@toniboykin84 Everyone recovers differently, so your mileage may vary. But I will say my wife was MISERABLE through the last month or so of her twin pregnancy, but recovered like an absolute champ from her c-section at 34 weeks. I often joke that if everyone’s c-section recovery went as smoothly as my wife’s, no one would even bother with the “natural” method.
@toniboykin84 I had 1 uncomplicated (unmedicated) vaginal birth with my singleton, and one uncomplicated (yet emergency) c-section with the twins. So obviously, depending on all the factors, YMMV. That said, yeah, the c-section recovery was a lot more painful than the vaginal birth recovery. A lot was my own fault in that I wasn't staying on top of my pain meds when I got home (DH in hospital with 1 twin, I was home alone with other twin, not ideal). There were more restrictions on lifting and driving, etc.
That said, I'd take a c-section over another twin pregnancy every day of the week! I was miserable from about week 22 until they were born at 37+4. At least with the c/s they hook you up with good drugs the first couple days. And you can breathe again. I'd say by about 2 weeks I was able to move about pretty normally and drive and stuff. My 6 weeks I could lift normally and didn't really notice the incision anymore. It was a bit sensitive and kind of numb for several months, but not in a way that really affected my life. Good luck! I was initially really disappointed that I had to have a c/s after making it so far, and A was always head down, but in hindsight it was just as goddamn magical as my waterbirth. It was just different, like sci-fi magical. There was a moment where both babies were out laying on my abdomen, with their cords still attached to me (they were in a hurry to get B out). Those pictures still blow my mind.
@toniboykin84 I had a bunch of people say it seemed like I had a pretty easy pregnancy physically despite some health complications. At 28 weeks I was put on “modified bed rest” because my cervix was shortening. I developed anemia and had gestational diabetes. It was hard to move, turn over in bed, and I wasn’t sleeping between the heartburn and the pain. But I would say the pregnancy was easier than taking care of the babies after the c-section once we got home. They are 2 months old.
They are my first babies, di/Di twins. Baby a was head down but baby b was transverse with feet slightly leading sitting way up high in my ribs. I opted for a c-section because I didn’t think baby b would turn properly and was worried about having to get a c-section for her despite probably being able to deliver baby a vaginally. That would mean double the healing and double the babies. Recovery sucked but not so bad that I wouldn’t do it again. I had two anterior placentas and lost a lot of blood. I was anemic during the pregnancy and my hemoglobins weren’t recovering after surgery. Those first 2 days I needed 5 bags of blood and pretty much don’t remember anything. The gas pain was the worst of the whole thing and my feet swelled so much one of my toe nails cracked in half. They were born at 35 weeks and needed some time in the nicu, which allowed me some time to heal because those first few weeks I couldn’t stand straight and was moving very slow.
@toniboykin84 Hands down my pregnancy was worse. I felt like a million bucks the rest of the day after having my c-section mid-afternoon. And I only made it to 32 weeks.
@toniboykin84 Being pregnant with twins 10000x worse than a c-section recovery. As soon as I gave birth, I could finally breathe again without feeling the two tiny humans crushing my lungs and the heartburn from hell was finally gone. C-section recovery was nothing.
@toniboykin84 I had a very tough c section recovery, but I improved a lot within a couple of weeks. The hospital stay was the worst for me because I had a high level of pain, which led to more narcotics, which led to being impacted, which was EXTREMELY painful.
The end of my triplet pregnancy was painful for my back and my hips but definitely manageable. It was more prolonged though.
For me, it was a moderate amount of pain/discomfort in pregnancy vs. a high amount of pain for a week
@toniboykin84 I was so constipated that nothing could move. I had a suppository to help, which didn’t. They then tried an enema, which didn’t help. I resorted to digging it out over the course of three hours. They did another enema after that to finish the job, but I wouldn’t wish this ordeal on anyone. It was the most painful experience of my life.
Just make sure that if you take narcotics for pain, that they give you a strong enough stool softener. I was taking one but it wasn’t strong enough.
