PROLAPSE SURGERY MUST-HAVES

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In October I had prolapse surgery. I’m glad I did it, but I’m not gonna lie, the recovery wasn’t as smooth as I had hoped or planned. There were a few things that really got me through it and I would highly recommend them for anyone who is having this surgery (especially if you have young kids at home like me).

A pack and play my baby could crawl in and out of - We got this pack-in-play after we had our last baby and I wish we had gotten it so much sooner! It’s so easy to move because it’s super light and I love that it’s directly on the floor instead of being raised with a bar underneath (like a traditional pack-n-play) and it folds up so compactly! We’re big fans, and when I had this surgery I wouldn’t have been able to survive without it! It was a lifesaver to be able to get my 1.5 year old out of his crib without breaking the lifting restrictions placed by my doctor.

A wearable heating pad I still can’t explain it, but post surgery my muscles were SO tight. It was like I had a constant charlie horse from my glutes and quads all the way down to my calves?! It was bizarre and I’ve never experienced anything like it. My theory is that maybe it was some sort of trauma response that my body went into literal “crunch” mode after the surgery?! Everything was SO tight and uncomfortable I couldn’t walk for days after. The only things that helped were heat and…

Rechargeable massage gun I’m going to put a MAJOR caveat on this one because maybe your doctor wouldn’t recommend this, but when I tell you I was using this a massage gun on my glutes and legs 4-5 times a day, I’m not joking. My legs were in constant aching pain and since I couldn’t really walk, this was the best way I found to try to get movement and circulation as well as ease some of the pain. BUT LIKE I SAID: talk to your doctor. I have no idea if this is recommended or not.

Bath pillow I didn’t take a bath for at least 4+ days after the surgery, so I actually used this on my shower floor! HA! I couldn’t stand or walk for the first few days, but having the warm water showering over my body felt SO good. So I put this pillow on the floor of my shower, layed on my side and had a washrag to cover my ear (because shower water coming down into your ear is not something I enjoy in the least hahah). I would do this for 10-15 minutes a day 3 times a day for the first few days.

Just Ingredients Probiotics I was terrrrified to poop after my surgery (and rightfully so 😅). Although it took a few days (and some aggressive supplementing) to finally have my first bowel movement, I’m convinced that these probiotics helped keep me regular after that! My friend, Holly, was soooo gracious to give me some she had on hand (I had never tried them before!) and I was a huge fan after this experience.

These specific pajamas It might sound silly but having a matching pajama set was so so crucial to me feeling like a human during this whole miserable experience. I’m convinced this is the actual best ever pajama set. You CANNOT beat the comfort or the pricepoint. (These Walmart ones are close, but a tiny bit thicker and the pants are an awkward length on me). All to say that since it felt like everything was falling apart having a MATCHING set that wasn’t too hot or cold and was unbelievably soft was huge. I told Stephen I was sad I didn’t have 2 more sets because laundry was not happening during this time and let me tell you, despite those 3/day showers I smelled BAD.

A thermometer that actually works. If you’re familiar with my story, you’ll know that I ended up getting a UTI. About a week after my surgery I started feeling feverish but when I took my temp with a cheap forehead thermometer it said I was fine. I assumed it just must be my body reacclimating post-surgery, so I didn’t think much of it until it was Saturday night at midnight and my thermometer finally said I had a fever of 102 and we went to the ER 🤦🏻‍♀️. After this experience sooo many people told me how unreliable forehead thermometers are and said that the ear ones are better. I’m convinced that if I had had an accurate read on my temperature days before, I could have avoided going to the ER and all of the drama that ensued after the fact. SO ya…learn from my mistake and have an ACTUALLY ACCURATE way to take your temp so you can contact your doctor asap if you get a fever.

WHAT I WISH I HAD DONE: The main regret I have was not being prepared with ready-made meals. Because of everything going on and I didn’t set myself up with enough support in advance, I went a few days hardly eating anything and that did NOT help my body recover any faster. I wish I had invested in something like Factor_ or another similar service just to be able to provide nourishment for my body without having to think about it or do much work.

HOPEFULLY your recovery will be amazing and swell and so easy and mine was just a total fluke!!! But I would definitely suggest being prepared to be bedridden for at least a week JUST IN CASE.

If you want to hear the FULL BREAKDOWN of everythingggg, I recorded a podcast episode about just that! You can listen to it HERE (but be warned, I spare no detail ;)

XOXO, HAN