When I was pregnant with my daughter, I signed my husband and me up for all the classes that our hospital offered. Birth, breastfeeding, newborn care…you name it, we were there.
The only one we missed was the night they discussed c-sections during our 8-week long birth class.
But I mean, no big deal, right? The baby was head down and LOW. I have what some may call “child-bearing hips”. We didn’t need to know all the things about c-sections. I was going to give birth the good ole fashioned way.
Haha. Ha. Ha. Ha.
Fast forward to the morning my daughter was born and I was googling “C-section recovery” on my phone. Because that was the road we were headed down and I was pretty much driving blind.
Now that I have the gift of hindsight, I can look back and realize that there were 5 things that I could not have lived without during my recovery:
- Belly Binder – my hospital provided this but you can also get one off of Amazon. This thing was SO GREAT. When they put it on me in the hospital my reaction was something like “Where has this BEEN all my life??” After you’ve had major abdominal surgery you need something to help support everything – this was key.
- Boppy (or any small pillow) -I loved my boppy pillow. Yes, it was great as a positioner for breastfeeding (more on my breastfeeding must-haves here). But it was also nice to prop the baby on that and not have her resting on my incision. I also used it to brace my stomach when I sneezed, coughed, or laughed. Because yes, you will need some support to do all of those things for a little while. “Please warn me before you say anything funny so I can grab a pillow” – an actual quote from me while I was recovering.
- Granny Panties – Let me let you in on a little secret, no one has ever accused recovery from childbirth of being a glamorous experience. Granny panties. You need them. Get thee to Wal-Mart and getcha some. Or hoard the mesh panties they give you at the hospital. Either way, get something that will sit high enough that it won’t apply any pressure to your incision. Now is not the time for glamorous underpants.
- Bedside Bassinet – You will want something that is about the same height as your bed, that is lightweight, and that is just easy to get baby in & out of. I just didn’t want to mess with putting the baby in a crib in those first few weeks of recovery.
- Hair Dryer – Not for your hair, silly. For your incision. Duh. If you are lucky enough to be taking a shower then you need to make sure to keep that incision nice & dry. Don’t apply soap directly to it, just let water/soap run over it. And then after you towel off, put your hairdryer on cool & low and get it very, very dry. TMI alert -the ONE TIME I forgot to do this I ended up with an infection. Learn from my mistakes, don’t let this be you.
Final thoughts – don’t let the c-section get you down. This is another post entirely, but if you had an emergency c-section as I did, chances are you’re a little shaken up by it. That is okay. Give yourself some grace and remember that you absolutely gave birth to that tiny perfect human. Good work, momma. You did it.
What about you? What are your post-c-section must-haves? Do you have any advice for mommas that find themselves recovering from an unplanned cesarean?
[…] Speaking of the moms blog – I have a post over there on what I loved during my c-section recovery. […]
Granny panties! And buy them YOURSELF before you go into labor, because sending your poor husband to grab some after birth will only result in bad things. Bad like the size 4X mine picked up after asking some poor woman he *thought* worked there what size he should get and doing the whole “my wife is about ‘this’ big” bit. Huge would have been an understatement. They were, however, very comfy.
Ha! I bought mine in advance also but I took my husband to Wal Mart with me – I needed him to be the one to get them off of the bottom shelf for me – I couldn’t bend that far!
This is a great list! I wish I would have known about the hairdryer thing-genius! The only thing I would add is take your stool softeners! Kinda gross to talk about, but they were so important! I stayed right on top of them! (Those and the pain meds!)
I agree! I completely forgot about that unpleasant part when I was writing this – but they are a must!
A baby tub that fits in the sink. You won’t be able to bend over low for a while after you heal. I wish my hospital had given me a belly binder! I had 2 c-sections & abdominal surgery (which is why I needed the section) and all they did was let me take home the blanket I wouldn’t get up without. YES to the pillow over your tummy,.esp if you have small children or pets who like to jump on you.
Yes to the granny panties!! I’d also have to say a shower stool- I had trouble standing up long enough to shower (and forget trying to bend all the way over to wash my feet!!). Also, my husband had gone to Victoria’s Secret and got me a couple signature cotton sleep shirts and their PINK yoga shorts with the fold-over band….lifesaver!! I wore the shorts with the band pulled up (went about 2-3in above my belly button and didn’t run my incision) with the baggy sleep shirt for probably the first month- it was comfy but also modest and cute enough to wear when people would stop by to see the baby or bring food!
Those are awesome tips! I had similar fold-over pants and they are what I went home from the hospital in – SO glad I had them! And a shower stool is genius – my showers were basically quick rinses at that point because it was hard to stand & even just lift my arms up to wash my hair.
[…] depression was settling in. It started with the emergency c-section and grew from there. And for me, it wasn’t just feeling sad. It was more than that. It […]
Great tips! I cannot say enough about the belly binder! A true life saver! Ask your OB for it in the hospital so insurance will likely cover it!