The first ten days post c section.
Why ten you ask?
Apparently (and evidently) by day 10, you suddenly feel a little less of a shell of a human being.
I was fully expecting to not feel great, but the extent of how broken I felt really took me by surprise. Obviously, everyone is different, but here’s my experience in a 10 day timeline of an elective twin caesarean…
Please note that I’m not a medical professional and this is me sharing my experience and feelings. Please always ask for professional advice if you’re unsure about anything in the recovery stage.
Day 1 – The Birth
A huge haze thanks to a combination of drugs, blood loss and the adrenaline of birth.
Post birth, I was in HDU hooked up to an oxytocin drip to help contract my uterus, given it had to stretch to house two babies.
Charlie stayed with me for the whole day, but was then asked to go home as there were no beds on the wards for us. Luckily, I got moved as soon as he was home so he came back.
The original plan was for him to just stay for the first night, but then I realised there was no way I’d cope without him helping me get two babies when they needed feeding/attention/changing.
Day 2.
This is the day where I felt like my body had been hit by a train with knives for wheels.
No one prepared me for how painful this would be.
Sorry if that first bit doesn’t fill you with confidence, but it really surprised me. You will walk again and this is the worst you’ll feel! (I was on a real low on this day and felt like I was in a pit of despair. The hormone drop doesn’t help either)
If this is you, IT DOES GET BETTER!
I was lucky enough to have a friend who had a caesarean the day before me so I was messaging her asking how she was getting on, and she was letting me know that I would be feeling remarkedly better in 24 hours time.
Pain Meds. At this point, the big drugs from the op have worn off and you’re on a pain medication schedule. The best bit of advice I was given was to stay on top of them, and to mention if you’re in too much pain or if you’ve been missed. You might be feeling okay, but that’s because the pain medication is doing its job!
Due to my blood loss in surgery, I wasn’t allowed ibuprofen until the midwives had cleared it with a Dr, so I was on paracetamol until they started giving me opioids to help with the pain.
Needles. Having had a caesarean, it meant that I had the joy of fragmin (blood thinning) injections for 14 days to lower the risk of clotting – the midwives did these while I was in hospital, but I got Charlie to inject me when home (as I HATE needles with a passion).
Trapped Wind. Along with the incision soreness, the trapped wind pain was another level. Make sure you have mints, peppermint tea or the peppermint drink that the hospital can give you. I also tried to avoid anything that would add to the gassiness and stuck to more easily digestible foods where possible.
In addition to the trapped wind, getting that first poo is pretty important, so the midwives offered me lactulose which I took every time it was offered. Your gut shuts down for a bit due to the operation, so you want to give it
That Damn Cough. Having gone into hospital without a cough, I’d somehow picked up a really annoying tickly cough. Not great timing as with every cough, I could feel the stitches inside pulling and felt like I was doing damage.
- Apparently it takes a lot to rip your insides
- The cough is a common side effect from the anaesthetic
Top Tip: To help soften the cough, use a pillow to apply pressure to help with the increase in intra-abdominal pressure.
The First Step. The midwives asked me to stand up and walk to the loo (2 metres away) in the morning, but I could barely stand without pain shooting through my abdomen.
I cried and said I couldn’t do it.
By the afternoon, they came back and said that the catheter was coming out so I had to walk (and then they’d take the cannula out too).
A very slow shuffle later, with my feet never leaving the floor, I made it to the toilet and back. I’d never felt such a huge sense of achievement!
You can also expect to be pretty much bent double at this point, but your posture will straighten up over time.
Day 3.
“Less horrendous but fuck me, still in agony” is what my notes said.
You have to remind yourself that you’ve had abdominal surgery so it’s going to be uncomfortable!
On this day, my aim was to get myself out of bed a bit more as movement helps so much, but also not to do too much.
Like when I had Olive, my coccyx, lower back and SIJoint area of my pelvis were so numb.
Probably from being in bed for so long, probably from the surgery, probably from giving birth… Lots of potential causes I guess.
(although, always worth checking with your healthcare provider as it’s important to get things checked out)
Day 4.
This felt like a huge leap forward and a world away from that awful Day Two! It was the day we were being discharged from hospital, provided the twins’ checks went okay (due to having twins, we needed to stay 3 nights)
Time to freshen up. I finally managed to shower and put some fresh clothes on, which really set me up for the day.
After showering, I finally brought myself to look at my stomach and incision area. There was a huge waterproof bandage on it, so there wasn’t much to see, but this was the first time I’d even looked at or touched the area.
The human body is mindblowing and truly amazing for how it was carrying two babies just 4 days ago.
The First Poo.
It has to be said, the idea of this was a lot less worse than post vaginal birth!
After Olive’s birth, I felt like there was a chance that everything would just fall out of me!
This time, it didn’t feel like such a horrendous idea.
If you know me, I’m a huge advocate for a squatty potty as they are so much better for pelvic health due to the positioning it puts you in. Naturally, I didn’t think about putting one in my hospital bag as mine doesn’t fold up, so I used a box for a baby car mirror that we happened to have to hand.
(on that note, someone needs to start a petition so that all maternity wards have a squatty potty!)
Drive Home
Top tip: Pack a pillow that you can have between the seat belt and incision for the drive home.
Day 5.
The first day of not being in hospital. I managed to shuffle 100 metres to the Cafe at The Barn KT9, but after a while of standing there showing the twins to the team, everything hurt a bit. Still very much in the early recovery stage, but you will find you’ll slowly be able to do more and more each day. But also, there’ll be the days where you’ll accidentally do too much and your body will let you know about it!
Night Time Sit Ups. Being home meant that I didn’t have a fancy bed that would tilt upwards to help me sit up, so sitting up in the night to feed the twins felt like a lot!
My BBHugMe pillow was a huge support here to keep me propped up.
Top Tip: When getting out of bed, the key thing was to roll onto my side and swivel my legs out to then push myself up to seated.
Weird Bits.
I noticed a weird water balloon-esque bit above my incision which made me (more than) slightly concerned in case there was an infection or anything. It was fluid retention due to inflammation and the lack of drainage.
Also, if you’ve given birth previously, you know that post birth comes the poos that make you feel like you’re giving birth again.
Apparently these poos are big thanks to hormone (sorry if TMI but just warning you because you want to avoid piles if possible as they are horrendous – and it’s also another reason a squatty potty is a must have)
Top Tip: Make sure you’re drinking loads and having lots of soluble fibre to help with this glamorous post birth side effect. A spoonful of flaxseed in yoghurt/porridge/smoothie is also a great help.
Day 7?
The community health visitor came round to check my scar, take the dressing off and also check in with the twins. The dressing left lots of sticky marks on my skin. Someone said about nail varnish remover to take these off, but to be honest, they come off with time (so, basically don’t bother!)
Day 10.
By Day 10 I was feeling so much better, although still feeling like I had abdominal surgery ten days ago. I took myself out for a walk around the farmyard with the twins for me to get some fresh air while they napped.
Scar Tissue. The scar tissue in/around my scar started to form for me by this point after I noticed a hard bit appear from what felt like nowhere. It took me by surprise as it was all new to me.
A note from me…
A c section is not “the easy way out” (neither is a vaginal birth), so please be kind to yourself. As you’re thrown into sleep deprivation and looking after small humans, the recovery is slower than it would be if it was “normal surgery” (i.e without the pregnancy to now having newborn babies bit).
If this is you (or you’re due to have a caesarean birth) you are stronger than you know and although this period feels so long, it also passes in the blink of an eye when you look back on it.
Good luck!