Why did no one tell me about the long term affects of having a C-section? Good looking out.😒

I had a C-section when my son was born. I had a good recovery, the scarring was minimal, and I really didn’t experience the pain that I saw others go through while in the hospital. I was given directions on aftercare, which were simple enough. Within the first 4 weeks things seemed to be going as expected. So why would there be any cause for concern, right? Well, apparently there are some long term issues that pop up well after the surgery, that nobody really mentioned to me. And so, here are some things that I had the pleasure of experiencing. Disclaimer: Some of the content of this story may gross you out. So you may have some cringy moments while reading and for that, I apologize in advance.

The first thing I would like to address is:

Why does no one talk about how you won’t be able to feel the skin above the incision? Initially it really creaped me out. I didn’t want to touch that area because it gave me the heebie geebies. It was like dead flesh just hanging there, on my lower belly. I assumed that sooner or later the feeling would come back. But as the years passed by, the feeling never really came back until just recently, 6 years later. And although I am thankful that I have some feeling back, it’s still not a 100%. And aparently other women lost permanent feeling in that area; where they haven’t felt anything in decades. WHAT? No feeling for that long? You would think someone would give you a heads up.

The second thing I was unaware of:

By no means can I say that pregnancy and the c-section ruined my bakini body. My stomach was already fat, and dare I say lumpy, to begin with. But the c-section itself changed the lanscape of my stomach and lumps. And arranged them in different places, causing me to have a different shape all together. I have to admit, I’m not really enjoying the new look.

For instance, the area above the pubic bone and right below the incision. What is that? Well, let me just tell you. This is where the mythical “fupa” dwells. For those who need a short description of what this is, I shall tell you.

There are diferent kinds of fupas, the one I am going to describe is the c-section fupa. From what I have read online, as we all know that the internet is the gospel and never a lie, the word itself is an acronym. The acronym stands for Fat Above Pubic Area. Hence, the FUPA. So when you are pregnant, that area gets a little stretched out, obviously because there is a small human sitting in your uterus. And some of us either already had a little fat there or gained some while pregnant.

When the c-section is performed, the doctor is not thinking about how your stomach is going to look when they start to make the incision. Their only job is to safely remove the baby from your body. The doctor’s job is to ensure that everyone makes it out alive, not whether or not you will still look good in a half shirt. So the incision is made in the lower abdomen, through the muscles and the uterine wall. Then, when the baby is out they stitch you or staple you back up, and hope for the best. Well…I’m sure they have a little more confidence in their work, not just hope. But what the incision does is devide you lower abdomen up. It causes the area below the incision to look a little poochy and the skin and fat above to pooch over the incision, causing like a little fold or pouch. This does not happen to everyone, but it certainly happened to me. It’s like I am wearing a little fleshy fanny pack in the front. It almost has become like another appendage or body part. The jury is still out on whether or not I’m ok with it. But I’m stuck with it so…looks like I won’t be doing any hot girl shit anymore. Bummer.

The third and most untalked about occurance after a c-section:

Does anyone know what an adhesion is? I did not know that adhesions could form internally where the scar could attach itself to some of the organs in that area. I would have thought somebody should have mentioned that, but maybe not. It seemed like that would be important to know since, I would think, this could cause a serious complications. Now, ever since the c-section, during my menstrual cycle, the incision hurts. I haven’t had it checked out, but I suspect that I may have an adhesion. Sometimes, when I have my period, one of the sides of the scar gets irritated. Then it gets imflamed and swollen. As my cycle ends, so does the irritation. The only thing I could think of is that during the healing process post-op, one had formed. But I still need to go to the doctor to confirm my suspicion. But either way, adhesions are a real thing and I’ve heard from someone who has actually been diagnosed as having them, and they are a real pain in the ass.

There is one more thing that deserves honorable mention:

So you can get a WHAT under your fupa?!?

Yes folks, prepare yourself. This seems gross but it is true. You can get a yeast infection in the fold of the incision. It happened to me one time and I was freaked out. So, I wasn’t used to having this weird fold on my body. I wasn’t a fan of using powder and I didn’t really have any reason to. I used deoderant on my armpits and that was about it. I didn’t have any issues with skin irritations in any other parts of my body. Everything was fine. But after the c-section, now I had this area that needed some extra attention. In doing some research, it is apparently more common than I thought, and that you just needed to keep the area as clean and dry as possible. Aparently more so than the rest of my body. So I followed suite and never had a problem again. At the time I was frustrated. I couldn’t feel the skin in that area, I was having irritation along the scar every so often when my period came, I was self conscious about they way my fupa looked, and now this…a damn yeast infection. But now things have settled down and I am aware of the intricacies of having a c-section scar and fupa. So I am used to it. Admittedly though, it would have been nice for someone to give me a heads up. Help a sister out, jeez..