csection recovery and updates

pain management:
i am just amazed every day at how good i felt considering i had major abdominal surgery.

friday afternoon i was on the operating table being cut open and tuesday morning i took my last pain pill.

the whole time i was in the hospital, my pain level was over a 5 only once. the morning after the csection they removed the catheter and i was able to shower. those first steps getting to the bathroom were pretty hard. standing in the shower was even harder! once i was up and moving around, the more i moved the easier it was but i must have walked around hunched over because my back was pretty stiff by the time i got home. the nurses encouraged me to take a lap around the floor at least twice a day. to be honest, walking while having the heaviest period of my life was more annoying than the pain of walking. the worst pain i had was when i tried getting up from a laying position or if i leaned forward a certain way, it would feel like my insides were splitting open. that finally went away about a week and a half to two weeks later. 

incision:
now that i'm almost 4 weeks post surgery i feel great! i am completely numb around the incision and semi numb up to a few inches above the site. the dermabond glue is starting to peel off and the incision is still holding together so i guess that's good. i was never told when i could take a bath again and i'm dyin' for one!! i took so many at the end of my pregnancy that i'm going through withdrawals!
weightloss:

within the first week and a half, i got on the scale and found out i lost 45 pounds! that was a pretty awesome feeling but since then i've been pretty much at the same place. i made the mistake of trying to put my pre-pregnancy jeans on. it looks like i'll be sporting the maternity jeans for a bit longer.

breast feeding:

this almost deserves it's own post! it's been quite the experience. we were in the recovery room about 10 minutes before i gave my first shot at breast feeding. it was a cinch with the nurses help but once the night came and i was by myself came the true test! they say with csections it usually takes a few more days for milk to come in but by 24 hours after surgery i was so engorged i was in pain! they hurt when they were bumped, when i was in the shower, just sitting there hurt! even the lactation nurses was worried for me. they brought in a pump for me to use which provided some relief. by the time we left the hospital i had 6 bottles full of milk to take home. luckily they've regulated and supply what liam needs plus a little bit more which has started to fill up our freezer. i am still tender when he latches on. i never thought the pain from being engorged would go away and it did so i'm hoping this will end soon.

now that all is said and done, i'm definitely a csection advocate! there is no way i could have delivered a 10 1/2 pound baby with a 15 1/2 cm head safely! i dont think i'll even try for a vbac for our next kid, it's been such a dream recovery!