Recovering from a Cesarean Section – Part 1

C-Section recovery is no joke.

That was my primary motivation for wanting to avoid a second one after my first cesarean delivery in 2012.  Alas, it was not meant to be, and despite a fantastic, supported, unmedicated labor my son was born via a beautiful, peaceful cesarean delivery in March 2014.

That means I’m about to attempt to bounce back after abdominal surgery – again.  After doing this twice, I really will be a pro, right?

I’m not so sure about that, but I can tell you one thing for certain:
The human body is incredible.  It does amazing things like grow babies and go into labor (and in some cases other than my own, actually push them out) – and it also has the ability to recover after a major event like a cesarean section.

It didn’t feel like it in the hospital, when I couldn’t be alone in the room with my baby for 24 hours since I was not capable of getting out of bed, let alone fetching him from the bassinet for a feeding or diaper change.
It didn’t feel like it the first days home from the hospital, when I needed my husband’s help getting in and out of bed.
It didn’t feel like it for the first week or so, when I couldn’t pick up my toddler to comfort or play with her.

But here’s the incredible thing: each of these moments quickly passes.  All of a sudden, something you couldn’t do yesterday is now possible.  It isn’t a quick process by any means, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t impressive.

If you’re in those early stages of recovery, I encourage you not to focus on the things you can’t do.  Those will return in time.  Instead, think about what you couldn’t do yesterday or the day before, that you can do today.  Celebrate every milestone, just as you celebrate your child’s first smiles and coos.

You’re awesome.  You’ve totally got this.  When you get to 6 weeks postpartum and your doctor gives you the thumbs up, call me and we’ll go for a run.  A really slow, dreadfully painful run, yes.  But it’s more than we could do yesterday.  And less than we’ll be able to do tomorrow.