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EMCS feeling rubbish
Jubilee77
Regular
has anyone got any advice. i ahd an EMCS and feel a bit shell shocked still.
i am happy that everyting was done to make sure my little girl was born safely but feel like I am not equiped to recover. i dont; know what to expect and feel rubbish.
my scar is neat but my tummy is numb and flabby and just hanging and jiggly there, staring at me reminding me of how wrong things went!
I can't do anything or lift anything and can hardly walk properly. I know these things are normal but was so uinprepared that i feel like it's not me looking back in the mirror.
I have a 10 year old son too and can't remember how i was after that vaginal birth. I know it took a while for my belly to go down etc, and i kow these things will take time but I feel like I will never be the same again and just need some reassurance,
Can my tummy ever regain some kind of strength or will i be bent over with a kanagroo pouch forever!?????
excuse my typing but haven;t got the enegry to bother going over it
i am happy that everyting was done to make sure my little girl was born safely but feel like I am not equiped to recover. i dont; know what to expect and feel rubbish.
my scar is neat but my tummy is numb and flabby and just hanging and jiggly there, staring at me reminding me of how wrong things went!
I can't do anything or lift anything and can hardly walk properly. I know these things are normal but was so uinprepared that i feel like it's not me looking back in the mirror.
I have a 10 year old son too and can't remember how i was after that vaginal birth. I know it took a while for my belly to go down etc, and i kow these things will take time but I feel like I will never be the same again and just need some reassurance,
Can my tummy ever regain some kind of strength or will i be bent over with a kanagroo pouch forever!?????
excuse my typing but haven;t got the enegry to bother going over it
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Replies
Not sure how long ago your cs was, but I was ok after a couple of weeks and able to do most things including driving - although I still did take it steady for a few more weeks as I didn't want to risk doing anything to slow down the healing of the scar inside. I followed docs orders and no hoovering, lifting, avoided bendng etc - so used the kitchen table as my changing station lol. I do think this paid off though and think this was why I was "back to normal" so quickly.
I'm 3.5 months on now and am starting to lose the baby weight and it's definitely getting better around the belly/scar area - although I do still have a bulge above it but then I have another stone to go really and that's just to get to pre-preg weight and a size 12-14. It was hard not being able to get out and about straight after the CS which means I was/you're a bit behind on getting active/losing the baby weight - but just prepare yourself for doing that in time.
You're bound to feel a bit shell shocked due to it being an EMCS, give yourself time to heal and be kind to yourself - don't over do and it say YES when people offer to help vacuum etc, it really is worth it for you to relax for now as much as you can with a new baby and a 10 year old! xx
I feel like at least when I was pregnant I looked nice. now i feel rubbish and nlook like a pile of steaming crap too!
i feel like I have been good and not lifted etc. I am not even thinking about weight loss as such but I just have never felt such a change from pride to shame in my body before i guess,
At least my CS was planned so I was emotionally prepared for surgery, a scar, struggling for a while etc - I feel for you having the shock of it and no time to get your head round it.
Sorry that doesn't help much does it!! lol, hope WE both feel more like our normal selves soon xxx
I really should have considered a caesarean beforehand so I wouldn;t have felt so shocked by it.
i also hope we both feel better & normal again soon x
thanks a lot for your kind words. it makes me feel less alone x
Charleygirl, I also lost a lot of blood and had to self inject too and have ridiculous bruises on my arms because of it to add to everything else
it's good to know I will improve so thanks guys x
my scaris still numb but that will still take a while to come back, i didnt drive for 6 weeks as you are not insured before and TBH i could bearly walk up the stairs let alone break. i found the recovery really hard and ended up back in hospital after 10 days with a open scar, it wasnt until after that i slowed down, its so hard not to do when you have a baby or other children, i also had low blood levels when i left hospital which didnt help, also didnt help that i was stuck there for 5 days as LO wasnt feeding well and i had a rash on my tum,
i was so unprepared and i think that was the worst thing, i expected to be out of hospital the same day and up and about, i also expected BF top be a breeze another problem we had,
congrats on your new arrival x
Minnie, we are pretty close to each other time wise so understand how you are feeling.
Me & hubby took my son & his friedn out for the day yesterday an dhad the bay with us. I couldn't even let hubby push the pram as i felt so concious about my belly jiggling around.
I'm going to try to sort out something I can wear that means i don;t have to worry about it to try to de stress about it!
I was shocked as well at the recovery being slow after my section and how difficult just standing up and showering was, never mind the whole problem of breastfeeding! It wasn't an em CS as such, but had no warning went in to be induced and they discovered she was breech so it was 'oh right up to theatre with you'. They put 'elective CS' on all my forms and I kept saying 'but it wasn't elective I didn't want a section'LOL hormones were going crazy!!
Anyway, like the others have said just take it as easy as possible and accept all offers of help
best of luck and congrats on your new arrival!
Aileen xx
Haven't posted on here for a while. I had an EMCS, I wasn't myself for the first 6 weeks, the wound got infected at 3 weeks along. I really properly became myself at about 10 weeks. It was a shock for me i had gone through a home birth plan at 34 weeks that's what i always wanted, then on the 36 week check got sent to hospital and a few days later got diagnosed with pre-eclampsia and polyhydramnios or how ever its spelt (severe swelling to everyone else). Now 7 months down the line, still numb round the scar area, still feeling like rubbish but only for the 2 weeks before and after the CS. I would say talk about the whole experience to someone or many people or get a counsellor whatever makes you feel better. I dont have a flabby prego tummy any more but did up until about 4-5months. If my son kicks me normally through excitement, like during a nappy change on the scar area it hurts, sometimes quite a lot. Don't expect to much of yourself, if you do damage now it will probably turn into a long term problem. If you feeling conscious of your body image, well i'd say when you get to 6 weeks take yourself off on a shopping trip, or send you OH out now to get you one or two things. I found wearing trousers above the belly button helped along with Sloggy basic knickers, i know they look like granny pants but they are comfy.
I think I am expecting a bit much of myself but i guess I ams till a bit stunned. I am feeling a bit happier and that is in part to teh support here.
I had done a hypnobirthing course and spent months practising with hubby and we were so ready for a hypnobirth in a birthing pool so the EMCS was a complet and utter shock.
I am talking about it more so am feeling happier.
My little Ruby~Rae is perfect though and I am just happy she is healthy x
I had a complicated emcs last year and remember feeling exactly the same as you. I was completely shell shocked and my body didn't feel right. I actually broke down one night saying that I felt broken and didn't feel like my body was ever going to feel the same.
Anyway, all I can say is that phase passed quickly. Me saying it won't make you feel like it'll pass ( I remember thinking I wish people would stop telling me it'll pass, I just feel broken!) BUT it did pass and I felt fine very quickly.
Also, the talking about it is a fab idea, going through an encs is a trauma and the only way you can process it is by talking it through and trying rationalise it.
Rest up, relax and take it easy on yourself! Good luck, I hope you're feeling better soon x
I had an EMCS 8 weeks ago as my little boy was getting distressed and I wasn't progressing past 6cms.
I totally wasn't expecting to have a C section, so I wasn't prepared physically or mentally for the recovery afterwards. I felt like rubbish, and hated the fact I couldn't even pick my baby boy up during the first night to feed him and had to get the nurses/midwives to help me.
I broke down on the second night in hospital as I was so tired, emotional and couldn't cope with not being able to help my baby when he was crying.
I was sent home 2 days later, and was taken back into hospital 6 days after my c section as I had developed an infection of my womb lining, which knocked me back even more.
I'm now 8 weeks on, and I'm feeling more normal now, but my doctor has told me it will take longer for me to be 100%. My tummy is still numb, especially around my scar, and my tummy is now covered in stretch marks, and is flabby with excess skin.
Things will get better for you though hun.
I have requested my maternity notes from the hospital, so that I can read exactly what happened in my labour, as I was that drugged up, I can hardly remember. I feel this will help me to have some closure to what happened. It might help you too, so see if you can access your notes?
The most important thing is to take things easy
xx
I wa sbale to get my notes becasue I photographed all the pages of my ntes and baby notes before i left the hospital so i can see what happend etc which does make things a bit easier to accept.
I am lucky that i am happy with my care and how i was handled in general but still just so unprepared for eveyrthing.
I am starting to feel a bit happier and that is a lot to do with talking on here and knowing I am not laone.
I really thank you guys for sharing and hope that some of you are feeling a bit better by talking together x
glad you're starting to feel a bit better, are you managing to get out and about yet? am guessing your LO is about a month now?
smart thinking photocopying your notes before leaving the hospital!!
take care
Aileen xx