnant I almost had a meltdown when my tummy started getting round, I have naturally always had like no fat on me and never had to work at it, and if anything had trouble keeping weight on. So when I started showing my mind just freaked a little( talk about vain, right). Well I landed in the hospital right after for early contractions and that set my mind straight and I felt so stupid for even worrying about it. But truthfully having a body image issue suddenly was a bit freaky for me after never having to deal with it at all. I dropped all the weight within a month plus another 10 lbs by 6 months after from all the nursing.

How much help did you need after you came out of hospital?
I needed alot. I had a baby that slept 23 hours out of the day for the first 3 months. So it wasn't the baby so much as recovery time for me. I was weak and had someone there to cook and help move the baby and in general keep me company. I remember getting out of the shower and having someone dry my ankles cause it hurt to bend down, I think I was trying to stop the meds too soon though, mistake.

This time I plan on having someone here with me for almost the whole six weeks after. That is mostly because I have a 2 year old and am really trying to heal properly by not lifting her myself, or picking up after her constantly. I foresee alot of days in the bed reading her books for hours. Just take it easy and bond with your baby in bed and let your body heal properly, it will be much easier on you.

There are probably pics of me last summer in a bikini if your interested in the post baby bod on fb. I would send you a pic of my scar but I can't see it at this point and have no idea if it might be stretched out right now.

How long would you say it took you to feel "back to normal"?
I felt 'normal' after about 5/6 weeks.

How painfull is it for the first few days after the op?
Well actually not all that bad at all. They give you really strong pain killers which totally numbs the area. I do remember having my first shower after the op in the hospital this was about 14 hours after the op itself and I managed to do it all by myself. The next morning I was even able to wash my hair by myself, it just took a lot longer as I moved around in slow motion.

How long were you in hospital?
I stayed in the main hospital for 1 night and was transferred by 4pm the next day to our local hospital where I stayed just 1 night. They did say that I could stay longer but I couldn't sleep for the other babies waking up and crying. You can stay up to 5 days as I believe though.

How big is the scar? And how long did it take to heal?
My scar is tiny, I can barely see it. It healed really quickly.....we DTD when Theo was nearly 5 weeks old so this should give you an indication to how well it healed. e went on holiday when Theo was 3 months old and I wore a bikini as you simply couldn't see the scar!!

Did it have a real effect when it came to taking care of your newborn? How long was it before you were able to bathe your child and what about lifting the baby say from a moses basket or from something simular?
I never even thought about it. We bathed Theo properly at 1 week old as I recall, Rich brought the baby bath downstairs into the lounge and we both sat on the carpet bathing him, that way I wasn't bending over a bath tub. I breastfed Theo until he was 6 weeks old and never experienced any discomfort with him resting on me - I did have one of those V shape cushions which I sat in front of me (me in the middle of the V) worked a treat!

How long was it before you could drive?
I could have driven at 4 weeks but our insurance policy stated I had to wait until after my 6 week check up with the GP. I drove the car with no problems at all.

What pain relief did they give you after? How long were you taking pain meds?
I only remember that I took 2 types of very strong tablets every 4 hours for a good week or so and then reduced it to good old ibuprofen and paracetamol there after until I felt ready to stop.

I know this is a vanity question but did you get a flat belly back? I have read on-line that it's very common to have a slight overhang after the surgery that never goes away
I was concerned about this but seriously by 3 months I had a flat belly again but I did still have a slight ridge where the scar was for maybe up to 6 months. This is what my scar looks like now as of today and remember this is also after re-stretching the area!:-
the marks are from my jeans pressing into my skin LOL!

How much help did you need after you came out of hospital? In the UK, fathers get 2 weeks paternity leave, is this enough? After 2 weeks are you able to cope?
Oh yes! Rich was hands on for those 2 weeks, he actually worked part-time for the 2nd week but was home a lot between jobs. He cooked, fetched, shopped and cleaned and without him the house would have gone to pot. My Mum and Dad helped out where they could but TBH I am a very strong minded person and wanted to do a lot of things myself which I did with great success. You get so many visitors during those first few weeks aswell that you are almost rooted to the sofa so have plenty of time to heal. And plently of help!

Another emergency one here. Lucky you, you get to skip the 50 hours of fun invasive stuff before the c-section (to look at it positively).

How long would you say it took you to feel "back to normal"?
Probably 4-6 weeks. I would get very tired and crash. I probably did too much most of the time too.

How painfull is it for the first few days after the op?
The day after they gave me morphine (which I highly recommend lol). After that Vicodin. I didn't take them very often though, they were nagging me to take them more than I did. I had alot of numbbess, so maybe part of it was I just honestly couldn't feel the hurt. I would really only hurt if I moved wrong getting up from bed or something like that.

How long were you in hospital? Way too long. Checked in Sunday afternoon. C-section late Tuesday night, home on Sat morning.

How big is the scar? And how long did it take to heal? I pulled out one of my staples, so I had to deal with a small open spot for 5-6 weeks. The rest healed very quickly, maybe 3 weeks. It is pretty much like the picture above, white and not all that noticeable.

Did it have a real effect when it came to taking care of your newborn? How long was it before you were able to bathe your child and what about lifting the baby say from a moses basket or from something simular?
I would lift her ''over'' but not ''up'' if that makes sense. I fed her, he did the diapers the first 3-4 days. I didn't bathe her for the first 2-3 weeks. I was terrified of how tiny and slippery she was, so I made my husband lol. Look at the pic of her first bath. Do you know how seriously slippery that squirming little 5 pounder was? lol.



How long was it before you could drive? The dr said at first after I had my staples oout, which was a couple weeks. but then he made me wait til that pulled staple healed more. So probably 4-6 weeks.

What pain relief did they give you after? How long were you taking pain meds?
They gave me a vicodin prescription. I really didn't take all that many. I think I used up the last of the bottle of 30 a couple months ago lol.

I know this is a vanity question but did you get a flat belly back? I never had one so I can't answer that.

How much help did you need after you came out of hospital? In the UK, fathers get 2 weeks paternity leave, is this enough? After 2 weeks are you able to cope? I probably couple have coped just fine after two weeks, except for the pulled staple thing and daily trips to the dr office to get it cleaned/treated and not being able to drive. I was lucky because my husband had a 8 week sabbatical from work that he was able to be home the first couple months and he spoiled me alot.

Just make peace with yourself about it. It's what has to happen for you to have that healthy happy baby, so that is the was it was meant to be for you. It may not be what you wanted but it is what's needed.

Hey dollys momma, how long did they leave your staples in? They took mine out before I left the hospital so after 3 or 4 days.I think I was in there from monday to saturday.

I didn't have staples. I had tape and they just gradually fell off.

chrisb wrote:Hey dollys momma, how long did they leave your staples in? They took mine out before I left the hospital so after 3 or 4 days.I think I was in there from monday to saturday.

They took them out at my first visit to the dr office after we went home. What was it, a week? I can't remember exactly how things progressed now, I pulled one towards the middle and there was a hole about the size of a quarter there. I think he may have left the two staples on either side of it in a couple more days to try to help with that spot, but I am not sure. I had to go to his office every day the first 3 weeks, and then 2-3 times a week and they would clean out and treat the spot. It gradually filled in over the next 3-4 weeks. By the time that spot was healed you couldn't tell it was any different from the rest.

They tried a couple times to use surgical tape to close it, but it just wouldn't stay stuck.