Throughout my pregnancy I never really thought much about cesareans. Given the choice, as much as I was worried about ruining everything downstairs, I wouldn’t have opted for a cesarean because of the recovery time. Luke wouldn’t have been able to take six weeks off to support me and the idea of not being able to pick up my own child didn’t bear thinking about. It turned out that, like Jon Snow, I knew nothing.
1. The six weeks recovery time isn’t as dramatic as it sounds. I know every person is different but I’m doing way better than I thought I would be four weeks later. I’m not allowed to lift anything heavier than Jenson for the first six weeks (I got a bit excited last weekend and picked up my nephew but I won’t be doing that again yet) and I can’t get down on the floor with Jenson for tummy time but I can do pretty much everything else. I’ve been out walking for over an hour, I can pick up my son and I can push him in his pram – that’s all I need right now!
2. The first week is the hardest. I didn’t really have to get about much when we were in hospital for those first few days but coming home was ridiculously hard. I nearly cried trying to get into the car, we’ve got a ‘special’ toilet seat because ours was too low for me to lower myself onto, our sofa is so low that my side has been raised with a double duvet folded under the cushion (it’s still there for now cos it’s super comfy!) and I couldn’t get into our bed for a week, meaning I spent the first ten days after having Jenson sleeping alone – not fun. Because it was an emergency rather than elective cesarean I wasn’t prepared for any of this which made it harder.
3. It can be really painful/uncomfortable just trying to sit upright in bed. My back hurt when leaning back because of the needles – epidurals are fun!
4. Because of the epidural and catheter I was stuck in bed for the first 12 hours or so and it took me a while to be able to move a bit more freely in and out of bed. As a result, I couldn’t pick Jenson up out of his cot and he had to be handed to me. I felt bad having to constantly call for help in the middle of the night for the first two nights. For the next two I was able to get out of bed easier so whenever he cried (and that was a lot!) I got out of bed, picked him up and sat on the edge of the bed with him, put him back and got back into bed. I wasn’t able to get into bed while holding him and I couldn’t lean or stretch across to get him out of his cot. It grew rather tiresome!
5. It took Luke as much time and energy looking after me as it did looking after Jenson when I came home. He had to lower me onto the sofa, do all the running around, help me dress… which brings me to…
6. Granny knickers! I needed huge knickers which came up to my belly button so my mum flap stayed tucked in and nothing rested on my dressing/stitches. I was wearing granny pants three sizes bigger than my usual size and Luke had to help me climb into a clean pair each day – complete with huge maternity pad stuck inside. Love is!
7. Even though you’re able to hold your child it can still be difficult. Jenson is rather long and can get quite kicky so his feet reached my wound more than once. Ouchy!
8. You really do lose all dignity. If the granny knickers weren’t enough, you also get shaved in theatre (nice!) and showering ain’t all that easy afterwards either. Our shower is over our bath and I wasn’t able to climb in there for about a week after I got home. My mum would come over and wash my hair for me and I would do a bit of a top and tail in the sink. She had to wash my feet for me though, as well as shave my legs and cut my toenails. Classy.
9. Everything needs to be put within your reach. You can’t stretch or bend so you need some kind of middle ground for all your essentials so you don’t have to call for help each time. Because Luke couldn’t leave the baby I’d regularly have to ask him to grab some stuff for me before I could go into the bathroom.
10. You can’t watch any comedy shows for a while afterwards. A physiotherapist came round before I left hospital to give me some exercises (you still need to watch that pelvic floor!) and tell me how to hold myself when sneezing, as well as the right way to cough and laugh while recovering so I wouldn’t burst any stitches. I made the mistake of watching Impractical Jokers not long after I came home and it was impossible not to laugh. Plus the ‘right way’ to laugh is, in itself, pretty funny. It’s a vicious cycle!
My pregnancy was pretty straightforward in that Jenson was head down reasonably early and had no problems up until it was go time. I know that it’s not often that a baby turns last minute but I wish I had still been prepared for the possibility of a cesarean and was told more about what happens afterwards. In the minutes before we went into theatre I was told about the risks and asked to sign a consent form but I had no idea about what I would experience afterwards until I was already experiencing it. I’d much rather have been more clued up.