When you came home, were you able to get out of bed and sit up in a chair? I am not much for laying around in bed.
Yes, you can sit up. Getting from prone to sitting is a challenge by yourself.
Biggest problem for me was, you really want to let your ribcage stitch back together and the least strain you put on it by trying to lift with your elbows will pop it apart again. You can feel it.
I settled in to a reclined sitting position, maybe about 45 degrees, and mostly remained like that. Also makes it a lot easier to get up and walk around when you need to.
Have lots of pillows handy. Have one firm, medium size pillow to hug tightly when you cough. Keeps things from popping apart.
Recliner helps. It helps your helper get you up, but it is difficult for a while. You may not like laying around, but this surgery kinda changes your mind for a while. Hubby got infection in his stitches so he had to take an antibiotic. Turns out he was allergic to the blood thinner that they gave him, tiny itchy rash all over his abdomen. And like someone else said do your breathing exercises. Once it’s over, we didn’t have anymore problems for many years. He had a 5 way bypass, not a valve replacement.