C-section Recovery

Now that I've done this whole c-section thing twice, i've figured out what to do, and what not to do. My list goes like this:

To do:

• Buy some Depends. After having a baby, I bleed really really bad. Like uncontrollable amounts, I learned that with Oliver, so with Mack I went to the hospital prepared. Depends. Yep, grown up diapers, but soooo much better than pads and mesh panties they give you in the hospital. I wore them for about two weeks until I felt like I could wear normal underwear on my incision. The Depends come up way high so they don't touch your incision at all. The nurses thought I was a genius!
• Let the nurses help. If they want to take the baby for a few hours in the middle of the night, let them! You can hardly move anyways, so take advantage and get some rest. They will bring the baby back to you when he gets hungry and needs to be fed. Terry couldn't stay all the time, so make sure to ring the nurses if you ever need anything, it's their job! But be nice too. They aren't perfect, but they're doing their best!
• Get sleep. The more sleep you get the quicker you'll recover. I think this has made a huge difference between my recovery with Mack and with Oliver. Oliver woke up every 1.5-2 hours while Mack started sleeping about 4 hours (plus) since we brought him home. If you have someone staying with you, take a nap every chance you get. Your body needs all the rest it can get to heal.
• Get a brace or support of some sort, specifically for c-sections. I have and reccomend this one. This made a huge difference in my recovery this second time around! My body feels better. 
• Get to walking. In the hospital when they wake you up at 3 in the morning and tell you to get out of bed, just do it. Walking will help you recover faster, and you will be able to walk normal, sooner. I walked about twice as much with Mack in the hospital, than what I walked with Oliver, and at one week I was walking almost normal! With Oliver I walked real gingerly, and really slow. HUGE difference! 
• Don't jump into your prepregnancy pants too soon. I tried doing that with Oliver and I completely regretted it. Too much on my incision too soon. 
• Ask for help. With Oliver my mom and mother in law came and helped out a few times, but there were times I couldn't stand up and truly needed someone and had no one! With Mack I had my mom come stay at our house every day for two weeks. She slept at her house but would come out by 8:30 to help me out with the house, picking up Oliver, and the demanding needs of a newborn. When people offered to bring meals, I immediately said yes! Dinner can be so hard to deal with when you can barely move.
• Plan ahead. I made 26 freezer meals for after we had the baby and had a few other easy dinners ready to go. Make your life easy for the first 6 weeks. You didn't just have a baby, you had surgery too. 
• Don't get too active too soon. With Oliver, my doctor cleared me to start exercising at 3 weeks, because I really wanted to get my body back (news flash, you'll never truly get it back!) So I started working out and wish I would have waited. It exhausted me, and I think it prolonged me full recovery. Just relax for that first 6 weeks, enjoy your new baby, and get your game face on at 6 weeks!
• When you are finally ready to start wearing normal pants again, but your insicion is just a little sore, but a thick pad in between your pants and your scar. It will help you jump back into your normal pants sooner. 
• Get outside. If you can, be sure you go for walks, or get outside at least once a day. It will simply make you happy.
• Clean. If you have a planned c-section clean your house the day before. Especially all the dirty work, like the toilets, so you won't have to worry about it when you get home from the hospital.
• Try to do a load of laundry everyday. That way, you won't be so overwhelmed when you all of a sudden have 2 weeks worth of clothes that need washed, folded, and put away.
• Visitors. I preferred my visitors to come within that first 2 weeks after having the baby. Most people waited 2 or 3 weeks after we had Oliver, and it made it hard for us to get into any type of a routine. So with Mack I made sure people knew they were welcome sooner, so that when I could move again, our lives could start to be a little bit more normal without too many unexpected interruptions. Of course, this was just my preference!
• Last but not least. Take your pain medications. Don't "wait and see how you feel." I did that with Oliver, and for the most part I would do fine, but every now and then, I would be in a ton of pain, stuck on the floor because I had attempted to get up and just fell to the ground, with Oliver crying, and Terry in the middle of a field, 20 minutes from being able to help me. If you don't want to take them, at least have them nearby, for in case you realllly need them. 

These were just some things that really made my second recovery, 10 times better. Hopefully they are helpful to others!