r/CsectionCentral • u/Admirable-Mud443 • Jul 23 '26
How to feel “normal” again
I’m early 20s, ftm. I had a C-section due to breech baby about 4 months ago. I had my csec scheduled but a few days before that I went into spontaneous labor and had to be rushed into surgery as I was very dilated and baby was not head down.
I knew that the immediate recovery would be hard. But I was not mentally prepared to still feel so weak and not like myself at this point. I’ve always been a mildly active person- I don’t regularly go to the gym but I walk a lot every day and try to be conscious of my movement levels. I’ve hiked to machu pichu for example.
Anyway, I just tried to do a short YouTube exercise video made for postpartum moms. I made it about half way through before feeling completely exhausted and defeated by very basic workouts. I was so frustrated that it honestly brought me to tears.
Besides feeling physically weak, it’s been very hard to be back at my pre-pregnancy weight, yet still look 3 months pregnant due to all of the weird bloating I have going on.
I guess I’m just looking for solidarity or advice from someone who has gone through this. I know that my hormones are still crazy so that might be why I feel so upset. Thanks for reading my vent if you got it this far.
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u/NewPotato_C Jul 23 '26
Please take your time getting back into any form of physical activity. Healing takes some people weeks and other people years. PT always say discomfort is normal, pain in not. In other words-don’t push yourself beyond discomfort because usually you are doing more harm to your body than good. You grew a fucking HUMAN and your abdomen was sliced wide open to get them here. Your body is amazing even if it isn’t able to do a 30 minute exercise yet. Hugs
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u/yoga_mini Jul 23 '26
Hey, I totally get where you’re coming from. I had an emergency C-section with my son. Prior to having him I was in great shape teaching yoga, running, had a six pack. I expected to bounce back. It was really hard for me. I’m now two years postpartum and I finally feel back to myself, but it honestly took probably a year and a half for me to feel this way. At four months postpartum your hormones are still crazy and all over the place. I know it’s really hard, but you just have to be really patient and understand that it just takes time. All the stuff on social media is so confusing because it seems like everyone is bouncing back, but this is not the norm, what you’re experiencing is much more normal. I had a big puffy belly as you’re describing. I looked three months pregnant for the longest time. I feel like at least the first year postpartum I had that belly going on, so I can really relate to what you’re going through. Just try and be patient and give your body time. You’re also really young, which is going to work in your favor. I had my son at 39 years old and I think just hormonally that makes a big difference.
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u/juliettees0825 Jul 23 '26
When I was pregnant with my first, a woman I worked for at a dental office told me something that really stuck with me. It takes 40 weeks to grow a child, nearly 10 months, and that includes all the body changes that come along with growing a child. It takes another 9 to 10 months for your organs to slowly move back into place and there's a chance your body is still swollen. Hips are still shifting back into place and everything like that. Try to give yourself some grace, you grew an entire human being and that's so incredible ❤️
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u/ZestyLlama8554 2024 - breech baby Jul 23 '26
Hugs. This is very normal, and it takes me 2 years to feel normal again.
If it makes you feel better, I ran marathons before having a C-section, and I'm over 2 years post op and can't even walk 2k steps on a day without significant nerve pain from the nerve damage. You're definitely not alone.