Postpartum thread Aug 17-23 - Page 2

[~Megan~]

nak but for Alisa
use the 4 hour rule to help with imbalance. First 4 hours only nursing on the right side, next 4 hours only on the left and so on.
If you are having green poops then your milk is in! You just may not be feeling letdown yet. This time my milk actually came in and I didn't get engorgement for another day.

[carrietorgc]

just fyi, adrian had some green poops on days 3 and 4 as my milk came in. i think my milk was coming in as of day 3 pp, b/c the seedy poops started on day 2 pp. now at day 5 pp they are bright yellow, but it took a few days. I personally would not block nurse yet if you feel your supply isn't totally in yet. also, you may not get engorged - my milk has come in very gradually on days 3 and 4 pp and so far baby is keeping up with the engorgement, so no rock hard boobs here.

i'm 5 days pp and feeling great. baby settling into a nice pattern during the day - i am still making sure he nurses every 2 hrs since he is so young and little, but normally he reminds me. my dd was never a sleepy nurser, so it is weird that he can be. i've been doing 30 min on the first side, and only then offering the second to make sure he is getting enough hindmilk. it's so hard to know if he is ready for one sided nursing,kwim?

luckily no soreness vaginally, no tearing at all. i'm ready to ditch the peri bottle at this point. my back is pretty sore - the back labor was wicked and i'm bruised from dh and the doula doing counter pressure for so many hrs. no soreness from the epidural though.

[nabigus]

thought I'd post while the super nurser is taking a break. man, he's a champ--caught on in no time at all, milk is fully in (it's now day 4), and we're doing great together.

The recovery is a lot slower and more intense than I anticipated--I ended up with a 4th degree tear (ugh ugh ugh), and lots and lots of stitches, and all the mixed feelings that go with it. Overall, my birth experience was amazing, but I ended up pushing on my back, having a fast labor, etc, and am still processing how I feel about that. Haven't posted my birth story yet (well, got it mostly done, then lost it to ill-timed computer crash), but feeling an emotional crash for the first time today. Dh and my mom are taking great care of me, and I'm loving loving LOVING getting to know my pumpkin, but a little shakey today--just took some vitamin B, so hopefully that will help.

Besides taking it easy (which I am, thanks to mom), anyone got hints for getting through the crash? Man, what I wouldn't give to go for a walk and get a little sunshine, but I don't think I'm physically up for it.

[heldt123]

Nancy, sorry you are having a rough time. Some of the best pp advice I ever got was from a friend who had three kids in diapers (very close). She told me that to take care of babies, you need to take care of yourself. She said to get up every morning and take a shower or a bath, get dressed, and fix yourself up a bit. It sounded corny and simple to me at first, but it has helped me a LOT. And it is possible with a bit of planning. Sunshine is another one, even if it means laying in the grass on a blanket, it helps.

[Anguschick1]

Nancy:

So sorry to hear that you're having a rough time. After ds was born I focused on a shower a day. It didn't matter if that shower didn't come until 8pm, but I showered and put on mascara (and I've never been a makeup person) once a day. If I got my shower in the morning, but it had been a long, hard day, I took another that night.

Having said that, take care of yourself mama, your baby loves you no matter how long it's been since you showered or been outside or worn clean clothes. Heck - even if you're eating a banana while nursing and part of the banana falls on top of your baby's head, they still love you! (That sent me into absolute tears one day when ds was about 7 days old.)

My midwife told me that women usually will hit bottom (if they're going to hit bottom) on day 10 and after that the good times will get more and more and the low times will get less and less. If you find that not to be the case, get your dh on board and go see your midwife.

Good luck Mama - you're really doing a great job and the slower you take it now, the sooner you'll be back in form. Again, .

[nabigus]

Thanks, both! Got lots of sleep, feeling much more the thing. I think I'll make sure to get a little sun today, as well as that shower.