For those that have had a vaginal delivery and elective c-section, tell me the differences in recovery.

Oy, I had a scheduled c and the day before I went into labor BUT I don’t think my recovery would have been different. The difference is recovery. I’d rather push any damn day but c section has been a major surgery. Doctors may clear you at 6 weeks, but you’re not fully healed until minimum 12 and the road is long ahead for any strenuous activity where as with my daughter I was rocking hard workouts at 6 weeks and my recovery even with a tear was far easier and smoother. Even scheduled, a c section IS a major surgery and many even on this app will tell you it’s not bad but it’s surgery. If you’ve had a lot of surgery you’ll likely know what to expect but I had never had any and it was a lot mentally and physically. You can have issues with both there’s no right answer but in talking to other moms it seems vaginal generally (not everyone) is a faster recovery and return to normal time by months

I went into labour before my elective date and had a cat3 but I wouldn’t call it an emergency. I walked myself into theatre in my Nikes, had the radio on, skin to skin immediately, delayed cord clamping, camera rolling. I didn’t even know they’d started the surgery before I heard “baby’s coming” 😂 I was up, walking and showering in hours. Recovery wise, I left the hospital day 3 and next day went out to the pub for lunch with family. The day after that I was in Costco. For me, it never felt any more painful than a bad period. I walked every day, by 6 weeks I started doing yoga and a few weeks later back to jogging. I took my meds for one week only and never needed to top up after that. I was doing chores around the house after a few days and had no issues carrying or feeding baby. I had such a lovely experience that I’m having one again in December. I never had any issues with my core, no “shelf”, my scar has vanished into my pubic hair and was never more than 4 inches if that.

Omg your being cut open for crying out loud. Emergency or scheduled. I had an epidural and it didn’t work they gave me something through my iv for me to have an emergency cesarean which was scheduled but my ob is amazing and allowed me to make my own decisions on how I wanted to give labor before, during and after . Recovery is a lot longer than vaginal with no tears . An you already have an active household . You will need lots of support and physical help especially trying to shower yourself or just regain mobility. Hospital stay is 3 days or could be longer if you haven’t passed a bowel movement or healing properly . They want to see you walking around & you have to be careful bc you can reopen your wound or it can get infected . Without proper rest your body won’t heal . And the first 2 weeks are going to be the most important/ difficult part. Vaginal any day I’m on baby #3 & I pray / exercise so that I can have another successful vbac

@Desiree +10000 girl

I was induced by had issues dilating so we opted for a c section rather than continuing an already long exhausting (unproductive) labor. I absolutely loved having the c section and would do it again next time. I made sure to walk the halls while pushing my baby around in his bassinet as much as I physically could while in the hospital. By say 2 recovery I was getting up and to the bathroom independently. Granted I did need some help reaching some parts when washing for a few more days. When we got home we took walks around the neighborhood and slowly increased based on what I could handle. I was also super anxious about a vaginal birth but the opposite about a c section.