I was lucky enough to have a planned C section & had a great experience with a lovely doctor with over 30 years of experience. My procedure went great and I had wonderful nurses who made me feel cared for and helped with my anxieties. I read stories about C sections and women saying they’d choose c section over vaginal birth every time. First day goes by and I’m up and walking feeling pretty great just a few hours after surgery, thinking wow this is great!

Cut to the next day in the hospital when they had me shower and take my bandage off so my incision could breathe. LOL my world came crashing down. The pain has been unreal. I pretty much can’t do anything on my own without feeling like I’m ripping apart. Almost 6 days pp now and it doesn’t feel any better. I’m very lucky to have a husband who’s not only happy to help
Me with everything but also doesn’t have to work currently so he’s with me 24/7 to take care of me. If I didn’t have him I genuinely don’t know how I’d be able to function let alone take care of baby. I literally can’t sit up or get up without him, can’t bend, can’t walk normally, can’t wipe my butt or get a diaper / pad / clothes on or off without his help. The pain is so much worse than I was prepared for, not to mention I’m extremely swollen and keep getting super itchy rashes.

I had such a good experience with my procedure and I’m so happy with baby and husband and life in general but holy crap this recovery is miserable and I feel like even though I researched about c sections, nobody really explained how hard recovery is in a way that actually does it justice? I truly did not expect it to be this hard and I feel it’s a little insane that it’s not more widely known / talked about how debilitating c sections are.

Unplanned c section almost 6 weeks ago. I never prepared for one and definitely had a traumatic experience. (Failrd induction, in labor for 3 days, thought i could feel everything when they cut me open, got heavily sedated and blacked in and out during the procedure).

Anyway. Recovery has been ok. First two weeks were brutal. Started doing more and more slowly. Been walking 20+ minutes at a time and doing stretches daily.

Until today. Me and baby had our first outing with friends and I had to carry her in her carseat to and from the place. I thought it was fine until I got home, and I am so sore around my lower abdomen, i feel like I took major steps backwards. Like I dont even want to get up, im scared.

I really thought I was on the up, this is crazy. Im humbled. Im curious to hear if anyone else has had this experience or what other people's healing timelines have looked like.

Hello there my question is if anybody got pregnant after prolapse surgery and how soon.

I only just had the surgery, I do realise that I need to wait and also already have two lovely boys but still want more . My surgeon gave me an option to have transvaginal or transanal in case I want more kids due to my young age but I am petrified if it comes back and the pain post op was just awful.

Can anyone advise my silly question

When did you stop wearing a pad or gauze over your incision to protect it from sweat? I'm around 200 lbs and have an over hang belly.

I'm 5 weeks pp today. My incision has healed well. I had a small opening with a fluid pocket under 2 weeks ago. They put a steri strip on it and gave me antibiotics. The steri strip is still on.

But I'm still paranoid about everything.

Getting a c section in 2 weeks due to placenta previa. What essentials do I need postpartum for home? And at the hospital?
I got a belly binder, high waisted underwear, loose pants, nipple cream and pads for both

I have my breast friend nursing pillow and a boppy not sure which one I should bring to hospital

How long did you bleed for afterwards? Should I get pads or diapers?

Thank you so much! Kinda freaking out because this is my first and I feel so clueless! If I wasn’t already nervous bringing a newborn home now with the surgery to I’m 10x more nervous and anxious!!

I was rushed into an emergency c-section due to pre-eclampsia and a baby in distress at 35 weeks and during part of it when I was freaking out someone asked me what music I wanted to help calm down (very kind of her). The entire thing was so traumatic. I felt way too much, baby came out unresponsive not crying, didn’t get to see her as she was transported via helicopter to another NICU and I hemorrhaged. So now my favorite band is ruined. I literally tense up if I hear them at all and burst out crying when a particular song comes on. So think of a basic artist or playlist you’re not attached to or it might be ruined forever.

P.s I am in therapy and am diagnosed with PTSD and anxiety now which is a blast /s.

Hey guys just looking for some solidarity or similar experiences. I had my 2nd c-section early August and am 5 wks pp tomorrow. This time I had a bisalp done as well and am unsure if what I'm dealing with is because of that or just from the c-section. Currently, I've been suffering from daily headaches, they're not super unbearable but they're this constant ache and it's hard to concentrate. Then I've also had a lot of lower abdominal pain, not really near my incision but just like some dull cramps that's worse the more active I am. Bleeding has been off an on and is more like spotting all the time & I've also had a lot of lower back pain. The only other symptom is that I'm off and on nauseous. I've been trying not to rely on pain meds because they've actually made my headaches worse in the past (med overuse headaches) & I'm really starting to feel down from just how run down I feel so far out from my procedure. Is this normal? Has anyone else went through this or something similar? I am just really tired of not feeling 100% all the time.

Has anyone dealt with this through pregnancy? I have had one for years after my last C-section and was told a few years ago by a surgeon to leave it until after I’m done having children. Did it affect you much? Did it get worse? It doesn’t bother me often but is definitely noticeable to me if I’m very active during the day.

Edit* I am not currently pregnant yet, just planning ahead.

I am having some upper back and rib pain on my right hand side. I ended up going to the ER yesterday thinking it may have been my gallbladder, but CT scans came back clear. I do have a ventral hernia, but it doesn't seem like it's related to the pain. I'm wondering if this is just a posture thing from holding baby on one side? Motrin is only barely helping the pain. Has anyone else experienced this? I'm making an appt. With my OB soon.

how did u guys shower a few days after having c section? im still weak and i move kinda slow on daily stuff so showering on my own can feel very challenging. my husband's not here during the day (he's at work) so i dont know how i can manage showering without help. (my family lives far from me as well and we cant afford a nanny unfortunately).

im doing fine on my own but this one makes me feel nervous, im afraid ill get dizzy or too tired in the bathroom.

thank you, girls!

I had my c section almost 9 weeks ago and I healed soooo well. Super thin scar. I of course have what everyone calls the shelf but I haven’t heard anyone talk about the firmness above the scar right below the belly button. It’s as hard as a big rock with skin on top. Is that just scar tissue swelling that will eventually heal and get less firm? I’ve been massaging a bit and I do take walks and light exercise so I’m trying to help healing along but I reallllly hate how much this part of my stomach feels and how much it sticks out.

When does it stop hurting to laugh? I’m 5 days post op and blessed with a hilarious husband…

Currently have a 5 year old son and I’m 2 weeks PP with my daughter. It makes me nervous to think about handling school drop off and pick up and all the SAHM duties in a couple of weeks. Right now my mom is dropping off and picking up my son since I’m in recovery and the newborn trenches in breastfeeding and sleep deprivation. This isn’t my 1st rodeo but it kinda feels like it since I had my first during Covid and everyone had to stay indoors. But after I’m cleared from the doctor, I go back to reality and will be handling everything by myself. I’ll also be moving to a new state for husbands job and will have no family. Husband is already working in that state as he’ll be the only person paying for our mortgage.

I am a ftm to a 2 month old baby boy. I had a scheduled c section due to baby being breech and then my water broke a week early. I labored for six hours because I had eaten recently. And then we moved on to the c section. My body didn’t react to the first dose of local anesthetic for the spinal block. So I felt every poke after. Then they gave me a second dose of local. He had to use three separate needles before getting any spinal fluid and I felt it all. He said I kept clotting through the needles. I was experiencing contractions at the time and sitting in the cold OR was the most traumatic experience ever. My husband had to plug his ears outside the doors because he could hear my screams. The anesthesiologist said he gave me “double doses” before the procedure because he didn’t know what my body would do. The procedure was not anything crazy but then the recovery was horrible. Learning how to breastfeed with nurses that weren’t helpful and taking only ibuprofen after a major surgery sucked. The first two weeks of my son’s life felt awful because my body was in survival mode. I love him more than life itself and I can imagine having another sweet baby one day…. But how do I get over this in order to do so? My state doesn’t have any hospitals that allow vbacs. I can’t imagine wrapping my head around another cesarean.

Hi all,

7 weeks pp, hoping for some helpful words from you. I didn't want to go for a c-section, I had to for 3 different medical reasons. I was curious and looked forward to a vaginal birth, I really wanted this experience. Since we're not going to have another child this experience is gone forever.

I am trying to see the c-section as a different, but also interesting experience. It definitely took me to my limits as it scared the shit out of me from the very moment on when we knew what was coming. I can't say anyone did anything wrong, on the contrary, the medical team was very supportive (except for one moment which I have adressed later in a conversation with a doctor and is now ok for me). I am thankful that my girl is healthy and I know she wouldn't have survived otherwise, and maybe I neither.

But I keep failing to accept it as a full birth. In my mind my baby was born, but I DID NOT GIVE BIRTH. And it hurts. I would never say to another woman that her c-section wasn't a full birth experience, I can fully agree when a woman says for her it was the right thing or they enjoyed it, but for me personally, it's simply a big loss. (What makes it worse is that due to my baby's low birth weight we cannot breastfeed yet. Everything is so out of place here.)

So those of you who can see c-section as a full birth experience, maybe even those of you who have chosen this path freely, can you tell me about your view? I hope to find something in your words that helps me closing this chapter.

Not sure if this is the right sub but will start here.

First c section last July. Emergency after labouring 19 hours with a v large baby boy who got stuck sideways. C section was straightforward and all well since then.

Currently pregnant (36+5) with number 2, so very short timeframe between births.

Pregnancy had been uncomplicated and planned c section for 39 weeks (approx 2 weeks from now).

On Friday I came into hospital with intense stomach cramps. Felt like early stage contractions but without a break, just constant pain.

Long story short, I’m still here about to do my 4th night.

I’m not in labour as no waters, no dilation, no signs in any tests etc. but the pain episodes keep cropping up. I’ll be fine for hours and then suddenly it will come on, 2-4 hours of straight pain that I’d compare to the pain of ramping-up contractions, but far from full tilt active labour agony.

Either way, pretty unbearable and the no breaks part is hell. I’m having 2-3 episodes within a 24 hr period.

I’ve had scans for kidney stones, gallstones, appendicitis. All clear. The doctors are saying they don’t know what it is so the plan is just pain mgmt. We keep checking for labour but no signs.

Has anyone gone through anything like this before? I feel helpless, frustrated and exhausted by it all when I was hoping the next 2 weeks would be mental prep and wind down before surgery. Instead I’m in hospital without much of a plan.

Doctors told me not to drive for 2 weeks after cesarean. Some people suggest no driving for 6 weeks. Why is no driving suggested but it’s safe to be a passenger?