They’re harder to recover from. They can have their own complications. It’s a personal choice. |
| Sit on a boppy! |
don't be an idiot. do you think the baby was coming out and the doctor was like "oh no! you're tearing! let's do a c section right now!" and OP said no....??? |
Not always. I had bad tearing and was hobbling around with my donut pillow and barely able to walk when the mom in my moms group who had a scheduled C section was back to her spin classes. Don’t speak in generalizations that aren’t true. Every one has a different experience. |
| One thing to ask your OB about is whether you have vaginal atrophy from breastfeeding. Once this was treated with estrogen cream, things starting healing and getting better. |
STFU |
| OP here. This was actually a VBAC. I'm not fully recovered but my cesarean was easier in ways (it was unplanned, both had long labors). It's been a few years but I believe my c was a faster recovery. |
Sure she was. |
Ok, sure, dismiss my actual life experience because it doesn’t fit the nature Birth community narrative that natural birth is always best and easiest to heal from and that C sections are always awful and with difficult recoveries. If you don’t believe me that tears can ruin your life join our Moms with 4th degree tears group on Facebook. You’re welcome to join us. |
| I had 3rd deg tear with my first. I mostly breastfed lying back on the couch with her either laying across me or “seated” facing me at my side as I cradled her head. Hard to describe. Try different positions. My 6wk appointment was the first time I drove. The peri bottle was a life saver. It does eventually heal but unfortunately puts a damper on things at first! |
NP here. My C-section was a super easy recovery. I would do it again in a heartbeat. |
Seconding this. I still wasn't feeling healed at my 6 week appointment, and my OB had me start using estrogen cream and I started to feel better within a week. That said, at 4 months out I still don't feel 100% better (though I can definitely walk and sit and exercise comfortably, and have been doing so since around 12 weeks) so I'll probably pursue pelvic floor PT. 2nd degree tear, second birth - had one during my first birth as well. |
| Dermoplast helped me a lot (though mine was 2nd degree). |
My baby was in the NICU for 10 days due to a common c-section complication: fluid in the lungs. It literally gets squeezed out with all that natural pushing. AND a random doctor just casually shared this knowledge with me when we 3-4 days in!!! I really needed my scheduled c-section (very large baby; it's a thing in my family) but it is heartbreaking to be separated from your child. I was incredibly lucky that my husband had paternity leave because I couldn't even sit up on my own for days and he had to dress me and put my shoes on to go to the hospital everyday. Birth isn't easy, whatever the route. You just never know. |
| I had a clean cut from an episiotomy and I feel it took 2-3 weeks. |