Coping with a Caesar - by Sally Hetherington

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• I have had both a spinal block and an epidural and personally found the recovery time for the epidural much faster. While the spinal took the best part of a day to wear off (nice in terms of pain relief, but not nice in terms of getting mobile), the epidural wore off in just a few hours so I was able to move about more – speak to your specialist about this.
• When I had my epidural I was offered something called a PCA (Patient Controlled Analgesia). This was a little gadget attached to my drip with a little button, and every time the pain got too much I just hit the button and a small, limited dose of morphine would be released and I would be a happy little camper! This was also great for when you needed to go to the toilet for example, as you would hit the button ten minutes before getting up so that when you did move the pain wasn't as intense. I could only use the PCA for the first 24 hours as it does make mom and baby somewhat sleepy.
• Caesars are sore, make no mistake. The last thing you want to do is actually get up and move because it hurts like nobody's business! But believe the nurses when they tell you that the sooner you get mobile the sooner you feel better. My recovery time second time around was much faster because I was up and about quicker.
• Don't be a martyr. If they give you drugs for pain relief, take them. Preferably before the pain becomes too much!
• Accept help! Ask friends to rather provide meals instead of flowers. Stock your deepfreeze before you go in. And don't feel bad asking friends to do small chores if you are in too much pain to do them yourself!
• Finally, take things as easy as you can (hard with a new baby I know!). Remember you have had major surgery and need time to recover – don't pick up heavy objects, forget the housework, and try and rest when you can!

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