After a c-section?

[Aliy]

okay so i'm 11 days post op.

I have a few questions. when did you start driving again? when did you start lifting things more than your baby?

my help leaves on Sunday nad I'm going to have to go back into the swing of things and I'm just not sure how it is all going

[FischK]

I waited until 14 days post-op to drive, and probably a little longer to lift things heavier than the baby. Try to increase the load very gradually and allow your body to decide for you what is too heavy and what isn't. I found that even 3 months post-op I was not up to my previous strength because of the way in which the operation and maybe even the pregnancy had affected my core muscles.

[katelove]

6 weeks for both, it takes a long time for those abdominal muscles to heal.

I'm not sure what the conditions are where you live but, in Australia, you can sometimes void your insurance if you drive sooner than the surgeon advises and then have an accident.

[Aliy]

see my biggest issue is I have two other children 4 1/2 and 2 1/2 years old and i just can't expect them to be home for the next 5 weeks. and my husband works

[happyblessedmama]

I drove at 3 weeks post op for a medical emergency with one of my kids. I didn't drive again for 3 more weeks (6 weeks total)

Lifting things more than baby - tried not to as much as possible. We hired a college student we'd known for several years to be a 'mother's helper' to take kids outside (I could not physically lift my, at that time, 18 month old son), play with them, move my laundry up and down stairs, etc.

Yes, your older kids need to do things but you need to physically heal...

[Aliy]

i'm still despratley trying not to do anything and my hubby will be a great helpwhen he is home

gosh i don't know how others do this.....

[Friday13th]

My husband went back to work after 3 weeks by which point I was back to normal outings (grocery store, etc) with my 2.5 year old.  He is a lightweight and pretty cooperative so he would help climb into his carseat and walked for the most part, except for grocery carts which I did have to lift him all the way into.  I'm not sure I could have carried him for a long period of time, like if he'd had a tantrum and was totally uncooperative but as long as he was in a good mood we were fine.

[MeepyCat]

I started driving again within a week after my c/s.  I am not sure this was wise, but my baby was in the NICU and I needed to get there somehow.  These are the things my surgeon told me:

- Don't drive if you're still on narcotics or opiates for pain. 

- You need to be able to *comfortably* slam the brake pedal, and twist to check your blind spots.

- If possible, drive an automatic.

I started lifting things bigger than my baby (my 2.5 year old) as soon as I was home from the hospital.  Again - not sure this was wise. It hurt, it made my mother and my DH nuts, and I am sure my surgeon would have been appalled.  I would not recommend this course of action to anyone else.  When I say it hurt, I mean it HURT.  I'd have been better off lying on the sofa and clutching a hot water bottle.

I had it somewhat easy (physically) in that the baby was in the NICU and my DS was at preschool every week day.  I strongly advocate more help for c-section mamas post-partum.  Can you hire a local teenager to come over after school and take the kids to the park?  Get groceries delivered for a while? Make unembarrassed use of television as a strategy for keeping the kids occupied with minimal physical demand on yourself?

[mrsberman]

I can't remember when I started driving. I want to say it was 3-4 weeks, but DH was home (for a couple weeks), then my parents came and then my sister came. I had someone to do the driving so I didn't push it. I may have driven a little after 2 weeks when someone wasn't around, but the grocery store is only a couple blocks. I really didn't lift much, but at 4 weeks pp I was playing beach volleyball (fun not competitive). I didn't jump or dive but I was able to pass and serve with a minimal pain. Also, I wore tight, high waisted jeans or my bella band to help pull my muscles in and it helped a lot for support.

[KempsMama]

Originally Posted by MeepyCat 

I started driving again within a week after my c/s.  I am not sure this was wise, but my baby was in the NICU and I needed to get there somehow.  These are the things my surgeon told me:

- Don't drive if you're still on narcotics or opiates for pain. 

- You need to be able to *comfortably* slam the brake pedal, and twist to check your blind spots.

- If possible, drive an automatic.

This is excellent.  I was driving within two days of leaving the hospital.  I would just run my errands in the morning before I took any pain meds.  I probably should have taken it easier longer, but I didn't we were moving, and I took my boys and stayed with my mother while my hubby and several friends of ours moved us.  (Actually, this started two days before I went into labor, and while I was in the hospital.)

[greenmulberry]

I drove as soon as I was off of the heavy pain meds and just taking tylenol, but I rarely have to drive.

I kept lifting to less than ten pounds until my 6 week check up, which I just had and the Dr says I have had an excellent recovery. I feel great too and have started exercising again!