Incision Care

Between the Holiday and trying to get my incision to close-up and stop bleeding I have become rather lax with the postings. I will have a couple posts up and ready to be read tonight, but I thought I would take a break from the mountain of laundry that has accumulated to share a little tip when your incision from a c-section refuses to heal.

I have had several stitches pop out of the skin and lots of bleeding and a little clear liquid draining from the incision over the course of the last 7 weeks. The ends of the incision look dark purple and have been very tender. I've tried to be good and stay off my feet, but as a new mother I've found this is impossible with just the newborn (forget having more running around the house). It is even more impossible to not wobble around the house trying to keep things somewhat presentable when the husband works 12-16 hours days, and you hate to ask him to do more work after working so hard all day.

The problem with the incision is that the scab keeps getting torn off and thus we have more bleeding. I have put gauze pads over the ends to keep my under garments and jeans from peeling the scab away, and tried bandages (remember, band-aid is a brand, haha) - put then they just got pressed into the sore and it would get moist and open up - then it would dry with the gauze and pad stuck to it, and this gave a quick, but painful sensation when trying to get it off... (FYI: Drip some water on the gauze or bandage if the wound dries to it.)

The thing I found this weekend that works best is to let it air dry completely (like you have been doing hopefully) and then fold a paper towel and tuck that into your undergarments so it covers the incision loosely. I think this has worked the best for me because it allows the wound to breathe more even when your dressed, and it keeps it protected at the same time. Plus, the dried blood doesn't cause the paper towel to stick to the wound!

I have been closed up with no drainage for almost three days now and (hopefully) counting!