Random thoughts about my c-section
I had my 6-week post-partum appointment and got cleared to do simple exercise again, which is good because I've gotten quite tired of "taking it easy."
But it got me thinking, because so many people I know who had C-sections had awful recoveries. And for some reason, I was ready to run around the week after if they would have cleared me. By 3 weeks post- C-sec, J was having to remind me "no, take the elevator, not the stairs" and "don't carry anything heavier than the baby" because I would completely forget that I wasn't supposed to be doing these things.
So I've been trying to figure out what they did different with me vs all the other people I know. Which is kinda also a "how they did things in China" if anyone wants to know.
What I've come up with so far:
1- I had the glue, not the stitches or staples. Apparently, the glue allows for faster recovery if the internet is to be believed, so I suspect this is a factor.
2- I had binding. No idea if this is standard anywhere else, but in all the "C-section recovery" websites I've looked at no one mentions this part in the immediate post recovery. Basically, they wrapped this super tight stretchy band around my waist for the first 4 days post-C that held me together. Kinda like a stretchy medical corset. I got annoyed with it and took it off myself on day 4 since it rubbed my skin when I walked around. No one insisted I put it back on, so that was that.
3- I didn't have oral pain meds or IV pain meds. I had a box attached to my back for three days. I'd never heard of this before, but didn't realize how unusual this is until speaking with someone a week or so ago. Essentially, they left the epidural in for 3 days and it was attached to a little box that dispensed pain meds on a regular basis (at least I presume that's what the occasional buzzing sound it made was.) I could press the button if I needed more, but it had a 30-minute timeout, so if I pressed once, had to wait 30 min before I could press it again. (I apparently pressed it 15 times over those 3 days, according to the doc)
The box got annoying after about 24 hours, since I kept having to move it around on the bed and keep it out of the way, not roll on it when I slept, keep baby Leo from grabbing the tube for it,etc. But I never had any other pain meds besides that box, and when they took it out of my back on day 3, I didn't actually feel like I needed anything else. Never even took a tylenol or anything. Only pain after that was when I laughed, and I soon figured out the "pillow on abdomen" trick to stop that.
4- I was confined to bed for three days. I've heard from others elsewhere that their docs made them get up within 24 hours- sometimes shorter than that- to start walking around. I was tethered to my catheter and the pain med box until day 3. 24 hours post-C, I was allowed to turn sideways in the bed. Catheter removal on day 3 let me get up and carry the box around for a day til that also was removed. (Oh, I could move my legs, btw- the box wasn't like the epidural from the surgery where I was numb waist-down. That wore off after a few hours.)
5- They gave me the worlds most amazing gas remedy to get rid of all the air in my belly. Seriously. This stuff was so awesome that I tore the label off the box and saved it in case I ever have abdominal surgery again, or y'know, intestinal issues. So I can have someone ship me this stuff from China to wherever I am. I'm not joking. It's called "simotang koufuye" and it says on the box in English "correcting the flow of Qi and sending down the ascending qi to adjust the gastro intestinal function." It was a set of little bottles of herbal liquid.
I also had some other Chinese medicine that came in packets you mix with water. That one tasted like chocolate chalk and whatever it did was not especially noticeable.
Anyway, I've had an amazingly pain-free and fast recovery from this whole C-sec thing. And I'm not sure who/what to credit for it.
B
But it got me thinking, because so many people I know who had C-sections had awful recoveries. And for some reason, I was ready to run around the week after if they would have cleared me. By 3 weeks post- C-sec, J was having to remind me "no, take the elevator, not the stairs" and "don't carry anything heavier than the baby" because I would completely forget that I wasn't supposed to be doing these things.
So I've been trying to figure out what they did different with me vs all the other people I know. Which is kinda also a "how they did things in China" if anyone wants to know.
What I've come up with so far:
1- I had the glue, not the stitches or staples. Apparently, the glue allows for faster recovery if the internet is to be believed, so I suspect this is a factor.
2- I had binding. No idea if this is standard anywhere else, but in all the "C-section recovery" websites I've looked at no one mentions this part in the immediate post recovery. Basically, they wrapped this super tight stretchy band around my waist for the first 4 days post-C that held me together. Kinda like a stretchy medical corset. I got annoyed with it and took it off myself on day 4 since it rubbed my skin when I walked around. No one insisted I put it back on, so that was that.
3- I didn't have oral pain meds or IV pain meds. I had a box attached to my back for three days. I'd never heard of this before, but didn't realize how unusual this is until speaking with someone a week or so ago. Essentially, they left the epidural in for 3 days and it was attached to a little box that dispensed pain meds on a regular basis (at least I presume that's what the occasional buzzing sound it made was.) I could press the button if I needed more, but it had a 30-minute timeout, so if I pressed once, had to wait 30 min before I could press it again. (I apparently pressed it 15 times over those 3 days, according to the doc)
The box got annoying after about 24 hours, since I kept having to move it around on the bed and keep it out of the way, not roll on it when I slept, keep baby Leo from grabbing the tube for it,etc. But I never had any other pain meds besides that box, and when they took it out of my back on day 3, I didn't actually feel like I needed anything else. Never even took a tylenol or anything. Only pain after that was when I laughed, and I soon figured out the "pillow on abdomen" trick to stop that.
4- I was confined to bed for three days. I've heard from others elsewhere that their docs made them get up within 24 hours- sometimes shorter than that- to start walking around. I was tethered to my catheter and the pain med box until day 3. 24 hours post-C, I was allowed to turn sideways in the bed. Catheter removal on day 3 let me get up and carry the box around for a day til that also was removed. (Oh, I could move my legs, btw- the box wasn't like the epidural from the surgery where I was numb waist-down. That wore off after a few hours.)
5- They gave me the worlds most amazing gas remedy to get rid of all the air in my belly. Seriously. This stuff was so awesome that I tore the label off the box and saved it in case I ever have abdominal surgery again, or y'know, intestinal issues. So I can have someone ship me this stuff from China to wherever I am. I'm not joking. It's called "simotang koufuye" and it says on the box in English "correcting the flow of Qi and sending down the ascending qi to adjust the gastro intestinal function." It was a set of little bottles of herbal liquid.
I also had some other Chinese medicine that came in packets you mix with water. That one tasted like chocolate chalk and whatever it did was not especially noticeable.
Anyway, I've had an amazingly pain-free and fast recovery from this whole C-sec thing. And I'm not sure who/what to credit for it.
B