From all the reading I did the last few weeks on cesareans, somehow some major side-effects were never mentioned…
Sweating- this might be a general post-delivery thing, but nevertheless, I have never been so sweaty in my life. Combine that with keeping our windows closed so that Baby Boy would stay warm, and I was feeling pretty stinky that first week.
Thirst- I’m pretty sure this has to do with the above + breastfeeding. I pretty much drank like a camel during the first week, and I’m still refilling my water bottle on a regular basis about every other hour.
Abdominal Muscle Awareness- You don’t realize how much you use your core until it has been cut up and causes major pain: sitting up, getting out of bed, sneezing, laughing- all were majorly painful for two weeks.
Girdle Love- At a normal 5′ 3″ and 110 pounds, you don’t ever think about wearing a girdle, until your flabby stomach is pressing on your scar. And then you love it, and don’t want to take it off, ever. And cringe when you have to in order to wash because it’s soaked with milk and starting to itch.
Leg Pain- The most unexpected of all. It hit at about the one week mark and lasted for another. Apparently it’s pretty normal and has to do with the blood vessels contracting, but it was excruciating and even compression tights didn’t do a whole lot to alleviate the pain. The only thing that helped was lying down, which is a difficult position to stay in all day with a newborn.
