My postpartum tip is to absolutely listen to your body and follow your discharge instructions.
A couple of weeks after my C-section, I noticed a really uncomfortable area on my labia. It seemed strange because I’d had a C-section, but it was very sore. I got in the shower to clean up, and when I got out, I suddenly felt nauseous. I told my husband, “I don’t know what’s going on, but I feel like I have the flu. I feel like I have a fever, but maybe it’s just because I took a really hot shower.”
Earlier that day, I had actually thrown away my discharge paperwork. I remember glancing at it before tossing it and seeing that if I had a fever of 101.5 or higher, I needed to go to the hospital.
My husband noticed I was getting chills and was really concerned. I kept saying, “I probably just have the flu. I really don’t want to go to the hospital just for them to tell me I have COVID or the flu.”
Thankfully, my husband didn’t let it go. He convinced me to call my doctor, and they told me to go straight to the emergency room.
I was so reluctant because I had a two-year-old and a newborn at home. I had to bring my pump, be away from my baby, and I honestly thought I’d be sitting there for hours just to be told I had a virus.
Instead, they found that I had cellulitis in three different areas, and my uterus was infected after my C-section. While I was there, my blood pressure suddenly skyrocketed. They kept checking it, and when they couldn’t get it under control, I was rushed to the ICU. I ended up spending a week in the hospital with postpartum preeclampsia, something I didn’t even know could happen after giving birth.
The doctor told me I had timed it perfectly because I couldn’t actually feel that my blood pressure was dangerously high. If I had ignored those symptoms, brushed them off as the flu, or stayed home, things could have turned out very differently.
Overall tip: Never ignore postpartum symptoms, even if they seem small or unrelated. Trust your instincts, follow your discharge instructions, and if something feels off, call your doctor. It’s always better to be checked and have it be nothing than to miss something serious.
I was so afraid of developing exactly what you wrote about above. I ended up being induced due to an ER visit for my blood pressure being elevated and pain underneath my right breast (a burning sensation) and having an ultrasound of that area only to find I had a TON of gallstones 
so on May 12th I was induced with a diagnosis of gestational diabetes and gestational hypertension. How are you now? Have you recovered fairly well?
