Side Effects from Spinal Block or Epidural
For most C-sections, you’ll receive either an epidural or a spinal block to manage pain and keep you awake as your baby is removed. After delivery, as the anesthetic wears off, you can expect to be a little disoriented for a few hours.
The degree of grogginess will vary depending on the pain management technique used, but it can be helpful to prepare your support person for this phenomenon. My husband was taken off-guard when, while cradling our newborn, I numbly rambled about the Detroit Lions while coming down from my epidural (I have no recollection or explanation of this!).
Pain Management
There’s no way around it—you can have pain in your abdomen after Cesarean delivery, but how long it lasts will vary for every woman. What remains the same, however, is that it’s incredibly important that you take your discomfort seriously and ask for relief the first days after your surgery. I remember grinding my teeth, trying to be heroic by abstaining from the stronger narcotics after my most recent C-section, but I only made myself more miserable by not asking for what I needed to be comfortable.
The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) advocates a shared decision-making approach to pain management after delivery, which means that the patient and doctor have an open dialogue when developing a plan for which medicines will be given to the mother and how often. You will most likely be given stronger opioids in the immediate hours after surgery and depending on your pain levels, breastfeeding plans, and other factors, be sent home with instructions to alternate Tylenol with Ibuprofen to stay ahead of your pain. (It’s incredibly important to take your pain medication as scheduled, because this will help keep the pain at manageable levels and not get out of control.)
If you find yourself having intense pain that doesn’t seem to be getting better in the days following delivery, or gets worse, be sure to call your doctor ASAP.
Belly Binders
After your Cesarean, most hospitals will provide you with an abdominal binder, which is a firm wrap around your incision that will give you the feeling of being “held in” when your lower abdomen feels loose after surgery. The abdominal binder can help you manage the pain in your incision as you ease into increasing your post-surgery activity.
With each of my own deliveries, the binder made a significant difference in my ability to move around and I always asked for extras to take home. (They can get dirty very quickly and the hospital ones are meant to be disposable.) I also found this binder on Amazon to be great for keeping the pressure on my incision for the weeks following delivery.
Getting Around After Your C-Section
Immediately following your major abdominal surgery, you will be unable to get out of bed on your own, so you should anticipate needing assistance getting up and picking up your baby. Once your spinal or epidural has worn off, your nurses will start to gradually encourage you to sit up, stand, and then walk to avoid blood clots forming in your legs. It’s also vital for getting things moving again in the digestive system and reliving all the excess gas that can get trapped through surgery.
Gas pain can build up and even defer to your shoulders, and some moms report gas pain is more painful than the incision pain, so get moving. Even rocking in your rocking chair can help relieve that gas pain. Also, don’t worry if you break wind in front of the nurses—chances are they’ll just cheer you on anyways!
Moving might be the last thing you want to do, but the sooner you get moving around, the faster you will recover. Having said that, it’s important not to push yourself too hard doing sprints around the labor and delivery unit. Your incision will be quite tender and it will need adequate rest to heal properly.
Using the Bathroom
Speaking of gas, using the restroom is perhaps the least glamorous component of any postpartum recovery. With a Cesarean delivery, you can expect to have vagin*l bleeding, or lochia, immediately after delivery until about 4-6 weeks later.
After your catheter (which was inserted during surgery) is removed, you can also expect some difficulty urinating. Constipation may loom for the first weeks after your C-section and when your nurse offers you stool softeners to help you as you struggle through your first few stools, heed my advice and just take them.
