It depends on what “recovery” means to you, but below are my own experiences towards recovery after a cesaerean:
- 2 days – get off bed to go toilet (forced by gynae to do so, she says it will aid recovery. Also they took off my urine catheter so i had no choice)
- 10 days – removal of wound dressing, external skin is healed and can shower without feeling pain. Weaned off painkillers.
- 2 weeks – no longer need to walk with my hands on my tummy (partially psychological, I believe). No more pain in daily activities, but still cannot really laugh or cough too hard
- 1 month – binder can be taken off more regularly with less discomfort without it. (before that, I wore the binder 24/7 except when showering – nurses helped put on binder immediately after the operation while I was still in the operation theatre. It was a 1 piece binder that costs $10 from qoo10, verified useful by my gynae. I would recommend a simple binder as there are many other things to do after childbirth! The simpler the binder, the higher the chances you will wear it longer)
- 3 months – slight feeling when I touch the c-section area. Finally, the skin feels like mine!
- 6 months – can lie comfortably on my tummy. This is also the time when gynae declares me fit to go for vigorous exercise like swimming and jogging
- 7-8month – skin on c-section area feels completely normal, senses are completely back.
- 1 year – no longer feel pain when i scratch c-section area. meaning skin sensory is back, internal healing is also close to complete
- >2 years – Doctor’s advice for vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC), which means it takes that long for complete internal healing of the wound.
