Jessica Simpson gets real about recovering from a C-section

Jessica Simpson is not one to pretend that pregnancy is super easy, and now that baby Birdie is here, she’s not sugarcoating the recovery process either.

After a very uncomfortable pregnancy, Birdie was born in via C-section on March 19, and her mom is still recovering and wants to remind the world that getting back on your feet after a C-section takes time.

“Recovering from a C-Section is no joke!” Simpson wrote in a recent Instagram post. “I think we all get so carried away with the excitement of having a new baby that we forget that we are going in for major surgery. Then on top of that, we get home from the hospital, have to recover from the surgery, balance our new life as a parent to three kids and be a wife.”

Simpson says she’s thankful for her kids and her family and the support of other moms while she’s recovering, and she’s also feeling pretty good about pumping. She posted a pic of five ounces of breast milk with the caption “This is what success feels like .”

We’re so happy for Jessica that she’s feeling good about her pumping progress because recovering from a C-section can be a long process. As Motherly’s Digital Education Editor Diana Spalding notes, it can take six weeks for the incision to heal, and, “Breastfeeding after a C-section can be tricky because it’s hard to get the baby positioned in a way that doesn’t put pressure on your incision.” Spalding recommends using nursing pillows that you can slide around to your side to prevent pressure on your belly.

Clearly, Jessica’s recovery process isn’t preventing her from meeting her pumping goals, but her story reminds us that we should all make it a goal to be more understanding of how difficult it is to recover from a C-section. As a recent viral video shows, doctors have to go through a lot of layers of tissue when performing the surgery and our bodies simply need time to recover from that.

For about 32% of all moms in the United States (according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), having a C-section is part of the incredible experience of becoming a mother. Looking down at your new little baby, it’s normal to feel kind of super human (your body just made a human, after all and that’s pretty amazing) but we also need to remember that mothers don’t have the healing capabilities of a super hero.

We’re human, and we need time to recover. Take your time, Jessica.