Pease porridge

[ailbhe]

Emer is nine days old today. Rob did four hours of work, two and a half of them in his actual office. I'd love to know what they'd have done had he refused outright to interrupt his paternity leave. As things stand he's going to go back to work a day late, which we somehow feel to be a remarkable concession on their part.

Other than that, things are fabulous. Today I left the house. I walked to the community garden, which is easily twice as far as Elle's Baguettes, and we were over halfway there when I realised that it was two whole hours past the time I should have taken my pain medication. Once in the garden, I sat around for a while until Rob came with my meds, and after I took them I was able to walk around with my mother and look at the garden. We fed and changed Emer, and then got the call from Rob's work so had to leave earlier than we wanted to.

But it wasn't until Linnea was 14 days old that I was able to walk to Elle's Baguettes, leaning on the buggy all the way, and it took me an hour of sitting outside to recover from the walk enough to walk home. I was medicated to the max before we left, too.

This is so different an experience that I am baffled by it. I can't believe how much I can do - and I have to stop myself doing too much to prove to myself that I am not sick, am not incapacitated, am not disabled like I was last time.

And the SPD is almost all gone; I have a little ache in the middle bone now but that's about it. No more sharp pains, no more feeling almost weak enough to collapse outright. I haven't tried climbing into the bath, mind you :)

Comments

[clare-s.livejournal.com]

Yes do be careful of pushing things too much. It is far too easy to do if you are feeling great. I am very pleased you are feeling better already though.

[k425.livejournal.com]

Sounds fab - days when you don't need to take your painkillers bang on time are days when you know the healing is going well. But remember, you're not sick, but you do need to heal properly! Don't stress your wound.

I'm so pleased it's going well.

[barakta]

Hurray for better wellness and stamina as well as not overdoing it.

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

That sounds wonderful.

[rmc28]

How wonderful - and really good news on the SPD too.

[arky72.livejournal.com]

Glad it's all going well for you.

[sidheag.livejournal.com]

Excellent! Please have as smooth a c/s recovery as you like - I trust you not to turn up on pregnancy boards telling first time mums they should have c/s because it's so much easier than vaginal birth (From the sound of it, that's way more than I could do 9 days after my vaginal first birth, too.)

[sidheag.livejournal.com]

There was a grin duck and run in there, but I see it got HTMLed out!

[artela.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's because this time it was planned this way so they had time to do it properly instead of the emergency job last time?

[ailbhe]

The physical problems I have left from last time are more from botched stitching *after* the baby was hauled out than from the speed with which she was removed. But in general a section is a quicker initial recovery than a severe tear with significant bloodloss, whether it's an emergency (ie unplanned) or elective (ie planned) section.

[flybabydizzy.livejournal.com]

Hurrah, hurrah for a good birth, and a smooth recovery. Take it easy, enjoy your babies, and mammy looking after you.
Love Diz

[heraldis.livejournal.com]

A good C-section is amazing, isn't it?
I didn't finish my course of pain-killers, couldn't be bothered!
I'm so glad you're having an easy heal, and that Emer is doing well :)

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

I'm so very, very glad to hear this. Do be gentle with yourself, though!

breastfeeding and c-section

[(Anonymous)]

Daphne here! Excellent that the C-section is healing well, and you sound great.

The breastfeeding "advice" you had, and overheard, plus people grabbing your breast, has a sadly familiar ring to me - what a shame that kind of thing is still going on seventeen years after it happened to me. I never did manage to breast-feed and always felt a failure because of it.