Was your section elective or emergency? Emergency
If you baby was breech what gestation were you when you had you had your elective section? Not breeched - Heart decels
Did you request/were you able to have immediate skin to skin contact with baby? No didn't request this, but DH was given LO and then told to bring him to my face, I kissed him and nuzzled with my nose.
Did you manage to breastfeed or did a section hamper your efforts? Could not bf until day 3 because of my anti-seizure drip of magnesium sulfate (had Pre-E)
How long were you in hospital for? 5 days total, first day for induction.
How long was your immediate recovery - before you could do basic household tasks/climb stairs/change your pants yourself etc? Could change pants and squat bend slowly day 4, didn't take house stairs until a week after coming home. (used sofa bed downstairs)
How soon after your section could you do any kind of "heavy" lifting? (I have a toddler who will be around 19 months so thinking of lifting him mainly). About 3 weeks.
How soon did you feel able to cope at home alone with baby? After about 2 weeks.
How soon after did you feel able to have sex? Waited until 6 weeks after follow-up.
Finally - and this might seem like an odd one but I am bridesmaid and my best friend gets married 6 weeks after I am due, how soon after your section do you feel you could have realistically coped with a "night out". I don't mean drinking etc I just mean a night being active and on yoru feet out of the house? The next week I was out, I didn't feel horrible but not great either. Good luck hun.

Hi,

I had a c section 2 weeks ago under a general anaesthetic.

Was your section elective or emergency? Elective for both
If you baby was breech what gestation were you when you had you had your elective section? 39 weeks 4 days
Did you request/were you able to have immediate skin to skin contact with baby? I had skin to skin as soon as i was back in the room after operation
Did you manage to breastfeed or did a section hamper your efforts? With my son i easily breastfed but my daughter struggled as she was tounge tied
How long were you in hospital for? 1 night but went home like 6 next day
How long was your immediate recovery - before you could do basic household tasks/climb stairs/change your pants yourself etc? Straight away
How soon after your section could you do any kind of "heavy" lifting? Definatly couldnt lift something heavy for 2 months and still struggle now
How soon did you feel able to cope at home alone with baby? As soon as
How soon after did you feel able to have sex?
Finally - and this might seem like an odd one but I am bridesmaid and my best friend gets married 6 weeks after I am due, how soon after your section do you feel you could have realistically coped with a "night out". I don't mean drinking etc I just mean a night being active and on yoru feet out of the house? hm i waited 2 months

El's was an EMCS at 41+6 following a failed induction and his HB went through the roof. No skin to skin immediately but was able to BF for a good hour before he went SCBU. No prob BF although he had to be supplemented with FF. I was in hospital for 5 days as I was allowed to stay in with him.

Recovery was a bummer, did too much too soon. My one tip is try not to be supermummy!!! I know it'll be hard as u already have a LO but don't rush things. I did most basic stuff Within the first few days, althiugh slowly lol! I ended up with an infected wound that took months to heal an involved daily trips to the Dr's, various courses of antibiotics, district nurses and alot of pain, discomfort and blood. I found a cot top changer a god send for changing and dressing as no bending and little lifting involved.

We first DTD 7 weeks PP. It felt very weird down there, shorter and uncomfortable, even though he wasn't delivered vaginally.

Hope little lady moves for you in time xxx

Was your section elective or emergency?

Mine was elective

If you baby was breech what gestation were you when you had you had your elective section?

She wasn't breech, but my section was at 39+1, just to answer your question anyway

Did you request/were you able to have immediate skin to skin contact with baby?

I didn't request this, but I did have skin-to-skin as soon as I was in recovery.


Did you manage to breastfeed or did a section hamper your efforts?

5 weeks in and breastfeeding is still going well. It actually went far better for me this time than after my "natural" delivery with number 1.

How long were you in hospital for?

LO was born on the Friday morning, and I was ready to go home on the Sunday morning

How long was your immediate recovery - before you could do basic household tasks/climb stairs/change your pants yourself etc?

I wasn't anywhere with stairs until I got home. But pants etc... The midwife got me up 5 hours after my surgery, I had a shower and got dressed myself. I was totally self-caring from then on. Don't get me wrong, I had to be careful and take things steadily, but I was perfectly capable.

How soon after your section could you do any kind of "heavy" lifting? (I have a toddler who will be around 19 months so thinking of lifting him mainly).

I haven't felt comfortable lifting my toddler until this week. She weighs 25lbs. I've lifted her before now, but I was always aware of my scar before now. Add in that I had bad SPD and a sacral-illiac displacement in pregnancy, I feel like it's taken a few weeks for my back/pelvis to get to the point where I'm able to lift her too.

How soon did you feel able to cope at home alone with baby?

Physically, last week or this week, I'd say. Maybe the week before, depending on what I was trying to do. I wouldn't have been able to hoover etc, but I live in a townhouse so the sheer number of stairs is the problem there!

How soon after did you feel able to have sex?

In terms of c-section scar etc, I'd feel fine now, as long as it was careful.

Finally - and this might seem like an odd one but I am bridesmaid and my best friend gets married 6 weeks after I am due, how soon after your section do you feel you could have realistically coped with a "night out". I don't mean drinking etc I just mean a night being active and on yoru feet out of the house?

I think I could cope with a wedding this week (5 weeks post partum). Only because you'd expect there to be opportunities at a wedding to sit down/have a break, even at the reception. I am pretty much fine, but a long period of walking/time on my feet does still tend to take me by surprise the next day with how tired I am. For example, DH and I went shopping in town with the kids on Wednesday, and I pretty much spent Thursday on the couch. If you have opportunity to recover the next day, and can pace yourself on the day, then you should be fine

Thanks for this thread! Quite a few questions I never thought about but it's been really useful to read x

Was your section elective or emergency?;
Mine was elective, Eamon was breech from 24 weeks and stayed that way. I had a scan on the morning of the c-section to make sure he hadn't turned in the last two weeks since I was scanned, and he hadn't and the section went ahead.

If you baby was breech what gestation were you when you had you had your elective section?
I was 38 weeks on the dot, two weeks before EDD.

Did you request/were you able to have immediate skin to skin contact with baby?
I didn't request it, but it wasn't available at my hospital anyway

Did you manage to breastfeed or did a section hamper your efforts?
I BF from day one till 11.5 months My milk came in on the night after birth.

How long were you in hospital for?
They wanted a week, I left after 5 days after I could show them BF was establised and E wasn't as jaundiced as he'd been at birth.

How long was your immediate recovery - before you could do basic household tasks/climb stairs/change your pants yourself etc?
I was very lucky in that regard. I was walking on the second day and dressing myself the third, and could do basic household chores 2 weeks after, though it was much slower than normal I was back to doing full housework at 4 weeks post section though this is not recommended, you're meant to wait 6 weeks but some women recover faster than others.

How soon after your section could you do any kind of "heavy" lifting? (I have a toddler who will be around 19 months so thinking of lifting him mainly).
I could have at about 4 weeks post section but never got the chance to find out as OH wouldn't let me

How soon did you feel able to cope at home alone with baby?
A couple of days after I was home I was left with him for a few hours and managed fine. Changing him on the floor was difficult as I couldn't bend really yet so I put him on the bed and did it that way.

How soon after did you feel able to have sex?
Finally - and this might seem like an odd one but I am bridesmaid and my best friend gets married 6 weeks after I am due, how soon after your section do you feel you could have realistically coped with a "night out". I don't mean drinking etc I just mean a night being active and on yoru feet out of the house?

My OH tried sex with me 4 weeks after and I howled I couldn't successfully have sex till about 8-9 weeks after section. But for a general night out, I was out 4-5 weeks after section for a few hours at a time a couple of times and coped fine, though if I did too much, I would start bleeding again when I thought I'd stopped

Hi sweetie
Just so you know as well soem babies don't turn from breech until your in active labor, so good luck hopefully you dont have to have a section.


Was your section elective or emergency? emergency


Did you request/were you able to have immediate skin to skin contact with baby? NO I got to see my baby briefly(like 2-3 minutes) then they took her away for about 4-5 hours

Did you manage to breastfeed or did a section hamper your efforts? I am breastfeeding, BUT my baby had hard time latching at first so I still combi-feed

How long were you in hospital for? 3 days
How long was your immediate recovery - before you could do basic household tasks/climb stairs/change your pants yourself etc? well with pain still about 3 days I could do everything except like hard tasks, I am 4 weeks after and feeling pretty normal can carry LOs car seat no pain, still getting little twinges of pain though

How soon after your section could you do any kind of "heavy" lifting? (I have a toddler who will be around 19 months so thinking of lifting him mainly). like I said around 3+ weeks I have been able to carry LO's carseat with her in it(she is almost 10lb alone)

How soon did you feel able to cope at home alone with baby? one week after my OH went back to work, had to learn to cope really lol.

How soon after did you feel able to have sex? just had sex yesterday at 4 weeks

Finally - and this might seem like an odd one but I am bridesmaid and my best friend gets married 6 weeks after I am due, how soon after your section do you feel you could have realistically coped with a "night out". I don't mean drinking etc I just mean a night being active and on yoru feet out of the house? I started going out to mall shops etc, 1 week after its good to walk a lot it helps you heal faster. BUT even if I NEEDED to go somewhere if I don't feel up to it I just don't go, its hard going out with one baby after abdominal surgery, you have 2 so just go by how your feeling, your friend would understand if you couldn't make it because of how your feeling if she doesnt then maybe she isnt a really good friend

Was your section elective or emergency?
"Planned Emergency" as I had a fever during labor and the doctor was discussing the possibility of having to do an assisted delivery of some kind if I couldn't deliver the baby naturally by certain time.

Did you request/were you able to have immediate skin to skin contact with baby?
I did not request and was not able to have immediate skin to skin contact. Baby needed to be checked for fever and other things as soon as she was delivered due to my condition, and I was too out of it because of my fever to even want to look at the baby! Baby did go back to our room and snuggled with daddy as soon as she was checked which was only a matter of minutes, and I had skin to skin with baby after I got out of recovery.

Did you manage to breastfeed or did a section hamper your efforts?
No problem with breastfeeding although I did need some help picking up baby and putting her on my lap for a while because I did not want to over do myself. Getting in and out of the bed actually was more difficult!

How long were you in hospital for?
3 days

How long was your immediate recovery - before you could do basic household tasks/climb stairs/change your pants yourself etc?
I could climb stairs and do basic houehold tasks pretty much right after I got home; I was just slow. I asked my hubby to change my pants until the staples were taken off because I found bending awkward with the staples.

How soon after your section could you do any kind of "heavy" lifting? (I have a toddler who will be around 19 months so thinking of lifting him mainly).
I was told by the nurse at the hospital not to lift anything heavier than the baby for a few weeks. I did life my 17 lbs cat a couple days after the surgery but not for very long and it was not easy. I was very careful for the first two week because I want the wound to heal properly. I was able to life the stroller to the trunk of my car 3 weeks after the surgery without difficulties though.

How soon did you feel able to cope at home alone with baby?
I could do a couple hours here and there being home alone with baby. Baby is one month old and my husband is going back to work after the weekend. We'll see how I do home alone with baby come Monday!

How soon after did you feel able to have sex?
Baby is breastfeeding right now and I just don't feel like sex at all! (Somehow a bay sucking on my nipples 8 to 12 times a day is making me not in the mood for sex lol) Lochia sort of ruled out sex anyway although I did not bleed a lot because of the c-section. I am thinking I would be in the mood for sex again when the number of feeds goes down and when I had more sleep.

Finally - and this might seem like an odd one but I am bridesmaid and my best friend gets married 6 weeks after I am due, how soon after your section do you feel you could have realistically coped with a "night out". I don't mean drinking etc I just mean a night being active and on yoru feet out of the house?
There was a bridesmaid at my friend's wedding who had a c-section a week prior to the event. You wouldn't be able to tell she had a c-section a week ago unless you really pay attention to how slow she was walking relative to the rest of the bridal party! Even then she was not walking very slow. I wouldn't want to be out and about a week after giving birth, mostly because I was so tired from the lack of proper sleep! However, I could see myself doing that in 6 weeks postpartum. I was making short trips to the mall and grocery stores 2 weeks after the section. Going out with an infant is tricky though especially if you are breastfeeding; you are pretty much operating around baby's schedule so sometimes it is hard to say when exactly you can leave the house. You can't believe how many times we were ready to leave the house and then baby would want a feed!

Hope this is helpful!

Was your section elective or emergency?
Elective

If you baby was breech what gestation were you when you had you had your elective section?
Baby was breech from 20 weeks, c section at 34 weeks

Did you request/were you able to have immediate skin to skin contact with baby?
Joshua was wrapped in a towel, weighed and measured and handed straight to me whilst they stitched me up

Did you manage to breastfeed or did a section hamper your efforts?
Joshua was rushed straight to nicu, I hand expressed though

How long were you in hospital for?
I was in for four days, but Joshua passed when he was 13hrs old, and I felt closer to him in hospital. They could discharge me the next day, and said some women go home the same day

How long was your immediate recovery - before you could do basic household tasks/climb stairs/change your pants yourself etc?
I had a horrible recovery. It took almost 2 weeks for me to do it comfortably. I first walked upstairs 5 days after, was very slow and very painful. I had very extensive bruising though as I was up after op after 3 hours to get to the nicu

How soon after your section could you do any kind of "heavy" lifting? (I have a toddler who will be around 19 months so thinking of lifting him mainly).
I was told not to lift anything heavier than a full kettle for 6 weeks, and nothing really heavy for 6 months

How soon did you feel able to cope at home alone with baby?
Baby never made it home

How soon after did you feel able to have sex?
I had sex for the first time today, a day short of 9 weeks. My scar and stomach area around the wound have been too painful before now

Finally - and this might seem like an odd one but I am bridesmaid and my best friend gets married 6 weeks after I am due, how soon after your section do you feel you could have realistically coped with a "night out". I don't mean drinking etc I just mean a night being active and on yoru feet out of the house?
I had a day at the zoo on thursday, so just over 8 weeks after. Started to get very achey and sore during the day and was very tired the next day. I still can't wear anything that rubs against the scar as its still tender. Just take the day easy and try not to overdo it. I keep surprising myself at how easily I get tired, and that's without a newborn (obv a lot of stress, tears and sleepless nights though) xx