What can you do just after having a baby?

I'm pregnant with my first and after looking through this section of the forums, I realised there are a lot of things people have listed as not being able to do i.e. no DTD for 6 weeks. Is this how it is for everyone? I just assumed you may be a bit sore and tired but after a day or two you could go for a walk or out to dinner or DTD. Is this not how it is? I do plan on having a vaginal birth so I know c/s take longer to recover from and if I had tearing or something. What if everything happens "normally"? How long does it take to recover from minor tearing? Can I go for walks? :confused:

It is different for everyone but in my experience 6 - 8 weeks before I was game enough to attempt DTD.
I had tearing with all 3 and the stitches were very sore and swollen as well as the urethra being very tender.
Also my pelvic joints were tender and stiff as well as my back so mechanically I didn't feel capable of DTD for that reason also.
At 10 weeks we are still taking it very slow and cautious.
You could go for a gentle walk a few days after and there is nothing to prevent you from going out to dinner if you want.

I felt fantastic after the birth of my son, those first few weeks I have never had so much energy. I was a bit sore from epesiotomy and found it hard to get in and out of the car but other than that, I felt great. As for dtd, I was very apprehensive aboutit as I heard it could be quite painful. we waited maybe 4-5wks until bleeding stopped and it wasn't painful at all. I guess it depend on your birth experience and you and your partner.

I can only add my own personal experiences.With my first baby;who was massive-therefore a difficult birth it was 3months before we were back in buisness but otherwise i was capable of everything else;it was just very uncompfortable as i had a 3rd degree tear. So i was able to do everything by myself but at my own pace. as for the birth of my second child; I had her in 2 hours-so easy!!!! And went home that afternoon to do washing...I was walking everyday thereafter as she was a summerbaby, so made the most of the sunny early morning walks. As for the dtd it was about 3 weeks.

Pauline

Part of why I'm wondering is that my mom and grandma will be coming out from the US to be with me for three weeks and I want to be able to do stuff with them. 1 month after the EDD, DH, DS, and I will be driving from Adelaide to Melbourne. Then 1 month after that, we all fly to the US. Is sitting for that long so soon after going to be a problem?

With my first birth which was a VB I had a minor tear but I still didn't want to DTD until about 10 weeks LOL. It had well and truly healed by then and it wasn't a problem so we could've done it sooner.
I had some pain if I stood too long or walked around too much for a few weeks after. And peeing hurt for quite a few weeks.
Second birth was a c/s which was three weeks ago today, I have found the recovery quite similar in many ways to the VB although the first week was probably worse. AFter getting past that though I was back to my normal activities (driving by day 6, shopping day 9, and haven't really looked back since then) Now I'm just a bit tender in the belly but certainly feels no worse than my girl bits felt three weeks after the VB ;) We havent DTD yet but I don't imagine I'll need to wait 10 weeks this time since downstairs hasn't had any trauma LOL.

Our car insurance didn't cover me for 6 weeks after my csec (lots don't so it's a good idea to check), but I didn't feel like driving anyway as we have a manual and you don't realis how many belly muscles it takes to drive. I had to at week 4 for 10 minutes but it was still tender inside and I didn't again until 6 weeks.
Other than that I went shopping day 7, walking from 2 weeks.
It's all about how able you feel.

I had an emergency c/s in the early hours of a Sunday & was at a friend's birthday BBQ the next Friday night. The next day I went out for coffee with my parents & ended u doing the grocery shopping afterwards, that I think was a bit much but I managed.

Had a small first degree tear (no stitches) and used 'Ural' in my drink bottle for the first week, which took any burning/stinging out of weeing.
Sitting/lying down was pretty sore for the first three or four days, I was super slow getting up and down, and walking was a bit uncomfy but the more I walked, the better it got, perhaps I just got used to it?
DTD one week after the birth, used KY, and that was awesome! Glad I talked DH into trying!
After each feed (or almost each one), I either had a shower down below or squatted in the bath and used a squirty sauce bottle filled with warm water to clean everything up - I think keeping it super clean would help heal any tears/stitches.
Plus I used a hair-dryer (warm setting) to dry down there too which was heaps nicer than any towel.
Hope all that helps :)