People are usually surprised to learn that I have six kids, but I’ve seen jaws hit the floor when I mention I had six cesarean sections. Although that number of C-sections is not ideal, my small humans would not come into the world the way babies are meant to, so it was back to the operating table for this mama.
Here are my six notable takeaways about having six C-sections:
I had assumed it would get worse each time. This was not the case. Each C-section was different, and so was my recovery. My fourth C-section was rough, then when I had my fifth (only 17-months later), it went really well. The biggest piece of advice I have for a good recovery is GET OUT OF BED as soon as humanly possible.
I thought the nurses were mean forcing me to get up so soon after surgery, but they know their stuff. The sooner I got up, the better my recovery.
My fourth C-section recovery was tough. I had babe on a Sunday and two days later I was still on a catheter and fainting if I tried to stand up. When a medical professional came into my hospital room that Tuesday morning and said, “how do you feel about going home?” I was pretty direct with my response: “How do you feel about going to hell?”
Needless to say, no one rushed me out of hospital that day.
After that rough fourth C-section, the thought of going home to care for three other children under the age of five was too much. Instead, I went to my mother’s house with my sweet little babe to rest for another few days before facing reality. Remember, you have had major surgery – you do need to take time to recover. If you can hide out somewhere for a few extra days, do it!
The more children you have, the more difficult it is to recovery properly from your C-section. It is very difficult not to lift a toddler or walk past that basket of laundry that needs to be carried upstairs. But don’t. Just don’t. It’s not worth the split stitches.
Check your insurance policy. Most insurance companies don’t cover you for six weeks after major surgery. Not driving for six weeks when you have six children to get around was an absolute killer…and I may not have followed this one to the T.
Having your babies surgically extracted is not awesome. If you can push them out the way they’re meant to come, do it. Turning the birth of your children into a major medical procedure kinda sucks. Obviously, I had no choice, and neither do many, many women. But I hear women saying they’d prefer a C-section to a vaginal birth and I JUST DON’T GET IT.
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