Lochia and "doing too much"

[Galatea]

My MW says to do nothing for 2 weeks after birth to let your body heal, and if your lochia was lessening and then gets heavier, it means you did too much. But I have a question about this: if I go for a walk and then have a bunch of lochia flow out, does this mean if I stayed home in bed and didn't have it flow out, it would be just collecting in my uterus and dripping out slowly? So then maybe going for a walk is a good thing to get it out.

[Juvysen]

I don't think so... what happens is that if you're doing so much your body doesn't do as good a job at keeping your uterus tightened down... and when it loosens up, you're more likely to bleed.

[Galatea]

Really? I thought it was the opposite... like when I lay down for a while right after birth, I could feel my whole uterus expand and sort of swim up in my abdomen, but if I moved around, it contracted again.

[Juvysen]

Huh. I dunno. Maybe it depends how long after birth? That's the concept, though, afaik.

[MiaMama]

Please (not just you, but all new mommies) stay in bed a bit longer. Don't get up and do stuff, if you feel great after birth, hang out and enjoy that feeling.

I did too much, and as a result, my lochia and healing lasted until almost 10 WEEKS! Not only that, I got pelvic organ prolapse. If you are pregnant, head on over to the healing birth trauma forum, check out the pelvic organ prolapse thread (warning, it is REALLLY long) and check it out. Almost all the moms there say

"I wish someone had told me!"

If you don't rest enough after birth, your bladder and rectum can start bulging through your vaginal wall, to the point of actually sticking out of your vaginal opening. Your uterus can drop, too. If it gets bad, HCPs push hysterectomy. Other cultures say invest the 40 days after birth for the next 40 years of health.

BTW: I am fit, healthy, strong, active, and 26 yrs old. If I had read this post when I was preg, I would have though "nope, can't happen to me." It can. Please, all new mommas, get a little more rest than you think you need, take care of yourselves after birth.

[MegBoz]

I'm really curious if there have been any studies of this.

I had DS in a hospital with CNMs - a group of 3. 2 I loved, one I loathed. Thankfully, I had one of my favs for birth, but the dreadful one was on call the next day & talked to me about PP care - and she did a dreadful job. Honestly, I can't recall what, if anything, she said on the "take it easy, lest your lochia increase" issue.

Instead, she discussed PPD in excessively grave tones while I literally fought the urge to suppress a grin. (I'd had a fantastic birth & was on cloud 9. I was literally fighting to suppress my smiles because I know PPD is a serious issue & I thought it was inappropriate to grin. But I didn't feel too at risk for it just then. Although, intellectually I understand it's still a problem & could still affect me in the future.)

She also lectured me on birth control in a condescending & belittling way. Um, yeah, I was 31 years old at the time, had been married for 5 years, this was my first baby, a planned pregnancy. I think I know that, uh, if I have sex without using some form of contraception, I'm likely to get pregnant again. Seriously? Like I don't know this little fact that sex leads to pregnancy.

This is all I remember of PP care 'instructions' from this MW. (Well, & she mentioned the risk of mastitis since I was BFing. No discussion of much more common BFing problems like cracked nipples or supply problems.)

I remember my Bradley teacher basically saying, "If lochia increases, you're doing too much." & I interpreted that to mean, "If you go for a walk and lochia does not increase, you're fine! You're good to go."

I was really active. I remember walking around the park with DH & DS when he was 4 days old. I strolled the neighborhood with him repeatedly starting from about a week old. I even took him to the grocery store & cooked a lot when he was about 10 days old & DH returned to work.

But my lochia was super, super light. I moved from heavy duty pads to panty liners within maybe 8 days. I didn't even need a panty liner after about 2 weeks, maybe 3 at the most.

All this being said, and knowing what I know now, I DO think I'll take it much easier after baby #2.

Q on pelvic organ prolapse - can you sorta feel it coming? By that I mean, if pelvic organs are beginning to drop, could you feel it so that you could back off, lay down more, and maybe reverse it? (Whereas I presume if you continue to be super-active, you'd make it worse.)

[skyblufig]

Well, here's my story: this last birth I felt fantastic a week after and lochia had slowed down to me only needing a panty liner, so we went for a nice, long, easy family walk. As soon as I laid down to go to sleep that night I felt a huge gush of blood. I went to the bathroom and it was literally pouring out of me, prompting a middle-of-the-night call to my mw. What happened was that the extra long walk kind of shook a clot loose and there was blood collecting the whole day so as soon as I reclined it started flowing and I soaked about 4 regular pads in an hour. It wasn't a hemorrhage per se, but it was scary enough to keep me in bed resting the next day for sure! This had never happened to me before -- I've always been right back to long walks and bike rides by a week or so after.

Short reply, yes, take it easy if your flow increases.

[nudnik]

I am VERY grateful for my wonderful midwives who put me on pretty strict bedrest for the first week and very strict take-it-easy rules for the next 3 weeks. It was tough on DH, but I'd do it again next baby. Much quicker recovery than the last few kiddos.

Note that they told me that lochia will often increase the NEXT DAY after doing too much.

[St. Margaret]

Thank you, MiaMama. I am glad you are sharing that info!

My MW says two weeks staying at home, resting as much as possible (it's hard to do too much in my tiny home anyway, unless I'm like deep cleaning, yeah right!)

I plan to take it very easy, ease back into things. I had a rough pregnancy with sciatica and I am dreadfully out of shape-- I'm eager to start back up BUT I know I will have to go that much more carefully to avoid hurting myself.

[Galatea]

I haven't been working or cleaning. I have just gone for walks (around grocery store or mall while dh shopped.) I feel fine and am on pantiliners now. I can kegel fine and my hemorrhoids are gone and my vagina looks normal from the outside. So I think I am not in danger of prolapse, right?