Hi there,
A coupleof my friends who have had elective CS with the second bub have commented that they were in a lot more pain in the few weeks afterwards compared with the first time around. I'm just wondering if this is normal? The pain I had after my first CS was very minimal but I'm worried that if I have a second one I'll be getting a rude shock?
So, what was your pain like second time around?
I had minimal pain post cs but I believe this to be due to taking regular analgesia even when no pain.
Panadol 6 hrly for 4 days, voltaran 8 hrly for 5 days
I took the strong ever 12 hr ones for 48 hrs, the strong break thru pain ones for 36 hrs, after that tramadol 8 hrly for 3 days.
I had 2 emergency c/s and I think I recovered way better second time around. Like feeb said, I continued with my pain relief though and slowly weaned myself of it when I was ready. I was walking up to 2km at a time at 6 days after birth and found that I recovered much quicker second time around.
Thanks for your replies Feeb and Nai. So keeping up with pain relief is the key! :thumbsup:
When I had my first CS I was given voltarin suppositories for about 3 days and was on capadex tablets regularly and they seemed to work well. I think I took the capadex for at least a week or so.
Thanks again
I had very minimal pain with my first CS and I recovered very well, second time I had even less pain and recovered even faster.
Best of luck for your upcoming birth.
I found I was a lot better 2nd and 3rd time round.. First time round I had no idea what to expect but I did the next time so knew what my body needed me to do :)
It still hurt mind you but as I knew that standing the first time was really going to hurt I held my stomach took a deep breath and got on with it.. (I had a panic attack the first time) plus you know you need to move and to hold your back straight..
I found 2nd time round was easier to deal with the pain because I had already been there, and knew to keep on top of my drugs.
However, my recovery was complicated by my SPD and the fact that my hip had rotated around, plus I got a uterine infection afterwards.
I have to say the pain physically was worse for me the second time round, but it was easier to deal with because I knew what I needed to do to minimise it.
Or maybe that's because it was 3 years between mine and like getting your legs waxed you do forget the extent of the pain.
The day after my second c/s I was up making my own hossy bed - I found the pain much more manageable.
I kept moving (by no means anything excessive), as we have to with a newbie and another ;-) - I certainly wasn't trying to break any fitness records lol.
I kept up the pain meds and weened myself off within three weeks. GL
i agree with most - 2nd and third c/s were a lot less painful - in fact i didn't feel any pain with my third and kept asking if the morphine was going to wear off and they said it probably had 24 hours earlier :-) kept up with normal pain relief though
Best wishes for your new arrival and hope you have a great experience
x
I was changing DD1 the day after my CS and packing my bags, I only had meds on day 1 and day 2 panadine only. I was very active walking back and forth between NICU, I personally think this is why I had min to no pain, because I kept moving, if I have another CS I will definately make sure I am up and moving even if I am lucky enough to have my baby with me in my room (rather than NICU).
I fully agree that being active helps with recovery. last time as soon as the IV and catheter were out I was up and at 'em and just made sure I kept moving.
I found that whilst in hospital with my 2nd and 3rd I coped much better than the first time as I knew what to expect and I kept up my pain meds better rather than trying to get off them too quick.....I found out that there is no prize for trying to go off pain meds 2 days later but nobody told me that!!
I must say though abdominal tenderness inbetween my scar and belly button lasted much longer with the 2nd and 3rd than with the first and the scar tissue felt much more obvious than with my 1st.
I guess the thing is you know to some degree want to expect so keeping on top of things afterwards is a little easier.
I would have to agree with the others, keeping active without overdoing it really does help and chasing after DD1 will help with that.
Good luck with your VBAC....stay positive
My SIL said her recovery after her second was alot easier and quicker than the first and that she took extra iron and vitamin C leading up to the birth which she believed helped her to recover quicker. Her first was an emergency after a 36 hours labour so that probably contributed to it being harder the first time around too. I had an emergency cs with my first and as bub was in NICU I was on the go non stop. I wanted to get up after 7 hours but the midwife made me wait 11 hours lol. If I have to have a cs with this bub I'm going to try and be as active as I can, as I too believe this helps to recover quicker. All the best. x
Definately better 2nd time round. 1st time was 43 hours labour, with 2 hours of pushing at the end, taken to theatre, given a spinal which didnt work, so had a GA. Was my first GA ever, so i think it took me a little while to work off that groggy feeling. Pethedine for the first couple of days, which i think was the culprit of my not keeping any thing down. So all I took after that was panadol. Took me ages to feel normal again.
Wtih #2, approx 8 yrs later, i found it better. Was booked in for c/section, arrived to find what i thought were braxton hicks was actually me already 8cms dilated. Taken through to theatre a couple of hours later on, and I had already decided to go straight to the GA. Woke up feeling better than the first time, probably due to the amount of time I hadn't been labouring/pushing and loss of sleep overall. Was given a suppository in theatre (didn't know about that till that night i think) had a pethidene shot the 2nd night i think it was, vomiting again! Stuck with panadol after that. I was most definately moving around much easier the second time round though. Even DH noticed and commented on how well i was getting around.
I first got out of bed and moving around with both my c/sections the following day.
I have only had one c/s, with my first baby. This time round I'm planning a VBAC fingers crossed! But I am preparing for the fact that I am at higher risk for a repeat c/s than I would be not previously having one before. I have asked many of my friends that have had elective c/s the second time around, some of them have laboured before the c/s also and they have all told me that it is much more easier second time around! Alot of them have said it is almost like your body can remember the pain of the last one and adjusts to it alot better. I am hoping that I don't have another one but if I have to hopefully this is the case as I had a really hard time after my first one. Good Luck xx
Hi Samara, good luck for your VBAC next month!
I had my second CS back in August and my recovery was even better second time around. Not much pain, and I felt fully recovered much sooner too.
That's great news MamaSpice! I have my fingers and toes crossed for a VBAC! But if I do have a c/s I'm hoping mine will be more positive this time round! I've heard mainly only better news about the second vs first :) So Thanks! I'm feeling excited about it either way, it's all worth it! Hope your babies are doing great! x