PP mamas, how're ya feeling?

[KayleeZoo]

Camry is 3wks today, and besides the nausea-inducing fatigue, I feel pretty good. Hemorrhoids are finally under control, and the perineal soreness is gone. Bleeding has stopped and I think I have lost all of that awful fluid weight. My belly, while sporting lots of loose skin, is toning back up nicely and I escaped without any stretch marks again!

How are all of you feeling? Mamas who tore/got sutures, I hope everything is healing nicely. Chronic back-pain sufferers, how's it feeling now that baby is out?

Anyone exercising yet? I'm gearing up to start back on the treadmill. Gotta loose those last few pounds!

[ElliesMomma]

fine, just tired. everybody says i "look great" which i find hard to believe as it's a treat to get to take a shower. bleeding hasn't entirely stopped however; i tend to "over do it" physically when i should rest more...

[Pinkbruise]

Jude will be 1 week old tomorrow!

I feel great! He is a really relaxed baby. He nurses every 2-3 hours, and sleeps the rest of the time . . . he'll even let us lay him down or put him in the baby swing! He doesn't need to be held 24-7 like DS1!! We kind of feel guilty putting him down!

I only needed 1 stitch and I guess it's healing up pretty good. My MW will be over on Thursday to check it out. It still stings when I get pee on it though, so I'm still using the squirt bottle to rinse off. The swelling is mostly gone though.

I am SO READY to get out of the house! Not sure if I'm ready to take Jude out though. It's kind of hard for me to nurse him in a sling because of my huge boobs!

I'm already wearing my pre-pregnancy jeans though! Super stoked about that! Can't wait to start taking walks again and keep this weight off! (I lost 20 lb when I got the flu back in March and only gained 12 back. With an almost 9lb baby and a HUGE placenta, I've re-lost that whole 12lb)

[Tashakittie]

I'm feeling really good. Sebastian will be 3 weeks tomorrow. Last night was the first rough night of sleep since he arrived, which we are all so grateful for. I am also grateful for the gentleness of this recovery in comparison to my first, after which it took me about 8 weeks to truly feel good again. All of my pregnancy pains- back, thighs, pelvis have all diminished. Almost done bleeding, and the fluid weight and varicose veins are all gone. Still chunky everywhere- but I don't mind it, I did not get back to pre-pregnancy weight till 6 months pp last time, I'm expecting the same this time. All in all, I'm really happy and thankful for good fortune this time around. Staring at my nb, knowing how fleeting this time really is, I feel every moment is sacred and precious! It also feels fantastic to not be pregnant!

[Julia24]

Charlotte is 6 weeks tomorrow. I feel good. Getting irritated with how often this poor munckin has been at the dr.'s office. It's annoying! I've never had a little one have so many health issues (I mean, aside from Maddie's reflux - Charlotte's are all over the board!) so soon. And the idea of taking her BACK to the dr. office makes my skin crawl. But, then again, I've never had a THIRD kid before - with two older kids in school with all these germs. Poor baby doesn't stand a chance. I'm doing the best I can though to get her through it and keep her healthy.

I feel quite good. But I have a mystery shoulder injury - I have NO idea how I got it, but we're going on 10 days and one false move seems to put me back at square one. I was just thinking yesterday that I was feeling better, then this afternoon I was opening the curtains and BAM! YOUWERS!!! I'm sure it's related to everything still be pliable from being pregnant and giving birth, so I hope it heels up soon.

Charlotte is really stretching out her sleep patterns at night, and dh and I are so thankful. She's going from 7ish, to sometime between 12:30 and 2, to sometime between 4 and 6am. Can't ask for more than that from a newbie, yk? I can feel it in her body though, won't be but another couple weeks and she'll be out for a good 12/13 hours at night. (my other two were just like this, and we don't do anything special - they just like their sleep!) She's SO heavy at night during her feeds, just absolutely OUT.

[lisa_nc]

One week out and I feel fantastic! I know it grosses people out, but I ate the placenta and I am SO glad I did. I am not even bleeding much anymore. I think it will stop completely, lochia and everything over the next couple days. No crying. Nothing.

[StrongFeather]

Sam was 6 weeks this past Saturday, time has really flown, but it also feels like it was years ago that I had that confusing morning when my water broke a MONTH before my due date!

We successfully established a great breastfeeding relationship, though we have our ups and down days. Breastfeeding is a lot of work/dedication, I can see how with one or two bad days (or nights) people can give up. We are still working through my over producing boob/over active letdown issue. Though now I am worried it's going the other way! Off to research this.

Besides Sam, I am doing for the most part well. DH and I had our "moments" this past month. PP is hard. I thought he'd get it by the end of the pregnancy that the hormones are nuts! I warned him over and over that Post partum could be hard for me, but it seesm to have fallen on deaf ears. Oh well, frustrating, yes..

I am trying to carve out some "Me" time. But as far as I can tell it's going to be awhile. I just can't seem to get it together enough to get out of the house for any meaningful time alone. It's not really anyones fault but it a combination of the fact that we moved an hour away from all our friends and family, and I haven't met anyone local yet. I haven't even had a chance to really explore where we moved to much. So feeling a little isolated, I suppose.

well..I am am rambling. From this post it seems worse than it it, I think. I am super happy and super in love with my LO.

[Carolyn_mtl]

Katelynn is 4 weeks today! Just like my super easy pregnancy and easy birth, the pp time has been a breeze. Bleeding stopped about a week ago and I never had any soreness from the stitches, even with the 2nd degree tear.
Kate nurses about every 2 hours in the day and sleeps 3-4 hour chunks at night, only waking for a few minutes to nurse. Last night she slept from 12-6! I ended up waking her because I didn't want her in that diaper any longer and my boobs were enormous!
My only issue, and it's a big one is going to the bathroom... up until last week I had no problems, I have a hemroid, but it never bothered me, now I think I must have a fissure or something. Every day I fear that urge, it's like passing glass...seriously. Any advice on how to fix this would be greatly appreciated..I can honestly say its more painful that childbirth, 100% drug free childbirth.
I try sitz baths, I've put tea tree oil and calendula extract on it, not healing, every time I go it re-opens. I cannot imagine how this thing is supposed to heal, but I need it to! I don't even want to eat, what goes in must come out.

[confustication]

Keagan will be 2 weeks old tomorrow, and we're doing really well. He's a fabulous nursling, so I haven't struggled at all with breastfeeding beyond the first week of 'ow' while he latched.

Since I work at a two-person newspaper, I didn't really get much 'time off' but I take the baby in when I have to go to the office, so it's not a challenge. Otherwise, we're hanging around at home most of the time.

The kids and DH caught a nasty cold. I was hoping Keagan would miss it, but no such luck, so the past two nights have been spent sitting up on the couch with him as he's more comfortable between sneezes and coughs. Poor little guy. So far, I've dodged coming down with it...

Physicially, I'm doing pretty well, the 'slight tear' was more significant than my ob led me to believe, and his 4 stitches were 4 sets of running stitches- but I know it will all heal with time.

[pastrygirl]

Originally Posted by Pinkbruise

I feel great! He is a really relaxed baby. He nurses every 2-3 hours, and sleeps the rest of the time . . . he'll even let us lay him down or put him in the baby swing! He doesn't need to be held 24-7 like DS1!! We kind of feel guilty putting him down!

I'm having a really hard time, because I thought I'd be getting one of these and didn't get one! I thought for sure that I'd paid my dues with #1 and would get a very easy #2. Then again, he was easy for the first two weeks! I didn't try to put him down, though, because he was so snuggly and yummy. Now that he's 4 weeks old and I want to put him down, I can't!

He has great latch, but has tongue tie. He's been nursing NONSTOP during the day, so we're nowhere near ready to start going out into the world. Even if I wear him, he roots and cries until I nurse him. It's stressing me out. I have an appointment tomorrow to hopefully get his tongue tie clipped. I really thought that since he latched on great, he didn't have tongue tie. Now I wish I'd just had him evaluated his first week, like I'd originally planned! Instead of suffering for the past two weeks.

I was hoping that with the birth, I'd be back on top of things and be able to take my 3-year-old out. Instead, we're still homebound for the foreseeable future, except for preschool 2x/week. I feel so bad for him.

In terms of healing, my hemorrhoids are finally under control, YAY! I'd also had horrible pressure/pain down there for the first 2+ weeks and really thought something was wrong, because it felt like something was trying to fall out. I finally went to the OB and it turns out there was a stitch that was causing problems! He removed it and another one, and I've felt great ever since. Thank goodness! I'm glad I went in instead of waiting until my 6-week followup.

My little guy popped a second chin sometime in the past couple of days!

[pastrygirl]

Originally Posted by Carolyn_mtl

My only issue, and it's a big one is going to the bathroom... up until last week I had no problems, I have a hemroid, but it never bothered me, now I think I must have a fissure or something. Every day I fear that urge, it's like passing glass...seriously. Any advice on how to fix this would be greatly appreciated..I can honestly say its more painful that childbirth, 100% drug free childbirth.
I try sitz baths, I've put tea tree oil and calendula extract on it, not healing, every time I go it re-opens. I cannot imagine how this thing is supposed to heal, but I need it to! I don't even want to eat, what goes in must come out.

Is it a hemorrhoid, or a cut? I would try Metamucil 3x/day, and maybe even a stool softener for a week. I have to avoid nuts, beans, seeds, and granola because they all irritate me when I have hemorrhoid issues. I love Earth Mama Bottom Balm. I smear some onto witch hazel pads and put them in place, leaving it there for a while. Or just the Bottom Balm applied directly. I had that glass feeling for about 2 weeks, maybe a little more, and it finally got better doing all the above stuff.

[~Laura~]

I am 2 days PP and I feel great! The bleeding slowed a ton today, which is nice. I think that's the part that makes me feel the least 'human' post-birth. I didn't tear and I am not really sore anywhere. The Belly Bandit has been SO great - I am so glad I have it!

Emmeline is doing great, too. She's still a super sleepy newborn, so it's all snuggles here. Her first day, yesterday, was tough for her because she was clearing the gunk from her lungs (we didn't suction) and really wanted to be sleeping all day, but that ended at about 24 hours, so she's been totally peaceful ever since. My milk is definitely arriving - not looking forward to the regulating supply phase of lactating! I just hate feeling engorged. I have been keeping very careful watch of her latch because I have *very* sensitive nipples (very fair skin). So far so good, but there's definitely some OUCH! pain at the start! This is typical for me, though - it does get better, it just sucks in the early part! That, and I really can't do a ton of comfort nursing because of the sensitivity. Luckily, my supply has always been great, but we generally have binkies on hand to help with the kids who need the extra sucking. :/

Glad to hear everyone is going well! I wish I had advice for the bum troubles - it sounds awful.

Laura

[Julia24]

bum troubles stink! I hate NOT wanting to go, yk?

Charlotte got a double chin recently too - I am just LOVING her little rolls that are growing...and the edible SMILES. There's nothing like how her face lights up when she catches my face, yk?

[2boyzmama]

Originally Posted by Carolyn_mtl

My only issue, and it's a big one is going to the bathroom... up until last week I had no problems, I have a hemroid, but it never bothered me, now I think I must have a fissure or something. Every day I fear that urge, it's like passing glass...seriously. Any advice on how to fix this would be greatly appreciated..I can honestly say its more painful that childbirth, 100% drug free childbirth.
I try sitz baths, I've put tea tree oil and calendula extract on it, not healing, every time I go it re-opens. I cannot imagine how this thing is supposed to heal, but I need it to! I don't even want to eat, what goes in must come out.

I had this after Connor, I bled every time I went to the bathroom, I dreaded going, I would grip onto the wall and BREATHE just like labor, it was ridiculous!! It's one more thing I'm hoping to avoid this time.

Actually one thing that helped was a stomach virus went through our house, and I had diarrhea for a day, and my rectum not having to dilate for a whole day allowed the healing to start. So then I started doubling up my stool softener until I had near-diarrhea for another couple days, and eventually it healed. It was pretty horrible, though!! I really feel for you!!

Drink LOTS AND LOTS of fluid, up your Vit C to bowel tolerance, and either start or increase your stool softener, hopefully that will give you near-diarrhea and allow the area to heal if it doesn't have to dilate. Then ease yourself off of it very slowly, don't just stop, that was my problem, I thought I was good to go 2 weeks post partum, and I stopped my stool softener. I should have backed off slowly instead of suddenly stopping. I won't do that again!!!

[Carolyn_mtl]

Thank you for all the bum advice. I'm pretty sure it is a cut / fissure, and not the hemroid that is bothering me. I've even tried putting on some polysporin, keeping my fingers crossed. I'm going to go buy some stool softener today. This is totally ridiculous, I seriously feel like I'm passing broken glass every time I go, trying to breath through it like labour, while clenching the side of the toilet.. Lovely absolutely lovely!

[2boyzmama]

Originally Posted by Carolyn_mtl

Thank you for all the bum advice. I'm pretty sure it is a cut / fissure, and not the hemroid that is bothering me. I've even tried putting on some polysporin, keeping my fingers crossed. I'm going to go buy some stool softener today. This is totally ridiculous, I seriously feel like I'm passing broken glass every time I go, trying to breath through it like labour, while clenching the side of the toilet.. Lovely absolutely lovely!

Yep, sounds like a fissure. Ugh! I SO feel you poor mama!!! It took about a week for mine to go away after Connor, and then for a few weeks after it sometimes would re-open just a touch if I let myself get at all dehydrated and passed a hard-ish stool.

Stool softeners and LOTS of liquid and you'll be feeling better soon In the mean time, hang in there!!!!

[pastrygirl]

Originally Posted by Julia24

Charlotte got a double chin recently too - I am just LOVING her little rolls that are growing...and the edible SMILES. There's nothing like how her face lights up when she catches my face, yk?

Oooh -- I can't wait for the smiles!!! I forget when they start. For now, I get the involuntary smiles when he's falling asleep.

We had our first real tears today, during his tongue-tie clipping...

[Julia24]

I would say she started right before one month with her 'on purpose' smiles. I swear people don't give little babies enough credit. I was rocking her to sleep in the early evening (like 7ish, maybe?) and I was in her room. Dh got home from football practice and came barreling up the stairs yelling "I'm home, where are my girls?". Charlotte immediately started crying - and didn't stop until he came into her room and picked her up and started down the stairs with her talking to her....she looked up at him, stopped crying and immediately flashed him the BIGGEST grin. It was utterly sweet. She wanted her DADDY. That's his payback for taking the 11pm to 5am shift nearly entirely with our newborns....they are just as attached to him as they are to me.

[GiantGi]

this is #4 for me and that first week pp was by far the worst. OMG the roids were horrendous. I was in so much pain. My midwife suggested applying Philips Milk of Magnesia (Not drinking it but putting it on them). Just thought I would pass it along.

I went to the mw last week and was treated for yeast infection. Great. I do have a history of them so I wasnt too surpised. Now, I just have some lingering urination urges but its being linked to pp stuff. *fingers crossed* that is all it is. UTI was negative.

[JordanKX]

Rowan is 2.5weeks (unbelievable) and we're doing great! A few days in the hospital from jaundice nearly killed our breast-feeding (and my heart) at the beginning and, YUCK, had to supplement formula for a week to get his system working enough to work the bilirubin out. But for the past week, we're back to right at rain. Nursing through the night - he goes 3-4hrs at night, pretty steady at every 2hrs during the day.

He loves being in the car, which is Great for me since my lazy babymoon has been cut short by the possibility of buying a house. The first time out with the realtor, I was still "healing" so bumpy rides and getting in and out of the car at 6days PP wasn't so fun. Amazing the things we put ourselves through. But now almost 3 weeks, I think I'm about 90% back to normal. Things are still Really Swollen and the bleeding comes back when I do too much.

But at home, I've done really well to just sit on my bum and stare at this beautiful lil man. Really...who wants to do anything else! :-) He's started looking back. Not quite focusing, not quite seeing me... but he notices the changes from light/dark, and if we put a mobile in front of him, he definitely recognizes something is there. Amazing just the changes in 2 weeks. He's already up to 7.7lbs -- from 6.14 at birth!