C-Section Recovery: One Month

I feel like I blinked and the month went by. How the heck am I 4 weeks post C-section already? Or, more importantly, how is Ben 4 weeks old already? 

Overall, I'm feeling REALLY good now. I'm mobile, comfortable picking things (like Grace) up, and I've gotten used to the look and feel of my incision. Honestly, I feel like I'm doing better with this recovery than I did after having Grace vaginally with no pain medication. The irony, huh? Here's a few other updates: Weight: At the beginning of week 3, I was up about 4-5 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight (I was up about 24-25 pounds when Ben was born). The scale hasn't budged since then, and probably won't until I tighten up my diet and start "real" exercise. Swelling: Overall, my swelling was down to a manageable rate by the beginning of Week 3. In the mornings, I didn't look bad but I had a solid pooch at night! Oh well! Incision: Around the incision, everything has still been a little puffy. At the start of Week 3, I had a pretty good "C-section shelf." It's basically the extra lip of fat and scar tissue that surrounds the incision site. It seems to be going down with time, and I'm sure my increased movement and incision massage will help with that even more! Pain: I was more or less taking one 600mg ibuprofen in the morning and at night, but since have stopped. My pain isn't an issue anymore. However, there is a lingering discomfort as the incision "wakes up" -- basically the area around the incision site has this weird sensation. It's a mix between feeling slightly bruised, and being on "pins and needles." Again, this is slowly getting better. It is uncomfortable to wear anything with a tight waist, so I finally went to Old Navy and got a bunch of decent looking elastic waist shorts! During certain movements, I can feel a tug around the incision. At first, this really freaked me out. I was nervous I was ripping myself open! After Googling obsessively, I now realize that it's just the scar tissue. As I move more and break it up more, that should get better. Emotional health: Week 3 postpartum is where I experience a hormonal windfall. I Guys, I was a MESS. It probably didn't help that Casey and I overextended ourselves quite a bit -- we went to 5 events in 6 days, 3 of which had us out past 10pm. That's just not a great idea when you're waking up every 2-3 hours, all night long! I was exhausted and trying to figure out our new routine. Honestly, I'm terrible at communicating when I need help (physical or emotional!) and ended up snapping on Casey a LOT when I should have just asked for help. Fortunately, Grace blessed up by sleeping in past 7am a few days over Memorial Day Weekend, and that extra 1-2 hours of sleep helped me so much! Activity: Walk. Walk walk walk. That's pretty much all I'm doing. I even went into my FitBit and set my step goal (normally 10,500) down to 7,500 so I wouldn't be tempted to walk too much. It's been a good goal for me right now, especially in our hilly neighborhood! If I can get a 2-odd mile morning walk, I can hit the 7,500 goal by dinnertime. 

I'm preparing to start Glow Body PT's 12-Week Post Pregnancy Plan, and plan to incorporate some of her diastatis rectii friendly ab workouts this week to help get moving. I'm also taking a few minutes to stretch out every day, and doing some foam rolling! I may not be doing much activity, but my legs and lower back have been sore! Not sure what it is, but the light activity, rolling, and stretching really helped resolve. My 6-week appointment is June 13th, and I'm excited to see my midwife. I think my recovery has been smooth and I'm almost ready to get back to normal activities, but I am anxious to get her feedback as well! A few weeks ago, I asked my IG community to share there experiences/tip & tricks for recovery. I'm sharing those HERE !