January 2014 Moms
Post Birth - I didn't expect that!
Someone talked about carpel tunnel in another post and it reminded me, again for STM+, what are some things from post birth that you didn't expect?
For me, the wrist pain I got from nursing!! I had to get a splint for one of my wrists due to how you hold the baby's head.
Also, the pain below my ribs and how long it lasted. I guess it makes sense from pushing, but I had an epi and don't remember having to push that much. But for almost 2-3 weeks Ihad to take Norco to sleep because I was so sore.
Lastly, I was expecting both pooping and sex to hurt, neither of which were true for me. Yay!
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Re: Post Birth - I didn't expect that!
I did not know that you have intense contractions while nursing right after having the baby. It's a good thing. Nursing helps bring your uterus back down to size. Oh - and thank God a friend of mine warned me that the contractions while nursing are WAY worse with your second kid.
I didn't know that the nurses wake you up constantly to take your vitals and push down really hard on your uterus. Yikes. I didn't realize approximately 4,872 people would see me totally naked during the two days I was in the hospital.
I didn't expect my baby to eat as often as he did. I kept thinking, "I JUST fed you!" I figured he must have been crying for another reason and I was making life hell for everyone. Nope. He was just hungry. Again. And yes, he had just eaten. Babies eat all.the.time. when they're first born.
The pain. I went drug-free, thinking that would make recovery so much easier. I had a massive tear. Six weeks out, I still couldn't walk properly. Turned out that one of my stitches didn't take after delivery, so I had to go back to the OB to get re-stitched.
I shudder to think of it. While childbirth itself was way better than I was expecting, that part was awful.
ETA: One more thing! Getting sleepy when you nurse in the beginning. Apparently there is some hormone that your body releases to help you relax? Who knew? We found out because I was sitting with the lactation consultant at the hospital, got a good latch, and immediately started to nod off. It was kind of hilarious.
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DS1 born 08.02.11
DS2 born 12.05.13
So true. We tried to space out his nursing sessions to every 2 hrs which just pissed him off. Once I started basically nursing him all the time (ok really for 40 mins every 1.5 hrs...so less than an hr break in between), he was much happier.
Also I had no clue how much recovery from a routine vaginal birth would SUCK.
I had a C-section with both so I don't know if this is just for those who deliver via c-section or not.
*Your first period after birth...seriously feels worse than birth...
*Make sure to take stool softners...the first bowel movement is horrible. I think I finally poo'ed 9 days after my RCS with #2 and I cried it hurt so bad.
*I second the pushing on your uterus. Very painful.
I agree pushing down on your stomach to get all the "stuff" out. That was not pleasant. My uterus was also not contracting back to normal so they put me on a pitocin drip overnight...that was unexpected. I also ended up having a Cather after birth because I was so swollen I couldn't pee, I am not sure how common that is, but I certainly wasn't prepared for that.
The pooping wasn't too bad for me (and I had a 3rd degree tear) and I didn't bleed all that much except for the first two days after which were nice surprises.
K born 8/31/12
C born 1/11/14
BFP #3 Nov 2014: D&C January 2015
BFP #4 Sept 2016: Due May 31 2017
And the hair loss. I had to get special shampoo and DH had to take apart our drain it was so bad.
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MMC 11/17/2010 Our little miracle 1/27/12 NMC 7/14/2012 MMC 1/22/13 Formerly buckeyebride22 till the bump gods fix that account Dx PAI-1 homozygous 4g/4g mutation
I had almost forgotten about both of these. Yeah, I'm always freezing but not after labor. It's totally amazing how much weight you lose in the first two weeks after labor. Your body sweats out all that water weight. It's insane. I loved that little old lady at the hospital who would come change my bed sheets while I hobbled to the shower.
And yeah, the hair is unreal. After conditioning, I would just let the water rinse off the hamster-sized hairball that I was holding in the palms of my hands.
I also now have recurrent hemmorhoids and my episiotomy scar still bothers me now and again.
I also didn't prepare myself for how my poor vagina would feel after. I had a few stitches which I never prepared myself for. Overall mostly the post birth recovery was the only thing I didn't plan for haha
Baby blues. I figured I'd be emotional, but I had no idea. I can still remember sobbing hysterically over anything, everything, and nothing. Those first 2 weeks were crazy.
Also, the carpal tunnel sucked. It would wake me up, it was so bad.
partial molar pregnancy : bfp 6.28.10, d/c 8.17.10, 7 rounds methotrexate, cleared 7.1.11
alexander patrick : bfp 1.16.12, born 9.20.12 @ 39w1d, 7 lbs./11 oz./22 in.
scarlett irene elizabeth : bfp 5.24.13, born 2.3.14 @ 41w2d, 7 lbs./13 oz./19 in.
I really wasn't prepared for post-birth, either. Labor and delivery weren't that bad, considering I'd heard nothing but horror stories about being induced. I was even up and walking around an hour after birth.
Recovery was really hard for me, though. I definitely recommend stool softeners; they will save your life and your sanity. I guess not all of my placenta was delivered, so [might be TMI] I had this massive clot that randomly appeared during my post-birth bath. I had four nurses, my H [who was FI at the time] and my mom in the bathroom with me, butt naked, trying to get the clot and stop the bleeding. It was like a war zone in there. We laugh about it now, but I was crying hysterically during those 10 minutes.
I wasn't prepared for the nurses coming in every couple of hours to check vitals and the baby [we opted to keep him in the room with us - we probably won't be doing that this time]. My episiotomy scar bothered me for months, sex was terrible for the first year after birth, and I had horrible gas pains for almost six weeks.
Of course, it was all worth it in the end. But man - I was NOT prepared for the post-birth experience. At all. I'm definitely more prepared this time.
Seriously though, every birth is different and recovery is different too. My two births were night and day, as were my recoveries. I had a third degree tear with my first after 27 hours of labor and 3 hours of pushing (and a baby that was delivered sunny side up). Recovery was challenging. Pooping, bleeding for what seemed liked weeks afterward, sex scared the crap out of me, bleeding nipples from breastfeeding, etc.
My second was much better. I was induced, but labor was only 9 hours from the time I arrived at the hospital until he was born. Only pushed for 25 minutes. Minimal tearing. I felt pretty much back to normal within a week. Limited bleeding. It was so much easier.
I'm praying #3 will be much more like #2 and not like #1, but the 1st trimester has already been much harder than the other two so we'll see. Maybe this baby is just giving me a run for my money earlier. FX!
DD popped a rib out of place. I didn't notice at first but then the pain in my back was literally debilitating. I went to a chiropractor when she was 5 days old and it was heaven.
She was also sunny-side up and bruised my tailbone. It hurt for months. A sore swollen vagina and a bruised tailbone all at once is not fun.
Also the feeling that my vagina was constantly going to fall out for a week or so after!
As for delivery the afterbirth stuff sucked!! Ds had to be suctioned because he was born in meconium so I didn't have him to distract me from the pushes on my stomach to deliver the rest. Ouch!!
I love how everybody is so different. I didn't experience sweating at all after either birth. I also didn't have much water weight though. But the losing weight after doesn't always happen either. I had lost about 10 pounds at 3/4 months post partum. And that was for both kids and NOT eating lots of crap foods. My body just retains that weight until about 6 months and then it starts dropping faster.
I don't think I was surprised by much after birth. I didn't expect the pushing down on my uterus by the nurses, but I'm pretty close with my sister and she shared A LOT with me prior to my first being born so I didn't have many huge surprises.
For those who want to think about it: bring depends to wear after birth. So much easier then any underwear or pads and you don't ever have to worry about leaking. When taking your first poop, use a pad to hold against your lady bits. It makes it feel a lot less like labour and actually helps you feel what muscles to use rather then just feeling like you are pushing your uterus out.
Daughter #1 - February 12, 2010
natural m/c March 11, 2011 at 8 1/2 weeks
Daughter #2 - January 11, 2012
Ectopic pregnancy discovered November 6, 2012 at 6 weeks
Daughter #3 - January 19, 2014
Started our exploration into the world of international adoption June 2012. We have no idea what this is going to look like but we are excited to find out!
I was prepared for post partum bleeding, but I was NOT prepared for 7 weeks of it. It wasn't heavy or anything (only a few clots at the end), but bleeding so long you actually get the go-ahead from the OB to use a tampon (which wasn't that bad) is no fun.
I also had night sweats for a few weeks, and I would constantly nod off while nursing (which seemed to be every 2 hours for no less than 30 minutes for the first two months). But other than that, recovery wasn't as bad as I'd been told, at least for a c-section. Pooping wasn't a big deal--I went before I left the hospital without any pain--I only had a few times where they had to push down on my uterus that felt uncomfortable but not particularly painful, and I didn't have any lingering pains or symptoms to deal with other than letting my incision heal. I'm a little nervous about going for a VBAC because it will be totally different from my first birth, though!
The second time, the post partum cramping during breastfeeding was so intense. I was not expecting that!
Emma Kate - born 10.16.03 @ 29 weeks, weighed 1lb 13oz and 13.5" long.
TTC #3
I thought the first poop was worse than childbirth itself and that was with stool softeners!
The sweating was awful! I delivered in July in a heat wave so it felt even worse. I also slept on a towel because if I rolled, the pressure of my body would push milk out and I'd get our sheets or my mattress wet with breast milk.
I didn't realize how much pain I'd still be in after giving birth; like having to get out of the hospital bed like an old woman. And that my belly would still look giant even without a baby in it (My dad thought he was funny when he said, "I thought you already had the baby!"). The nurse helping me to the bathroom and then waiting there to make sure I peed. The terrible night sweats. I didn't know I'd be sitting on a sitz bath to help my poor broken lady parts (a la 9lb 10oz baby). The crazy bleeding. Really painful sex for 6 months. Terribly swollen feet more than a week after giving birth. Struggling so much with breastfeeding. Hemorrhoids. TMI: Losing bowel control when I was out walking DS.
Yup, my friends didn't tell me any of that stuff!
The crazy amount of sweating post partum, especially at night time. I would just wake up drenched in sweat
The length of bleeding afterwards, all 6 weeks worth
The amount of swelling in my nether regions, made it difficult to walk for a while
That I would still look 8 months pregnant afterwards
I was so swollen my toes looked like sausages and I couldn't bend them.
I also had high bp for about 2weeks after giving birth and I felt awful.
Back spasms fom the epidural and lack of core muscles. Very painful and scary when carrying a newborn.
How painful it was the first time I out of bed after my c section. The LPN on duty was this swet older lady that kept saying, " I know it hurts honey, just lean on old grandma ". So sweet.