Whichever way you give birth it’s never going to be without challenges. You may get to miss the pain of labour, and skip the contractions, but having a caesarean section is no easy way out. Recovery is generally longer, compared to a natural birth and once the anesthesia wears off the pain is intense.
A determined mindset helps
In the hospital, about 6 hours after giving birth, the catheter is removed and you are asked to get up and walk. It feels like absolute agony. I made myself do it despite thinking ‘Are you kidding me? You are asking me to walk after just cutting my stomach open!’
It’s really hard as with any other major surgery of this type you’d be resting and sleeping for the first week or so. As most of us know, there’s no resting and little sleeping with a newborn baby. Especially those first few nights in hospital.
Give me a physical challenge
I was told I needed to do three wees and pass wind before being discharged. There’s nothing like giving me a physical challenge so I went for it!
How hard could it be? For someone used to pushing my body to its limits it was hard. It was absolute agony getting up to walk to the toilet in the hospital. I think it took me about 10 mins to shuffle 20 metres the first time I tried.
I did it and was really proud of myself getting out after just one night in hospital.
A strong upper body
It also helped having a strong upper body. Lots of pulling and pushing yourself up is required. The abdominal muscles are out of action for a while so it’s important to be really careful. I was really glad I’d kept up the strength workouts throughout pregnancy.
Get help – lots of it
The first few weeks were tough as I had to rely on Steve to do most things for me. He was brilliant. A c-section is major surgery and it hurts to do most every day things. There are things no one tells you about like incredibly painful bowl movements. A lot of women are also battling with breastfeeding in these early weeks which can cause additional pain. I felt as though the pain was moving in waves up and down my body in those first few weeks.
You can’t lift anything heavier than your baby for at least 6 weeks. This is a challenge when living in a first floor flat. Steve had to carry the pram up and down the stairs every time I went out. I felt eternally grateful he was working from home. One small silver lining of having a baby in Covid-19 lockdown. I’m not sure how women manage when their partners are back at work.
Devise some small helps around the house
I found it really helpful to use a coat hanger to pick up things from the floor. It’s really difficult to bend down in the early days.
I also found it useful to have a paper bag (a gift bag works) which I put all my things in that I needed for the day. This meant I always had my pain killers, headphones, and anything I needed for breastfeeding with me. It was really useful knowing everything was in one place. I am definitely not used to having to ask people to do things for me and I didn’t partcularly enjoy bossing people (mostly Steve) around so the bag of essentials really helped!
Keeping a litre bottle of water next to me and some snacks was also essential. In the early days you are stuck feeding your baby for a long periods of time and it’s really hard to get up without any help.
Take small steps
After the first week I managed to very slowly shuffle to the end of the street and back. In 10 days I made it to the local greasy spoon and back but it was painful. The eggs and sausages definitely helped!
After about 2 weeks I was able to do one lap of my local park. I slowly built it up from there to be able to do a 25-minute walk. 4 weeks in I was able to do some strenuous hill walks. I pushed the pram up roads near my house on hills and did circuits to try and improve my fitness.
You can easily end up walking for miles and miles everyday with a newborn. Walking is a great way to build up fitness pretty quickly and feel your best self at the same time. It’s also a perfect way to connect with friends and family on the phone and listen to music and/or podcasts.
At 12 weeks I started following an adapted couch to 5K programme as recommended by my physio (see below for more details). At month 5 I was delighted to run 5K in under 25 minutes. I’m now setting my sights on a 10K.
Take a break
This is the one time in our lives where we’re allowed to have a rest as much as we can with a newborn baby. I made sure I took it easy properly for the first couple of weeks allowing my body to recover. I knew listening to my body and resting after my c-section would allow me to get back to do the activities that I love sooner rather than later.
This required a persistent mindset and , being in tune with my body and being really kind to myself. Practicing self-compassion really helped as well as continuing with my meditation where I was able to (see previous posts on self-compassion and staying well with a newborn baby).
See a physiotherapist
One of the best things as I did after having a baby was to make an appointment to see a women’s health specialist physiotherapist. In my experience the post natal GP sign off at 6-8 weeks is not thorough enough. I would highly recommend seeing a physio to make sure you are ok to return to normal activities.
I went to see women’s health specialist Zoe Eggleton. It was great. She did a full Mum MOT on me. This involved checking my abdominals for diastasis recti (separation of the abs) and a full asessment of my pelvic floor. She taught me how to massage my c-section scar to reduce the scar tissue. As a specialist post-natal personal trainer I am trained to check for diastasis recti myself but it was absolutely invaluable to be checked properly by an expert.
She also gave me a program to return to running. This consisted of a series of specialist exercises to build strength in the muscles I’d need for running as well as my core. She encouraged me to start to follow the couch to 5k programme as a way to ensure my pelvic floor muscles and core were strong enough to cope with the demands of running.
Seeing a physio might seem extravagent but it’s the best money you’ll ever spend on yourself to get your body back into shape. Some women struggle with pelvic floor weakness years after giving birth. No one wants to worry about leaking wee everytime they sneeze!
BE GRATEFUL FOR WHAT YOUR BODY CAN ACHIEVE
I’m so proud of what my body can achieve. It’s amazing and such a miracle it managed to produce a baby in the first place. And then bounce back with such resilience and strength. It has really giving me an entirely new sense of respect for what our bodies can do. I am also really proud of myself for managing to keep exercising whilst I care for my baby. I want her to grow up loving movement as much as we do and have a childhood full of activity!