First period since baby-- too heavy?

[quixotic]

Hi-

I am 12 months post-partum and have just begun my first menstrual cycle (wow two years off!) I know that the return of bleeding can be different than what you experienced pre-baby, especially until those hormones get settled... and I also know that super heavy is not uncommon, but I am going through a super plus tampon every hour or less. I stopped wearing panty liners with the tampons and started wearing super pads because once the leak starts it is fast and I was soiling all my clothes. Is that normal or is that too much? I was up every hour all night and sometimes that wasn't enough (I was nearly in tears at five am trying to clean blood stains out of the carpet from a too late rush to the bathroom). I am also finding that the tampons are not staying in place super well. My husband thinks it is the heavy flow... but seriously, it is not a stream washing them out. If I walk around and bend a lot they seem to start poking out a little. The other thing I find a little strange is suddenly the little one is less interested in eating and more interested in nursing. This coincides with the start of the period. Anyone have this sort of thing happen?

[annettemarie]

Moving to Fertility

[mae14]

Been there with my last 2 children. I found drinking at least a cup of RRL tea everyday really helped with the flow and it was different for the next cycle. I've also found taking Advil during my cycle reduced the flow and how long my cycle lasted.
As for the nursing, my babe is up more at night the closer I am to getting my period to nurse and then goes down again once my period is done.

[Mom2SammyJoe]

My first PPAF at 10 1/2 months was super heavy. I remember waking up to get the baby and having to let her cry in her crib while I took a quick shower because I was such a mess. That was with my Divacup in, and I think that holds at least at much as a super plus tampon. It was really surprising for me. Day 2 of my cycle is still much heavier than I ever remember, but I was on the pill before my first child and only had a couple cycles between the kids. To encourage you, I have had three cycles since then, and each one gets a little bit lighter as things even out. If you are comfortable with it, Motrin 600mg every six hours can reduce your flow, as a PP mentioned.

[RhianaW14]

I got mine back on Thurs and it lasted 2 days and was really light. What the heck is that all about!? lol

[quixotic]

Ahh Rhiana... how lucky! Well, several days in it is still heavier than what I am used to (I practically got by with panty liners pre baby)... but at least I am not afraid of bleeding to death anymore! Thanks for helping me know it is normal to start out this way and that things should get better. You know if you just google... oh... bleeding through super plus every hour... you get all these websites telling you it is abnormal and listing scary things it could be a sign of (like cancer)... none of them bother mentioning anything about PP or nursing and hormone fluxes... I wish there was more easy to find information about that! Lots of websites say your first can be very heavy, but they don't say how heavy (like crazy crazy heavy!)

[donutmolly]

I also had weird issues with tampons PP, always wore them before, but for some reason PP, they didn't seem to "fit" right to catch the flow. (What could be the reason for that?!) And my flow was super, super heavy but just for the first PPAF, after that it was more normal, although not what I remember from pre-kids.