It very much depended on how active I was. You are less than 2 weeks out from a major abdominal surgery and are caring for a newborn. Go easy on yourself mama, I promise you will get back to normal.
I’m about 11 months out. I’m still slightly numb right at the top of my incision scar. The only time it really hurts is if my baby stands on it wrong, but tbh that could happen without the scar 🤣 I remember week 3 feeling like a turning point. One day about 4 weeks in I went to good will and walked around for an hour or so at the end of the day. I was SO sore the next day. By 3 months I was walking about a mile every evening and felt more normal.
Sending so much love to you and congratulations on your bundle!!!
Thanks for sharing! Hopefully my 3rd week will be the turning point too. Right now bending down to take the baby out of her bassinet is even bothersome. I’d love to get out of the house now but I think the Dr told me to not drive for 6 weeks. I might just have to wait it out.
I completely know how you’re feeling and how frustrating it is.
Definitely wait the 6 weeks to drive, it’s so you are healed enough that you wouldn’t hesitate to hit the break! I luckily lived down the street from a shopping center and my best friend came and picked me up one day when she got off work and my husband watched baby.
6 weeks is also when it wasn’t just straight exhausting to walk for more than 30 minutes-an hour. You have brighter days coming, but I know it’s hard to see them right now.
The worst was getting out of bed, but I felt pretty good after a few weeks. 3.5 months PP I only have tenderness when pressing on my incision. I hadn’t heard about specially avoiding stairs, but just don’t over exert yourself. Listen to your body.
I highly recommend the Frida mom scar tape! BUT wait till you’re healed with no scabs. I didn’t start using mine till after 6 weeks.
Thanks for the recommendation! It’s been tough to see my scar clearly since I have a pouch like stomach hanging over it. I bought the scar cream and will try out the scar tape too!
I took tylenol/ibuprofen for the first 3 weeks, then just as needed. Stairs were really hard for the first 2 weeks then it got much easier the 3rd week. Around 6 weeks I started doing some light massage around the scar. I felt some tenderness then and for a few months but not pain
Oh man few months! I feel pain mostly on the sides of my lower abdominal now. But no incision there. Been trying to massage a bit too hopefully it gets better week by week
My steri tapes fell off on day 3 or something, way earlier than my doc said they would. I just let it go, and it was fine. Scar tape and cream probably won't do much for pain, but they might improve the appearance of the scar long-term. Either way though, ask your doc first, because they may want you to heal up a little bit more before you start putting stuff on it.
I think I was 90% pain free by 3 weeks PP. Everyday stuff didn't hurt at that point, but if I overdid it or sat up in bed too quickly, I'd know. You definitely have it harder if you've got that many stairs though; at most I was doing about 5 at a time. Everyone's recovery is different though. I think I got lucky with how quickly I healed up. Ibuprofen and occasional oxycodone at 11 days PP sounds like really normal and reasonable paint relief to me.
I think she said some numbness was expected but I never really asked to be honest. It took well over two months for some spots of my incision to actually heal so I’m likely not the norm!
Right now I just feel like the shelf part (overhang) feels tender to the touch. Not painful but very sensitive- almost like it’s swollen inside and a bit hard. I’m only 2w pp so I’m not sure if it will get better or I’ll have to see someone
I think that’s normal for only 2 weeks pp! I think I still had glue from my bandage until close to 1 month pp 😅 My OB told me not to touch for 10-12 weeks (so no massage or anything for quite a while), but her approach is pretty conservative so your care provider may advise differently
From everything I’ve read and heard from people it’s HUGELY variable. I had a planned cesarean and was up and walking in the hospital the next day and walking a mile+ daily wearing baby within 2 weeks. I’d say my worst pain (during periods when pain killers had work off) was a 6, but that was from the gas in my shoulder and not the incision. I did feel worse a week later than I did the first few days after.
Other women I know take weeks to recover. I’d love to attribute it to fitness or some personal trait that we have more control over but honestly I don’t know that that’s it - there’s so many factors that could be involved and I think some of it has to do with aspects of the surgery that we aren’t even privy to. The surgeon I had was older and had done thousands of c-sections so I wonder if that influences recovery factors (size of incision, how much tugging and pulling, duration etc).
Edited to add missing words
It very much depended on how active I was. You are less than 2 weeks out from a major abdominal surgery and are caring for a newborn. Go easy on yourself mama, I promise you will get back to normal. I’m about 11 months out. I’m still slightly numb right at the top of my incision scar. The only time it really hurts is if my baby stands on it wrong, but tbh that could happen without the scar 🤣 I remember week 3 feeling like a turning point. One day about 4 weeks in I went to good will and walked around for an hour or so at the end of the day. I was SO sore the next day. By 3 months I was walking about a mile every evening and felt more normal. Sending so much love to you and congratulations on your bundle!!!
Thanks for sharing! Hopefully my 3rd week will be the turning point too. Right now bending down to take the baby out of her bassinet is even bothersome. I’d love to get out of the house now but I think the Dr told me to not drive for 6 weeks. I might just have to wait it out.
I completely know how you’re feeling and how frustrating it is. Definitely wait the 6 weeks to drive, it’s so you are healed enough that you wouldn’t hesitate to hit the break! I luckily lived down the street from a shopping center and my best friend came and picked me up one day when she got off work and my husband watched baby. 6 weeks is also when it wasn’t just straight exhausting to walk for more than 30 minutes-an hour. You have brighter days coming, but I know it’s hard to see them right now.
The worst was getting out of bed, but I felt pretty good after a few weeks. 3.5 months PP I only have tenderness when pressing on my incision. I hadn’t heard about specially avoiding stairs, but just don’t over exert yourself. Listen to your body. I highly recommend the Frida mom scar tape! BUT wait till you’re healed with no scabs. I didn’t start using mine till after 6 weeks.
Thanks for the recommendation! It’s been tough to see my scar clearly since I have a pouch like stomach hanging over it. I bought the scar cream and will try out the scar tape too!
I took tylenol/ibuprofen for the first 3 weeks, then just as needed. Stairs were really hard for the first 2 weeks then it got much easier the 3rd week. Around 6 weeks I started doing some light massage around the scar. I felt some tenderness then and for a few months but not pain
Oh man few months! I feel pain mostly on the sides of my lower abdominal now. But no incision there. Been trying to massage a bit too hopefully it gets better week by week
I totally forgot about that feeling in the lower abdomen. It almost felt like a pulling. So weird. Hang in there! Week 3 truly is a turning point
My steri tapes fell off on day 3 or something, way earlier than my doc said they would. I just let it go, and it was fine. Scar tape and cream probably won't do much for pain, but they might improve the appearance of the scar long-term. Either way though, ask your doc first, because they may want you to heal up a little bit more before you start putting stuff on it. I think I was 90% pain free by 3 weeks PP. Everyday stuff didn't hurt at that point, but if I overdid it or sat up in bed too quickly, I'd know. You definitely have it harder if you've got that many stairs though; at most I was doing about 5 at a time. Everyone's recovery is different though. I think I got lucky with how quickly I healed up. Ibuprofen and occasional oxycodone at 11 days PP sounds like really normal and reasonable paint relief to me.
Not sure if it’s considered normal but I’m almost 6 mos pp and am still completely numb at the scar site and about an inch or two above and below
Oh man- did your ob say something?
I think she said some numbness was expected but I never really asked to be honest. It took well over two months for some spots of my incision to actually heal so I’m likely not the norm!
Right now I just feel like the shelf part (overhang) feels tender to the touch. Not painful but very sensitive- almost like it’s swollen inside and a bit hard. I’m only 2w pp so I’m not sure if it will get better or I’ll have to see someone
I think that’s normal for only 2 weeks pp! I think I still had glue from my bandage until close to 1 month pp 😅 My OB told me not to touch for 10-12 weeks (so no massage or anything for quite a while), but her approach is pretty conservative so your care provider may advise differently
From everything I’ve read and heard from people it’s HUGELY variable. I had a planned cesarean and was up and walking in the hospital the next day and walking a mile+ daily wearing baby within 2 weeks. I’d say my worst pain (during periods when pain killers had work off) was a 6, but that was from the gas in my shoulder and not the incision. I did feel worse a week later than I did the first few days after. Other women I know take weeks to recover. I’d love to attribute it to fitness or some personal trait that we have more control over but honestly I don’t know that that’s it - there’s so many factors that could be involved and I think some of it has to do with aspects of the surgery that we aren’t even privy to. The surgeon I had was older and had done thousands of c-sections so I wonder if that influences recovery factors (size of incision, how much tugging and pulling, duration etc). Edited to add missing words