@AmmyBelleI don't have PCOS but my periods tend to be on the light side, and I still had some pretty heavy and long-lasting pp bleeding. I'm not sure there's a correlation between the two.
@AmmyBelleI don't have PCOS but my periods tend to be on the light side, and I still had some pretty heavy and long-lasting pp bleeding. I'm not sure there's a correlation between the two.
Did anyone else have anxiety over all the breastfeeding charts the nurses would come in with? Like writing down every minute you fed, how many minutes each side, if you pumped after,etc. I HATED it. It made it all so much more stressful. & this time, can I just tell them that I will write down what I need to and just leave me alone?!
I would agree with everything already said, but would add to be prepared to retain a lot of fluid after you deliver if you get hooked up to IV fluids during delivery. I had an extremely long delivery with my first, and I was so swollen afterward that I could barely move. From my feet to my hands, my rings and shoes didn't fit for at least a week. Was not prepared for that- I've never had issues with anything swelling before. Flip flops or slippers are good to pack just in case.
Pg#1- Benjamin born 2/22/10
Pg#2 BFP 11/2010... chemical pregnancy late 11/2010
Pg#3 BFP 02/2011...missed m/c 3/2011
Pg#4 Adalynne born 5/12/12
Pg#5 BFP 12/2012....chemical pregnancy 1/2012
Pg#6 BFP 11/14/12....chemical pregnancy 11/2012
Pg#7 BFP 2/3/14... loss after a heartbeat and D&C 3/2014
Just a(nother) question about bleeding post-delivery: I think everyone who mentioned really really heavy, week -to-month long bleeds also mentioned having heavier flows on the regular. I have PCOS, but the kind that gives you no or very very light periods as opposed to very heavy periods - I literally go through a box of pads a year ... and they're the lighter regular flow ones. Any STMs+ who were like me and experienced very heavy bleeding post delivery? My cousin has what I have and she bled for a few days, and am basically wondering if that may be a thing?
Thanks!
same here... pcos and one box of pads per year. I had a c-section and medium bleeding for...? I think 4-5weeks, but I really don't remember. I was up and about a lot because of the girls being in the nicu. It was longer than I would have thought, but not gushing after day 2-4.
Mama to Three Girls: Twins born March 2014 at 26 weeks due to preterm labor and our 37weeker born May 9th, 2016!
Hi ladies, popping over from June & found this thread very helpful. Question on the intense post partum bleeding... Particularly in the first few days, did any of you ladies try depends and if so would you recommend? I had read they may help but wasn't sure if anyone had tested this out!
I am a FTM, but my sister in law has had two and she recommended this to me. She said she felt super uncomfortable in the mesh panties and that the second time she brought Depends and felt a lot better with them! I think I'll bring some with and try them both at the hospital and see how I feel!
I have to laugh because my SO keeps making remarks about how I'm going to be a "MILF"... and all I can picture is myself swollen, gory and in depends or mesh panties since reading this. Obviously I know that stage doesn't last forever but it kind of makes me want to have him read this and then ask him to repeat his MILF statement... then again I'd rather not scar him for life.
Pads - If you deliver vaginally, and especially if you have stitches, be sure to use the cottony top pads, not the ones with the mesh, super absorbent tops. I tried those once the flow lightened a little but it felt like the stitches would get stuck in the mesh holes. Even after the stitches were gone, it seemed to cause more irritation.
Uterine Massage - I don't recall this hurting much but it may just be me. It's weird but being able to feel your internal organs kind of slide back into place in the first few days was pretty cool to me. A strange sensation for sure.
Hemorrhoids and constipation - This was the worst part for me as both of my babies were 9 lbs or more! If you can avoid taking the pain meds after delivery, I recommend it as they will add to your constipation. I took them with my first and it was horrible, with my second I stuck to Tylenol but that still causes some issues for me. With this baby, I have vulvar varicose veins and hemorrhoids already so I'm dreading the post delivery situation. Drink tons of water and prune juice, use colace, tucks pads and Prep H to survive. It does eventually get better.
Breastfeeding pain - With my first, I used the creams and disposable pads to help with the pain at the beginning. It helped some, but I think prolonged the natural healing. With my second, I skipped the creams and used the cotton reusable pads. It doesn't help with the pain in the short term, but the nipples healed so much faster and I got to pain free nursing quicker.
Supplies - Everyone says this but it can't be repeated enough - take as much of the supplies from the hospital as possible. You will use it. You may even be able to get a binder from the hospital, I was able to with my 2nd baby.
I have to laugh because my SO keeps making remarks about how I'm going to be a "MILF"... and all I can picture is myself swollen, gory and in depends or mesh panties since reading this. Obviously I know that stage doesn't last forever but it kind of makes me want to have him read this and then ask him to repeat his MILF statement... then again I'd rather not scar him for life.
Honestly though, DH was so amazed by the whole child birth experience that I think he found me more beautiful than he ever had before, bloody swollen mess and all. It's an eye-opening experience to realize what exactly your body can go through!
Did anyone else have anxiety over all the breastfeeding charts the nurses would come in with? Like writing down every minute you fed, how many minutes each side, if you pumped after,etc. I HATED it. It made it all so much more stressful. & this time, can I just tell them that I will write down what I need to and just leave me alone?!
Yes!!! Breastfeeding was the most stressful part of being a new Mom with DD. Every nurse had a different technique and while that could be helpful if LO's latch is off, or there is pain, but it certainly didn't help with milk production, which was my overall problem. This time around I'm hoping to be super successful at breast feeding and if the nurses are stressing me out, I'm going to tell them that and to leave me alone. I think stress played a large role in our problems last time.
Did anyone else have anxiety over all the breastfeeding charts the nurses would come in with? Like writing down every minute you fed, how many minutes each side, if you pumped after,etc. I HATED it. It made it all so much more stressful. & this time, can I just tell them that I will write down what I need to and just leave me alone?!
Yes!!! Breastfeeding was the most stressful part of being a new Mom with DD. Every nurse had a different technique and while that could be helpful if LO's latch is off, or there is pain, but it certainly didn't help with milk production, which was my overall problem. This time around I'm hoping to be super successful at breast feeding and if the nurses are stressing me out, I'm going to tell them that and to leave me alone. I think stress played a large role in our problems last time.
My 2 cents on breastfeeding. I am not an expert and this comes from personal experience (of one child) and some common sense.
BF may hurt in those first 2 weeks. I was lucky and never got cracks or anything, but I still remember the toe curling pain when she would latch on. If you think about it, you are having a body part sucked on for around 8 hrs a day that has not been sucked on that much before (well for most people ) so its some common sense that its going to take some adjusting and will probably hurt. I agree if its hurting beyond that then its a good idea to seek professional help, or even get help before that. I had help the first 2 days in hospital but was one of the lucky ones who LO and I took too it well. It still hurt at first.
If you want to BF, then I say persevere, and seek help if it doesn't seem to be working. I am also firmly in the do whats right for you camp.
ETA this is coming from a place of being told "if your BFing correctly it WONT hurt." and frankly I think that's untrue and unhelpful, I wonder how many give up after a few days because of this stupid statement.
Angel baby June 2013, DD born 22 April 2014, BFP 10 Sept 2015 - Due 22 May 2016
I'm not a STM but I had my May baby in March as a preemie, so I have some birth experience under my belt (and still owe you all a birth story write up!).
Things which surprised me:
1) How awful labor was. It may have been because my labor was complicated (I had a chronic placental abruption) but the contractions toward the end were excruciating (The first day of contractions hurt but were not that bad by comparison). The birthing ball, going on all fours, lying on my back or side etc...none of it managed the pain. I have a pretty good pain tolerance as well. Obviously everyone is different (I've had a few friends tell me their labor barely hurt at all) so some people may feel less than others. For me, it was excruciating. As it was a two day labor which they assumed could end in an emergency csection, I was not allowed to eat for 48 hours and was unable to sleep. Being hooked up to an IV also meant I had to pee constantly. As contractions were coming with only 30 seconds - 1 min in between it meant I would have to go through contractions while going to and from the washroom. Horrible, horrible, horrible.
2) How great the epidural was. As my labor was spent trying to STOP labor, an epidural wasn't an option. I also opted not to have morphine as I knew morphine given close to birth could make the baby sleepier. As I was delivering a 32 week preemie, I did not want to make him lethargic. However a few hours before I delivered, doctors finally waves the white flag on stopping my labor and finally gave me the option of an epidural. At that point, I hadn't eaten or slept in two days and gladly said yes. Within fifteen minutes the pain was totally gone. I was able to sleep. I've heard some people still feel pain with the epidural but I didn't feel the pain from the contractions at all though I could still feel pressure and sensations. The birth itself, I could still feel pain and tearing but I was so 'in the zone' that I didn't care. My baby came out screaming and alert with an APGAR of 9 so the epidural had zero impact on him. I would highly recommend getting an epidural if you have a long labor.
3) how easy and quick the actual birth was. I had never been afraid of labor and assumed the actual birth would be horrific. The birth was so easy. I felt the same as I did during particularly gruelling gym work outs - almost on a high. It was over very quickly.
4) the shakes - I got those as well post delivery.
5) postpartum recovery is just the worst. I was prepared for the blood bath the first time I stood up because I had read this thread. Seriously this thread did so much to prepare me. I would have been terrified about what was happening if I hadn't read it. I had a lot of trouble sitting for a long time. Sitz baths were really my only friend. For me, it's been 4 weeks and I am still bleeding. The other moms in the NICU had csections and they are also still bleeding so it's not vaginal delivery dependent. They also did uterine massages on me which I didn't find painful because of the epidural. It was so weird though because they'd press down wherever there was a lump in my stomach and I could then feel a large blood clot come out of me. So, so gross. They said they were just helping massage them out.
6) Granulation tissue - ouch. If something doesn't feel right down there pain wise after a couple weeks and it hurts to pee (and a UTI has been ruled out), check in with your doctor. I had never heard of granulation tissue (basically my body is overzealous in healing scar tissue wise) and it hurts. My doctor burned it off with silver nitrate. Silver Nitrate stings a lot but didn't hurt as much as the horror stories I had read online. Again, everyone is different. I just had this done so I can't say if it's eliminated the granulation tissue. I'm posting this because I had no idea what was wrong with me and hope it helps anyone else. Be proactive about talking to your doctor.
7) What a relief it was to get my body back as MINE. Instantly there was no more back pain, no more clogged sinuses, no more itchy skin, no more bleeding gums, no more random stomach pains. My centre of gravity came back. While I wouldn't run, it felt nice to know I could run if I needed to. I also didn't really feel my uterus needed any time to get back to its usual place and size so that was another pleasant surprise.
I know this one is a hospital to hospital thing but I was just curious if anyone else experienced this. After my baby was born I got a new nurse just about every hour. I thought I would have a nurse for several hours at a time but it seemed like every time I needed checked it was a new nurse introducing herself. Maybe I was just too terrible to deal with. Haha!!!! Anyone else?
Usually you would have the same nurse for her entire shift until she leaves for the day and a new shift nurse comes on. But who knows what the circumstance was.
So I've had people tell me that your feet can get bigger during birth, and that sometimes they never go back to the way the were before.... Has this happened to anyone? I didn't think that would be the case since I haven't had much swelling at this point and plan to not have IV fluids unless needed, but I'm wondering how common this is.
It's not much your feet get bigger during birth but that the grow and spread during pregnancy to handle the extra weight. My feet definitely got wider during each of my pregnancies. I didn't have to go up a shoe size but now have to buy wide shoes where I was fine in normal widths before. I did have a few friends who did have it increase their shoes size by a half or whole and get rid of a lot of old shoes
Edited because my fingers didn't type all the words my brain wanted
@lalala2004 my feet have grown with both of my pregnancies. With DS I went up a half size and my feet got wider. This time it's been bad enough that I can feel my feet stretch when I stand up at times, which is so not fun. I'm already up another half size and my feet are wider. I'm honestly afraid of what'll happen if I have anymore kids lol
My feet are exactly the same. I never had any swelling however. I went on IV fluids for two days prior to delivery and was waterlogged for a day or so, but it went away. I think some people get swelling and others don't.
The placenta being much bigger really shocked me. Also--I felt delivering the placenta after I had already delivered my daughter was so much harder than I thought it would be.
Okay, I'm going to talk about the thing I don't usually talk about post-partum. I've never had hemroids and was blissfully unaware of all of those details. I had heard about the post-partum poop situation and it's true, it wasn't fun. But the combination of these two facts led me to endure painful bowel movements for weeks with bleeding and everything. So, in case anyone isn't well informed about hemroids...know that they can be internal or external...and even if you can't see them they might be there. Prep H makes suppositories that saved my sanity, in case you want to make a note of those...
@seasalt123 I'm so looking forward to #7 on your list again. I have felt so cramped lately and uncomfortable. I remember right when my daughter came out it was like instant "jelly belly" and I could breathe and move again.
I've had a c/s and VBAC and epidurals with both. Never experienced the shakes that everyone is talking about!
I couldn't believe how hard it was to pee the first time after they removed the catheter! It was like the urge had been taken away. The nurse, DH, & I all had a good laugh about it.
Also, both times they've had to break my water in the hospital. It's crazy how much is in there!! And how tight and small your stomach gets after.
With both, I bled a ton afterward. Way more than a heavy period. And equally even though one was a c/s and one was a VBAC.
Re: STM Surprises Before, During, and After Birth
had some pretty heavy and long-lasting pp bleeding. I'm not sure there's a correlation between the two.
same here... pcos and one box of pads per year. I had a c-section and medium bleeding for...? I think 4-5weeks, but I really don't remember. I was up and about a lot because of the girls being in the nicu. It was longer than I would have thought, but not gushing after day 2-4.
Mama to Three Girls:
Twins born March 2014 at 26 weeks due to preterm labor
and our 37weeker born May 9th, 2016!
Uterine Massage - I don't recall this hurting much but it may just be me. It's weird but being able to feel your internal organs kind of slide back into place in the first few days was pretty cool to me. A strange sensation for sure.
Hemorrhoids and constipation - This was the worst part for me as both of my babies were 9 lbs or more! If you can avoid taking the pain meds after delivery, I recommend it as they will add to your constipation. I took them with my first and it was horrible, with my second I stuck to Tylenol but that still causes some issues for me. With this baby, I have vulvar varicose veins and hemorrhoids already so I'm dreading the post delivery situation. Drink tons of water and prune juice, use colace, tucks pads and Prep H to survive. It does eventually get better.
Breastfeeding pain - With my first, I used the creams and disposable pads to help with the pain at the beginning. It helped some, but I think prolonged the natural healing. With my second, I skipped the creams and used the cotton reusable pads. It doesn't help with the pain in the short term, but the nipples healed so much faster and I got to pain free nursing quicker.
Supplies - Everyone says this but it can't be repeated enough - take as much of the supplies from the hospital as possible. You will use it. You may even be able to get a binder from the hospital, I was able to with my 2nd baby.
BF may hurt in those first 2 weeks. I was lucky and never got cracks or anything, but I still remember the toe curling pain when she would latch on. If you think about it, you are having a body part sucked on for around 8 hrs a day that has not been sucked on that much before (well for most people
If you want to BF, then I say persevere, and seek help if it doesn't seem to be working. I am also firmly in the do whats right for you camp.
ETA this is coming from a place of being told "if your BFing correctly it WONT hurt." and frankly I think that's untrue and unhelpful, I wonder how many give up after a few days because of this stupid statement.
Things which surprised me:
1) How awful labor was. It may have been because my labor was complicated (I had a chronic placental abruption) but the contractions toward the end were excruciating (The first day of contractions hurt but were not that bad by comparison). The birthing ball, going on all fours, lying on my back or side etc...none of it managed the pain. I have a pretty good pain tolerance as well. Obviously everyone is different (I've had a few friends tell me their labor barely hurt at all) so some people may feel less than others. For me, it was excruciating. As it was a two day labor which they assumed could end in an emergency csection, I was not allowed to eat for 48 hours and was unable to sleep. Being hooked up to an IV also meant I had to pee constantly. As contractions were coming with only 30 seconds - 1 min in between it meant I would have to go through contractions while going to and from the washroom. Horrible, horrible, horrible.
2) How great the epidural was. As my labor was spent trying to STOP labor, an epidural wasn't an option. I also opted not to have morphine as I knew morphine given close to birth could make the baby sleepier. As I was delivering a 32 week preemie, I did not want to make him lethargic. However a few hours before I delivered, doctors finally waves the white flag on stopping my labor and finally gave me the option of an epidural. At that point, I hadn't eaten or slept in two days and gladly said yes. Within fifteen minutes the pain was totally gone. I was able to sleep. I've heard some people still feel pain with the epidural but I didn't feel the pain from the contractions at all though I could still feel pressure and sensations. The birth itself, I could still feel pain and tearing but I was so 'in the zone' that I didn't care. My baby came out screaming and alert with an APGAR of 9 so the epidural had zero impact on him. I would highly recommend getting an epidural if you have a long labor.
3) how easy and quick the actual birth was. I had never been afraid of labor and assumed the actual birth would be horrific. The birth was so easy. I felt the same as I did during particularly gruelling gym work outs - almost on a high. It was over very quickly.
4) the shakes - I got those as well post delivery.
5) postpartum recovery is just the worst. I was prepared for the blood bath the first time I stood up because I had read this thread. Seriously this thread did so much to prepare me. I would have been terrified about what was happening if I hadn't read it. I had a lot of trouble sitting for a long time. Sitz baths were really my only friend. For me, it's been 4 weeks and I am still bleeding. The other moms in the NICU had csections and they are also still bleeding so it's not vaginal delivery dependent. They also did uterine massages on me which I didn't find painful because of the epidural. It was so weird though because they'd press down wherever there was a lump in my stomach and I could then feel a large blood clot come out of me. So, so gross. They said they were just helping massage them out.
6) Granulation tissue - ouch. If something doesn't feel right down there pain wise after a couple weeks and it hurts to pee (and a UTI has been ruled out), check in with your doctor. I had never heard of granulation tissue (basically my body is overzealous in healing scar tissue wise) and it hurts. My doctor burned it off with silver nitrate. Silver Nitrate stings a lot but didn't hurt as much as the horror stories I had read online. Again, everyone is different. I just had this done so I can't say if it's eliminated the granulation tissue. I'm posting this because I had no idea what was wrong with me and hope it helps anyone else. Be proactive about talking to your doctor.
7) What a relief it was to get my body back as MINE. Instantly there was no more back pain, no more clogged sinuses, no more itchy skin, no more bleeding gums, no more random stomach pains. My centre of gravity came back. While I wouldn't run, it felt nice to know I could run if I needed to. I also didn't really feel my uterus needed any time to get back to its usual place and size so that was another pleasant surprise.
but that the grow and spread during pregnancy to handle the extra weight. My feet definitely got wider during each of my pregnancies. I didn't have to go up a shoe size but now have to buy wide shoes where I was fine in normal widths before. I did have a few friends who did have it increase their shoes size by a half or whole and get rid of a lot of old shoes
Edited because my fingers didn't type all the words my brain wanted
Been married since 2009.
Unicornuate Uterus (yes I menstruate glitter)
Several MCs
DD born 2013 (our miracle "you can't have babies" baby!)
I couldn't believe how hard it was to pee the first time after they removed the catheter! It was like the urge had been taken away. The nurse, DH, & I all had a good laugh about it.
Also, both times they've had to break my water in the hospital. It's crazy how much is in there!! And how tight and small your stomach gets after.
With both, I bled a ton afterward. Way more than a heavy period. And equally even though one was a c/s and one was a VBAC.