Had my c-section March 13, 2009... willing to answer any questions you all have! On here or by PM! I am VERY familiar with infections, so if you have questions about that, you know where to find me!
My advice, lol:
1) take your pain killers on schedule.. BEFORE you "need" them.. or you'll be sorry! Figure out what works for you - the nurses wanted me to alternate Tylenol and Advil, but I was finding after taking the Advil I was having pain really quickly, so I took just the Tylenol. In my hospital, we were given our own medication (tylenol, advil, laxative... and then in my case, antibiotics). The nurses would ask you if you took your medication, but you had a tracking sheet for it, and you were to take it on your own on time. I loved that. Take your laxatives too. But even with those I think it took me like 5 days to have a bowel movement.
2) if you have staples... don't let them take them out for about a week I'd say... I had my daughter Fri @ 1:30pm and had my staples removed Sun @ 8pm. Not nearly long enough, my incision opened by the following Sat... and it put a huge dent in my recovery time. One of the visiting nurses told me to make them let me keep them in and have them out at my doctor's office next time around closer to a week after.
3) get out of bed... it's really painful to switch positions the first few days, ie: going from laying in bed to sitting on the bed to standing up off the bed... but it's so important to get up and walk around!! Use the hospital bed to your advantage, I'd adjust it so I was nearly sitting up supported by the bed, then lower it so my feet could touch the ground easily to get up from bed.
4) I wish I had a Boppy pillow... not sure if it would have helped anything, my daughter took FOREVER to feed the first few days, and it would have been helpful (some extra support) -- I used formula, so can't say if it'd be useful for breastfeeding!
5) probably common sense but don't carry those wretched baby carrier car seat things... difficult to do after a c-section!! Also if you're short, they're just generally annoying, bashing into your legs, etc.
6) though it SUCKS being in the hospital.. stay in as long as you can.. I was desperate to get out of there and I ended up back for an additional 3 nights, the maternity ward is NICE, more nurses/attention, more visitors, etc. If you have to go back and get put on a different ward... it's not nearly as fun.. lonely, no babies, less nurses, less guests!
7) No baths! Not until your incision is well on its way to being healed up!
8) Pick up steri-strips at the store, they come off in the shower.
9) REST. Leave the laundry, cooking, etc for someone else to do, just focus on the adjustment to parenthood & the recovery from MAJOR surgery!!
10) Let people visit on YOUR terms. If your mom is going to be helpful.. let her come, let her help. If your coworkers want to come over and you'll feel like you need to entertain them.. hold off on letting them visit for a couple of weeks!
