Ask your doctor when it's fine to exercise, go back to work, and drive. Also wait to have sex or use tampons until your doctor gives you the green light. Avoid strenuous exercise, but do take gentle walks as often as you can. The movement will help your body heal and prevent constipation and blood clots.
It is recommended to avoid using tampons, exercising intensely, taking stairs, or having sex until you have your doctor's permission. Moreover, you should shower normally instead of baths until your postpartum bleeding and incision have healed.
Getting up and walking around once you are home will help you heal faster and can help prevent blood clots. You should be able to do most of your regular activities in 4 to 8 weeks. Before then: Do not lift anything heavier than your baby for the first 6 to 8 weeks.
Usual activities such as walking, climbing the stairs and light housework are safe, but do not lift heavy objects for approximately six weeks. As with a vaginal delivery, we recommend waiting at least three weeks before having intercourse.
Don't even think of tackling laundry, putting away dishes or climbing stairs (except as necessary) for at least a week after you get home. You may feel a burst of energy, but it's likely to disappear as quickly as it came on--so save your strength for cuddling your baby and other wonderful things, like showers.
Do light housework. After 6 weeks you will be able to: Use a vacuum cleaner. Go swimming if the wound is dry and healed.
The classic back sleeping position
While back sleeping isn't recommended once you're more than 20 weeks pregnant, this position is recommended for those recovering from surgery. It places the least amount of strain and pressure on your incision site and ensures that your body is aligned in a neutral position.
Walking after c-section is encouraged and should be your go to for the first few weeks. You'll start to notice day to day movement getting easier and less discomfort lifting baby or moving around.
Sleeping on Your Side
Sleeping on your left side aids in optimum blood flow, which is great for your recovering body. You may still need that full-body pregnancy pillow around to support your belly and hips.
Gentle exercise, such as walking, will help you recover from your c-section. But avoid anything more active until you have no pain and you feel ready. For example, avoid driving, carrying anything heavy, having sex or doing heavy housework, such as vacuuming, until you feel able to.
You likely won't need any pain medication after those first few weeks. And by 6 to 8 weeks, most people feel much better. “Your overall health, mobility, and support system at home play a major role in easing the pain following C-section delivery,” says Blindt.
High-impact exercise, tummy-toning workouts, and full-blown cardio are definite no-no's for the first six weeks after a C-section delivery. Here are some things you can do as soon as you feel up to it: Walking — As soon as you can get up and move around, venture out of the house and around the block a few times.
A C-section is a major surgery. Don't lift anything heavier than your baby for the first couple of weeks, and keep everything you might need within reach. Support your stomach. Hold your belly when you sneeze, cough, or laugh to keep it still.
About six to eight weeks after baby's birth, your c-section incision should be completely healed, and you'll be able to gradually resume most of your normal activities, including exercising, driving and lifting items heavier than baby.
Do: Keeping the area dry and clean. Use warm, soapy water to wash your incision daily (usually when you shower). Pat the area dry after cleaning.
C-section pain typically spikes 18 hours after delivery.
Often, just letting the water run over your wound in the shower is enough. You may remove your wound dressing and take showers if stitches, staples, or glue were used to close your skin. Do not soak in a bathtub or hot tub, or go swimming, until your provider tells you it is OK.
At the beginning of a caesarean section, six separate layers of the abdominal wall and uterus are opened individually. Once the baby is delivered the uterus is closed with a double layer of stitching.
After a C-section, she recommends women take eight weeks off and to avoid heavy activity to prevent complications. “A lot of women still have significant pain at two weeks after,” she said.
A caesarean is a major operation that carries a number of risks, so it's usually only done if it's the safest option for you and your baby.
During a C-section, your organs are usually just moved aside so that the doctor can see your uterus better. But the organs stay within the abdominal cavity and aren't taken out. In rare cases, the intestines may be temporarily lifted out for better visualization and space to operate, but not permanently.
Coughing and Sneezing Will Hurt
Eskridge, who underwent two c-sections of her own, experienced the same thing—and offers some useful advice: “Splinting (holding a pillow against the abdomen over the incision) is very helpful in preventing pain with coughs, sneezes and laughing,” she says.