C-section. Aka: major abdominal surgery
A painting of my son after he was removed from my abdomen.
This post stems from my blog post from July 30, 2018 from my blog: thewanderingptmama.com.
A little story about my postpartum period: I had a C-section. I was lying in bed after major abdominal surgery and I was told to rest. I had a small human next to me and that was the only advice I was given. Nothing about how to roll in bed. Nothing about how to sit up from lying down. Nothing about how to stand from sitting. Nothing about how to hold my child in order to protect my body. NOTHING.
When someone has a knee surgery they are told how to walk after the surgery, how to move their leg, how to bend their knee. They are instructed to do physical therapy to get their muscles working again and get their range of motion back. After someone has either a planned or unplanned c-section they are not told anything about how to move or rehab their body except, “don’t lift anything heavier than your child”.
Are you kidding me? You just cut into my core and I can lift my 9lb 6oz child without thinking twice about it? That is a good way to set me up for a lot of problems with my body and how it functions in the future.
Luckily, after my emergency c-section, I was aware of which muscles were just cut open and I knew how to move to prevent further damage. I had a 3 finger diastis recti (DR, abdominal muscle separation that is common in pregnancy). I started on my core neuromuscular re-education (the way the nerves and muscles “talk”) the day following my surgery. I did transverse abdominis (TA) (the deepest layer of abdominal muscles) activation contractions. I did posterior pelvic tilts. That was all; It was hard. It was my starting point. My goal was not to build a six-pack, but to have a functional core so that I could get out of bed, lift my child, walk without pain or causing further damage to my body.
My husband helped me get out of bed the following day. I made sure to roll to my side then push myself up to a sitting position. I thought about contracting my TA when I went from sitting to standing. My husband carried our child as I went for my first walk.
I did my PT every day at the beginning. After about 4 weeks I was doing it 3 times a week which I am still doing. I was able to return to “normal” exercise at the 6 week point with no pain. My body did not come back overnight. It took time and it continues to take time. I am a little over 5 months out and I still have to make sure I am stretching and doing my core exercises at least 3 times a week to keep pain and the DR gone so I can enjoy playing. (We just went on a 30-mile bike ride around Anchorage and I am feeling it in my low back today, so I will be doing my core PT tonight.)
It is not easy after having a child. There usually is very little education given about how to take care of YOUR body after having a child. It is SOOOOO important that you heal yourself, so you are able to be there for your child, partner and yourself. This is true whether you had a vaginal delivery or a C-section.
In summary:
Find a pelvic floor PT near you if you experience pain anywhere in the body during pregnancy or after having a baby, are unable to return to your desired activities after delivery, have a “mama pooch” (this could be a sign that you have a diastasis recti separation), leak urine, have “different” bowel movements than pre-pregnancy, and/or just want to make sure you have a good foundation to live the rest of your life.
One website to find a pelvic floor therapist near you is: https://pelvicguru.com/
