Pregnancy Signs & Symptoms, Week by Week Pregnancy Guide

The truth is that cesarean section recovery isn’t the easiest thing in the world. This is because while you feel euphoric about the baby, you just had a major surgery.

Also you will have to deal with postpartum problems, like mood swings, engorged breasts and increased vaginal discharge.

After the procedure

In the majority of the cases, the recovery from cesarean section starts at the hospital. You have to stay there for 2-4 days and then you can go home. However the recovery itself lasts for weeks. Naturally women are looking forward to go home, especially if they have other children as well.

Recovery from C section right after the surgery

The majority of women experience some nausea and they are groggy after the surgery.

The nausea usually lasts for 48 hours, but your doctor could give you something to make you feel better. A lot of mothers feel itchy.

Pain relief

Pain relief is an important part of the C section recovery. If you had a spinal or epidural, your doctor could give you morphine that acts for 24 hours and that doesn’t make you groggy like the synthetic drugs.

Sometimes the epidural isn’t taken out just in case you need other medication.

After this period of cesarean recovery you will receive systemic pain medication. These are pills that come with acetaminophen and a narcotic. It is also useful to take ibuprofen. Women get stool softeners too to counteract the constipation caused by the medication.

If you don’t get morphine during your recovery from the cesarean most probably you will get a systemic drug. You could get a shot of medication every 3 hours or you could be on patient controlled analgesia. If this is the case, all you have to do is to push a button and you will receive the pain medication through your IV.

Breastfeeding and cesarean section recovery

You can start breastfeeding right after the surgery. You just have to ask the nurse to show you how to hold the baby. At this point it is very important not to have any pressure on the incision. Breastfeeding could be painful after surgery and so you should talk to a lactation consultant to offer you some tips.

The first few days of the recovery from cesarean section

Most probably the incision will feel numb and sore and the scar will be puffy and darker than the rest of the skin. You will get daily visits from your doctor. During this time it is important not to have any pressure on the incision site. When you laugh, sneeze or cough you should place a pillow on the abdomen.

At the beginning of the recovery from C section a nurse will check on you every couple of hours. Your vital signs will be checked as well as the firmness of the uterus and she will also check the vaginal bleeding. During this time you will see the vaginal discharge known as lochia.

As you can see cesarean recovery isn’t very easy.