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All the things I forgot or didn't know about postpartum/the newborn phase...

post #1 of 25
10/16/10 at 8:19pm
Thread Starter 
Thought we could all share these things for anyone who hasn't joined the postpartum club yet!

-The after pains get worse with each subsequent child. With my first, they were annoying and I felt them every time my baby nursed. With my second, I immediately asked for painkillers and something to vomit in! (And I had no pain meds and didn't throw up during labor! It was crazy!). And I felt them randomly and found myself moaning through them like labor contractions! No one warned me about this getting worse!!

-Lochia is so unpredictable. I forgot just how unpredictable. At 16 days postpartum I don't know from day to day if I will be able to wear the same pantyliner all day or if I'll need a few. I seem to be done with blood, but still sometimes have a gob of mucous.

-Being able to hold more than a tablespoon of urine in my bladder is fabulous. And being able to pee in a stream rather than a trickle. Ahhhhhhh....

-It is really difficult for me to get comfortable nursing a newborn. Is this just me? I require almost as many pillows to nurse Anders as I required to sleep when I was pregnant with him. Oh - and my toddler currently has a thing for pillows, so they are never where I need them!!

-newborns are capable of producing impressive amounts of spit-up without it actually being more than a laundry problem. Anders spits up after almost every feeding, and usually multiple times. He goes through at least 4 or 5 sleepers a day and I often go through a couple shirts. Plus burp cloths. DS1 was not a spitter! This has been all new to us!

-I forgot that newborns' poops and farts are totally indistinguishable to the ear and that, though they startle, newborns can sleep through the loudest of these!

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post #2 of 25
10/16/10 at 9:10pm
Looking forward to being back in this club.
I heard this pregnancy that drinking RRL tea during early labor, and then after delivery, can help with afterpains. I have no idea if this will actually help (I remember how unpleasant they were after baby #2)-- but I plan to try and report back.
post #3 of 25
10/16/10 at 9:12pm
That first post partum bowel movement is like a second birth!
post #4 of 25
10/16/10 at 10:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by CherryBomb View Post
That first post partum bowel movement is like a second birth!


I was actually too scared to go for about 2 days after Dylan was born, until I had at least 6 Colace inside me to smooth the way, lol.

Also, I was SO looking forward to being able to sleep on my stomach again - my favourite position - after 6 months of not being able to. But now? My breasts are so full of milk most of the time that I STILL can't enjoy this position. Argh!

Oh, and I second the being able to pee in a stream thing - it's the simple things in life, isn't it?
post #5 of 25
10/16/10 at 11:29pm
Oh man, I didn't go for 6 or 7 days after my vba2c! And it seriously took like half an hour or more. It was horrible! (and I had been on stool softener since the day after birth!) This time was 4 days and not nearly so bad, but still, phew!

And I hear you about the tummy sleeping. Between the engorgement and the c/s incision, it's going to be awhile
post #6 of 25
10/17/10 at 12:13am
You know, I remember being REALLY scared of the first post-partum poop, and then everything came out just fine .
post #7 of 25
10/17/10 at 12:55am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Annemarie42 View Post
Looking forward to being back in this club.
I heard this pregnancy that drinking RRL tea during early labor, and then after delivery, can help with afterpains. I have no idea if this will actually help (I remember how unpleasant they were after baby #2)-- but I plan to try and report back.
I wish I'd had warning - I would have tried anything! Mine were bugging me so much that one nurse wondered if my uterus was working out a clot (never did pass any clots bigger than a pea, though).
post #8 of 25
10/17/10 at 4:53am
That nothing is cuter than waking up and seeing a tiny newborn head poking out of the covers on daddy's chest .
post #9 of 25
10/17/10 at 8:29am
That last one made me smile!!!
post #10 of 25
10/17/10 at 8:34am
If you have older kids and/or are around their friends you need to be prepared to mediate the "Can I hold him/her now?" competition all.day.long.

post #11 of 25
10/17/10 at 10:54am
Call me naive, but I didn't really know much about post partum blues and then I was hit with a nasty case that made the first 2 weeks as a new mother interesting...and oh, the guilt I felt!

And the thing about newborn poops and farts being indistinguishable...totally!

And another poop related thing and without going into detail or TMI territory, my first post partum bowel movement was the best bowel movement I had in a long time! No trauma there.
post #12 of 25
10/17/10 at 11:15am
I'm on day 4 pp now, have a CRAPLOAD of colace in me, and haven't pooed yet. I tore all the way to my anus, so I am afraid. Very, very afraid.

Speaking of newborn farts, does anyone know why they smell so bad? My little guy is a farting machine! It would be funny except every single one smells like teenaged-boy-worthy diarrhea. He must have something scary coming down the pipe as well.
post #13 of 25
10/17/10 at 11:32am
During the first few days, I thought Naomi's farts were smelly or that she was constantly pooping...turns out it was her umbilical stump that stunk! Once that fell off, she hasn't really smelled like anything. Obviously this might not be the case for you, though!

I hope your first BM will be non noteworthy!
post #14 of 25
10/17/10 at 12:24pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by outlier View Post
I'm on day 4 pp now, have a CRAPLOAD of colace in me, and haven't pooed yet. I tore all the way to my anus, so I am afraid. Very, very afraid.

Speaking of newborn farts, does anyone know why they smell so bad? My little guy is a farting machine! It would be funny except every single one smells like teenaged-boy-worthy diarrhea. He must have something scary coming down the pipe as well.
Your poop will be ok! When you go, it'll just come out with hardly any effort because of all that colace! The first poop is scary, but usually not as bad as you think it's going to be. Coughing and sneezing are, IME, way worse!!
post #15 of 25
10/17/10 at 12:28pm
I am scared of pooping too... Havent yet, just been taking the colace and made sure to get the ok to not start the iron supplements just yet!!
post #16 of 25
10/17/10 at 1:11pm
-Pooping wasn't a big deal this time, but I only had a tiny tear and no stitches. It was really traumatic after baby #1 though and that time I only had a few stitches. (No stool softeners either time.)

-I drank a ton of RRL tea throughout the last 2 trimesters and up to about 12 hours before my water broke (way more than I drank last time). It definitely made a difference with contractions while in labor, but the after pains totally sucked this time... they weren't excruciating, but they were way worse than active labor. Drinking some of the bagged RRL tea in the hospital seemed to help with them a little though. I haven't gone back to drinking it yet at 9 days pp (although I have some made) but the afterpains have been gone for almost a week now.

-Depends are freaking awesome...

-I wasn't prepared for the hormonal newborn love fest which has actually made me feel pretty guilty/conflicted re: my 3 year old.
post #17 of 25
10/17/10 at 2:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MaybeJ View Post
During the first few days, I thought Naomi's farts were smelly or that she was constantly pooping...turns out it was her umbilical stump that stunk!
OMG that stink! I had noooo idea that her little stink button would smell so bad.
post #18 of 25
10/17/10 at 11:28pm
Thread Starter 
As of tonight I have another.

I had no idea that a linea negra could appear postpartum! I had a really pale one with DS1, and DH and I commented before DS2 was born that I didn't have one.

As of tonight, I have one. Weird!
post #19 of 25
10/17/10 at 11:57pm
Update: We both pooped today!
As for mine, all I can say is yeeeeouch. I had a really hard time unclenching enough to let anything out! It did give my posterior-most stitches a bit of a yank and I bled some, but it went okay. The shower I took afterward was nice.

As for ds, whoa nelly! He had been saving that up for almost two days and made the funniest faces while pushing it all out. He's had two great naps since The Explosion, so I'd say today was a resounding success all around!

Now to add to this thread, I had no idea I'd actually love my postpartum belly. It may not look like what I had before, but it's soft and fits easily into smaller pants, plus it's been shrinking by the hour (and is fun to poke!). It's such a relief not to be so stretched out anymore. My stretchmarks are already fading fast, too.
post #20 of 25
10/18/10 at 10:30am
Yay for poop!

I love the boobie pillow, when they pull off after nursing and sleep on the boob, it's so cute and I love all the little newborn faces and noises. I forgot how much I love newborns
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Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › Archives › Pregnancy Archives › October 2010 › All the things I forgot or didn't know about postpartum/the newborn phase...