How long 'til it all goes back to normal??

jmd22

I know that the recovery process after delivery is generally 6 weeks for "down there" but what about the other fun pregnancy side effects? Swollen feet and ankles, carpal tunnel, sore back, hips, etc, etc. Do these things generally take a while to go back to normal as well? I'm really hoping that some of these symptoms will go away right after LO is born, because they are making me miserable! 

Qmommy

They pretty much go away pretty quickly.  The swelling will go away in a day or two.  Back, hip, and leg pain will go away instantly too.  I don't know about carpal tunnel since I didn't have that with DD (or this one).  As far as "down there" the pain / discomfort went away after 2 weeks for me.  Obviously I wasn't cleared for sex until 6 weeks PP but I wasn't in pain for that long.

Lexie Marie

I asked my OB about m/s because I've had it since the first tri and it hasn't gone away. He said once I have LO my m/s should disappear overnight.

Beth.05

For me, the pregnancy related pain went away right away. The swelling took a week or two to go away. I peed so much after birth, I think bc of my body trying to get rid of all the excess water I had been carrying!

CamJack mom

never had carpel tunnel, but the 2 girls i know tht did said it went away instantly. All the other stuff goes away before you even leave the hospital.

cutcopypaste

All my symptoms went away immediately. I still had morning sickness, carpal tunnel, constipation, and a bunch of others. I instantly felt like a new person.

jmd22

Good to hear! If I can just get rid of the pelvic pain, swelling and carpal tunnel, I'll be doing pretty well! My friggin shoes hardly fit anymore, and I dropped the laundry basket the other day because of a sudden shooting pain in my hand/wrist--no fun! 

jmd22

Lexie Marie:

I asked my OB about m/s because I've had it since the first tri and it hasn't gone away. He said once I have LO my m/s should disappear overnight.

Ugh- I'm so sorry you've being dealing with m/s this whole time- that is miserable! I hope that goes away for you ASAP!! 

MesmrEwe

It really depends on your body...  With DD the back pain never went away until I went to see a PT for an ankle injury and he was like "how long has the back been bugging you?" (I never mentioned A WORD about my back!)...  Turns out I needed some PT to get the back in alignment which brought about the ankle getting better because "stuff rolls downhill"... 

Otherwise, it took me a solid year before I felt completely "back to normal"...  Most things go away right away, but that's not the case for everyone.  The thing that took forever (besides the back) for me was where my stitches were I could feel where they were for the longest time...

tosh24

Most pesky pregnancy symptoms will be gone within a couple of days. There are some that may stick around for a few weeks, like the constipation. That's normal.

As for "down there", it's nice to think that it will all be good and normal after 6 weeks, but the reality is that it's usually not. Yes, there are a handful of lucky ones that feel better within a couple of weeks, but that's not the norm. Out of the 12 women in my postpartum mom group, the average time it took us to have sex again was about 12-16 weeks after delivery. And for those of us with tears and hemmies, it was even longer. It was about 1 year before I could have sex without having a painful sensation around where I tore. There were even women in the mom group who had to freeze their perineum (even after 6 mos - 1 year) with EMLA where their tear was so that they could have sex without it being uncomfortable. I'm not saying this to scare you, I'm just saying it so that you have realistic expectations of what recovery might be like. Don't push yourself and let your body recover at its own pace. If it takes longer than 6 weeks, it doesn't necessarily mean that something is wrong with you.

 

kylayton

I believe carpal tunnel is caused by swelling, so I would assume it would go away as quickly as your hands and feet stop swelling. 

Maggie-Moo

I just want to say that is a great question and thank you so much to all of the moms who answered. It is so nice to hear that some stuff will just magically disappear (swelling and ms are on the top of my list). I figure down there will probably be a train wreck and be hugely dependent on how L&D goes, but it is great to have some pleasant news about the rest!!

Thank you, I really needed a pick me up like this today!

Mass-girl-at-heart

My swelling stick around for a while.  I spent about 2 weeks peeing and sweating (like want to sleep naked sweating) while the excess fluid disappeared.  My knuckles were swollen for around 6ish weeks, it took that long to get my wedding ring back on and a little longer before I could get me engagement ring on with it.   

Just remember that everyone is different, there will be women who come here and tells us the are back in their old clothes within the week while others will need months of hard work to see that.

fostermurphy

I was never swollen during my first pregnancy but, I left the hospital very swollen. I was induced so I had IV fluids nonstop for almost 2 days! My girlfriend warned me about this so, thankfully, I brought pair of my husbands sandals or I would have had to walk out barefoot. It really was laughable, I looked like I had elephant feet. It took about 2 weeks for me to flush it all out.....

Mike&Care

First pregnancy I tore pretty bad, so that didn't feel normal till about 6-8 weeks.

Last time I felt great two days after giving birth and started jogging again 8 days PP. My hubby and I had sex (cleared) at 3 weeks PP. Bleeding stopped at one week PP. Everything about that labor/delivery was amazing, so I'm hoping for a repeat of #2, not #1's birth (which was the opposite, painful, tearing, bleeding galore!).

All the pregnancy related pains should go away fast. My only issue was that my hips had spread quite a bit, so it was sore to jog/workout too hard those first few months. 

 

Happily Overwhelmed

Thanks for asking this! I've had a huge list of symptoms (most dominate being m/s). I often wondered if it would go away right away or my body would take time to adjust.

scooterq

Thanks for asking this.  I have been wondering the same thing lately.  I was really wondering that about digestive issues too.

GoombaGirl_79

For me all that other stuff went away quite quickly. I had HORRIBLE sciatica with DS 1, and thank goodness that was gone about 3 days after birth. The other things went away within the first week as well. The soreness "down there" and some aches and pains in my hips and back just from all the effort of delivery hung around for 5 or 6 weeks, gradually getting less as time went on.

lilwildthing

It definitely took me a while to get back to normal. I had a c/s so the lady parts were fine. But I swelled horribly and that took weeks to go back to normal, along with the carpel tunnel. I'm sure it is different with everyone, as is all of pregnancy, but my symptoms did not disappear overnight or in a couple of days. I hope they do this time around!

seashell_83

I hate to say it but my poor SIL is still recovering down there from giving birth 15 weeks ago.  She still cannot have sex and her doctors have told her she most likely will need reconstructive surgery to fix her before she will be normal down there. 

I am so praying that something like that doesn't happen too often and hopefully not to me but you just never know.