Recovery

Recovering from my C Section was ROUGH.

I remember waking up in the recovery room and still having no feeling in my lower half, until the nurse asked me how I was feeling. Suddenly I felt like I was on fire, and the contractions were back. Turns out, when your surgery ends, so do the pain meds.

They wheeled me into my private recovery room where Bryan was waiting for me, and although I was smitten with my new baby in my arms, I found myself asking for painkillers... strong ones. The last thing I remember that night was the warm sensation that spread through my body as they injected me with morphine, and I was fine.

The next morning a nurse came in to encourage me to get up and walk around, and she wanted to put a band around my belly. The moment she touched me I screamed and told her I had no intention of putting anything around my body that would touch the giant incision that I could feel, but refused to look at. No joke, it took me a half hour to stand up out of bed, and by the time I did, I was again begging for morphine.

The next couple days were a blur of people, pain, and precious moments with my baby. I appreciated the people who came to see us, but it was too much, and I think the next time I have a baby (if there is a next time), I will limit visitors. It's embarrassing to have to pee and have eight people watch you struggle to get out of bed and slowly walk to the bathroom while asking your husband to call the nurse for more painkillers. No joke... one day it took me an HOUR to get out of bed, into the bathroom, and back into bed. The bathroom was six feet from my bed.) It's also embarrassing to fall asleep mid sentence in a room full of people there to visit you.

But the best part about staying for an extended time in the hospital, is the service. The nurses were all so great, and it was fun being fed and medicated and taken care of. They'd check my incision (which I still refused to look at), they would bring me clean gowns and linens, and they cheered me on when they saw me walking through the halls at a snail's pace.

When it was time to go home, I was under strict instructions to stay in bed for a few days, avoid stairs, no driving, and don't lift anything that weighed more than the baby. We have a two story house and the C Section wasn't planned, so the first couple days were rough. My husband was running up and down the stairs constantly bringing me clothes, and toiletries. Walking was still difficult, and getting up and down off the couch was even harder. My mom stayed with us for a week to help out. She cooked, ran errands, changed diapers, and brought me the baby every time he needed to be fed.

When two weeks had passed and I finally weaned myself off painkillers, I finally got the courage to look at my incision, and I noticed it was bright red, swollen, and oozing. Greeeeat.... I had a C Section infection. I visited my doctor who didn't seem too concerned, but she drained it (ouch), put me on antibiotics, and sent me on my way.

It's been almost four weeks since my surgery, and I'm almost feeling 100% normal. I can walk normal, drive, do stairs, and sleep laying down. My incision finally stopped oozing, but I have no feeling there except when I carry heavy things... which is still difficult. My stomach is a saggy mess of skin, but it's not like I plan on rocking a bikini ever in my life, so I don't really care. I've lost 30 pounds of pregnancy weight, and I'm hoping that in the next month or so I'll be back in my normal clothes.

Although recovery sucked, it was totally worth it, and I would do it all over again if I had to.