Driving restriction: C-sec mamas?

[Ks Mama]

So, I'm two & a half weeks into a 4 week PP driving restriction, and DD & I are going stir crazy!!!! Is this standard for C-section mamas? I don't seem to remember it with DD...

How are y'all dealing? My DH & MIL are taking turns taking DD out in the early evenings, but DD & I are used to having an "adventure" every day and staying in is getting so BORING.

Anyone else in this position? What are you doing to occupy yourselves & your toddlers?

[lucky_mia]

At my 2 week pp appointment my ob said as long as I wasn't still taking pain killers then it was fine and I could drive. I told him I was enjoying the pain killers a bit too much so I stopped taking them.

[JanB]

My OB after my C-section told me that the driving restriction was because she didn't want me driving until I felt completely comfortable and uninhibited in slamming on the brakes hard if I had to. I reached that point around 3 weeks post-surgery, but then I had some trouble with my incision healing properly and wanted to be extra cautious.

[willoLevin]

After my first birth (vaginal) my doctor (a family practitioner) prescribed two weeks minimum of no driving.

My mom thought that was nuts. Frankly, I didn't feel up to driving for much longer than that, primarily due to the sleep deprivation!

I think the Rx was because she gave me Tylenol with codeine, but I never actually asked her if that was why.

--willo

[Ks Mama]

You know, I wondered if it was the Rx restriction... I didn't take any RX painkillers after leaving the hospital, maybe I should call OB & clarify?!

[Marvelleaux]

The Doc who performed my C-section stated (in front of my husband and his parents--yay!) that I could do anything that I felt up to doing. No restrictions, but to use my common sense. My husband had been very concerned about me going up and down stairs and to that Doc Darling (his name, I'm not kidding) said "She can go up and down stairs. She may decide she needs to do it backwards, but if she can manage it she should do it.

I took the advice and proceded as my body felt able and was fully operational 1 week after my C.

[Ks Mama]

thanks Marv... that's how I proceeded after my first C... but this one my doctor actually sent me home with a list to tack up to the fridge with restrictions...

I'm really feeling great personally... I still get a little tired by the end of the day, particularly if DD, DS, & I take a really long walk a little crampy, but otherwise, I feel like getting in & out of & driving my car really wouldn't be a big deal right now & that the only reason I'm not is because my doctor said 4 weeks.

She also said no stairs for 3 weeks... and I broke that rule the first day home (we live in a 3 floor condo).

Of course, with DS being a "premie" DH & I have been extra cautious as well, and he has only been in the car twice - driving home from the hospital, and driving to the doctor for his check up. He's probably as big as my daughter was now at birth though, and we went out driving, etc. right away after she was born & finally got home from the hospital... So I guess this caution is contributing to my not driving as well.

I shall continue to research this...

[torio]

I thought 6 wks of no driving sounded pretty extreme. I haven't had a burning urge to go anywhere--babymoon nursing, napping and noshing is lovely. Besides it's been so rainy here. I have found though that I need to exercise daily--nothing strenuous, but my body needs to move or it feels even more stiff and sore. I guess I never really listen to doctors if their advice doesn't jive with what my body is telling me.

I think a PP may be right that the driving RX is partly due to the pain killers prescribed. Funny thing is, my grandmother is suffering from a very bad, several months of shingles. She's on morphine and a few other pain killers and her doctor still seems to think she's okay to drive. I love my Gram, but she's not much of a driver at 89 even off the drugs!

[PatchChild]

I was given a 2 week restriction after my section, and it's seeming like a good length of time. I'm 8 days so far and still don't love the idea, but it's gaining appeal. It would have more appeal if the carseat fit in my car rather than DH's, since my seats are much more reclined. Oh well.

[kblackthorne]

I had surgery in 2002 to remove an ovary, with the same incision used for a C-section. (Wanna see my scar?)

I was told 6 weeks, absolutely no driving.

The reason was that the abdominal muscles wouldn't be fully healed, and might be further damaged (or of insufficient strength) if I had to react suddenly in an emergency situation.

Don't know if you've ever been in a near-accident, but it can be physically straining! ~remembers a near-pile-up on the freeway a few years back~

Anyway, that was the explanation given to me.

[willoLevin]

Perhaps, even if one feels up to normal driving, it would be smartest to avoid freeway driving or other situations (rush hour) when a high-intensity situation would be likely?

--willo

[kblackthorne]

Sounds sensible.

I can see that someone living in the wilds of Nevada (to pick a deserted place I'm familiar with -- and in which you can see anything coming for MILES) would have less problems driving than someone living in the heart of San Francisco (to pick someplace with killer traffic).

So I suppose it does depend.

Like I said, that was just the reason my doc gave me. Do with the info what you will.

(He also told me I shouldn't go back to work for 6 weeks, but was back at my desk in under 2... though it was two MORE weeks before I went back full time. So he was really having to justify his restrictions to me. lol)

[Satori]

I've had 2 sections and was NEVER told I couldn't drive. I know I drove myself the 140 mile round trip to get my staples out with #1 and I drove myself the 40 miles home 36 hours post op with #2 (I was only on Motrin 800mg as thats all I needed) since there was no one to that could drive me.