Your C-Section Recovery at Home
Coming home after your c-section can be a great feeling, your home! And that’s typically where most moms want to be, but your c-section recovery at home could be a let down.
Don’t get me wrong, I love being at home after just having surgery can be difficult. Here’s what I mean…
When I was in the hospital things went well, I was walking, I got the hang of breastfeeding, I was feeling a little energy and sleeping OK, I remember thinking “Hey, I’m doing great, I want to go home” But when I got home, things changed.
All of a sudden my baby had trouble breastfeeding, why? I’m not sure, perhaps it had to do with not having someone there to coach and support me, also I was feeling very tired and a little out of control.
I felt really fatigued and it didn’t help that I started feeling the baby blues.
The good news is that these things are all normal. Things change when you get home because you get off schedule. Your baby is adjusting and so are you. You not only have your baby to think about you have your husband, family members, chores and who knows what else. With all this going on in your mind, things can get overwhelming pretty quick.
At this very special time in your life it’s extremely important to keep your priorities straight and your priority right now is your recovery and taking care of your baby.
Forget the housework, visitors and the chores. If you have other children certainly don’t neglect them, instead involve them as much as you can with the new baby. Also let your husband tend to them as much as possible. Have a list of things for him to do. My husband always worked better when I handed him a list 
One thing that I would highly suggest is before you even have the baby work on planning your c-section recovery at home. That means that even before you go to the hospital plan for things like meals, housework, chores, bill paying, appointments, etc. This will make it a lot easier for you to stay focused on baby and yourself. Besides the more organized you are the better you will feel over all.
Tips for Your C-Section Recovery at Home
___Keep a close guard on your incision
Clean your incision every day. Be gentle with it, don’t scrub or put pressure on it, simply let the soapy warm water run gently over it as you shower. Always wash your hands with anti-bacterial soap when dressing your incision. Keep it covered for as long as your doctor recommends. If it appears a little red in spots simply put some topical bacitracin or neosporin on the red areas. This is a safe anti-bacterial cream that will help fight any bacteria.
_____Move Slowly and don’t lift
You can certainly lift your baby but nothing heavier. You will have both internal and external stitches so you don’t want to risk pulling them apart. Of course standing, sitting, lifting baby and certain movements will be a little sore in the beginning but as each day passes you will feel better and better.
One of the things that helps quite a bit is an abdominal binder, specifically a c-section abdominal binder. These binders help hold and support your midsection without pressure. It’s similar to how you put a pillow against your midsection when you laugh. It helps minimize the pain. A binder works much the same way only you can wear it all day long without discomfort. I highly recommend them for new c-section moms.
____Solicit Help!
If you’ve got other children at home, get someone else to make sure their needs are met. This doesn’t have to be long term, having someone for just a few days helps. If family can’t help, hire a sitter, ask a friend or get help from your local church. The first few days home with your baby after a c-section can be an adjustment and you will need as much time as you can to recover and bond with your new baby.
___Be Patient About Getting Back Into Shape
Try not to be overly concerned with how your stomach looks. Your muscles were stretched by the c-section so you’re going to have a little overhang above your c-section scar, this is normal. In time your ‘pooch’ will diminish. Breastfeeding helps tremendously with getting your uterus back in shape so keep up the breastfeeding for as long as you can.
If you’re anxious to get back into shape, good but please, please, please don’t do any exercise or even the exercise you’ve been use to, instead be very careful to do only exercise after a c-section that will safely and effectively help you target those problem areas without causing injury, that’s extremely important to your health and continued safety. You don’t want to prolong your recovery.
____Stay Positive!
Easy for me to say, right? But it will help to make a conscious effort to stay as positive as you can.
It’s normal to experience postpartum depression after a c-section but the minute you begin to feel down, try to nip it in the bud. Start by taking a walk. Put that beautiful baby in her carrier and enjoy her. This is the best medicine for the blahs! Sometimes it can be hard to get up that strength to get out but believe me, once you do, you will feel better, I promise.
Remember that this time in your baby’s life will only come once. Pass it up and it’s gone. Focus on your beautiful baby and your wonderful future together. Keep a life is good attitude.
____ Don’t Do Too Much Too Soon
As soon as you start to feel better you will want to do more, it’s only natural, but this is also when many women often take a giant step backwards in their recovery. They feel better so they do more and doing more can mean pulling muscles or breaking open their incision. These are the things that can put you days behind in your recovery.
Take each day of your c-section recovery at home slow. If you are doing something new for the first time since your surgery, listen to your body. If something doesn’t feel right, stop doing it and relax. If there are things that you absolutely have to get done, get help if you can. Take the attitude that the chores and the housework can wait, it’s time to enjoy your baby and your time together.
Elizabeth 
