What to expect, pain/mobility-wise, immediately after delivery?

[Smokering]

I haven't read any info on this... I know it will vary from woman to woman, but how sore/unable to move/weak am I likely to be after delivering the baby and placenta? Is a mother usually able to climb out of the birth pool unaided? Does she usually feel OK to talk, or does she just want to flop in bed and moan? What about walking around?

Sorry, I know this is kind of vague... I guess I've built up a picture in my mind of being in EXTREME, agonising pain after the birth, and unable to concentrate on DH or the baby, or talk to the midwife. It'd be nice to hear it ain't like that.

[thefreckledmama]

I never had very much pain after birth. There was always a little pain in my perineum, but nothing at all like you're describing. Not to mention the fact that once the baby is born, there's usually the rush of endorphins that comes after giving birth, which (for me at least) pretty much made any pain I had insignificant. I never had any problem getting up walking around (to the bathroom and such) afterwards either.

[alegna]

Well I was going to come post and say take it easy... but I easily got out of the birth tub. Walked to the bathroom (laid on the floor with DD and nursed while they ran an herbal bath)

then walked upstairs with a little help (31 hours of labor... 48 hours no sleep... I was a wee bit tired )

I talked quite a bit. No moaning at all

-Angela

[prothyraia]

Right afterwards, I was fine.

The day afterwards, I felt like I'd been hit by a truck.

Three days afterwards, I felt waaaay better than I did while I was still pregnant and huge.

[balancedmama]

Oh gosh, nearly all women feel a big sense of relief after birth and aren't in pain. Of course like you said, it is different for everyone. I have been to a few hundred births and of the natural, vaginal births I have seen (or medicated vaginal births even), I would say that nearly all are really alert, blissed out, and not complaining of too much pain. Sometimes they are uncomfortable with the few cramps for birthing the placenta but generally it is just a blip on the radar compared to labor.

As for me, I felt really pretty good. I didn't feel like walking around for awhile though - I pushed for many hours and lost some blood so I just felt a little weak and shaky. But not BAD. After a few hours I started to feel that my bum was sore. But it took awhile for me to notice that. Mostly afterwards I was just in awe and teary over having a baby and proud of myself and amazed at my DD and talking to her, the MWs, doula and DH about it. The hormones after birth are just so powerful - they really make you feel good.

[bobandjess99]

I think you hit the nail on the head when you said it varies so much there really is no way to know.
I know many, many women who can walk easily, talk, eat, shower, etc.
I know women who are very tired and just sleep for a while...

Personally, after a REALLY tough birth and a borderline hemorrhage?, I was unable to do anything but lay on the floor in a pool of blood for some time, and then dh lifted me into the shower to clean me off some then I was carried/crawled to bed, where I stayed for 12+ hours before being able to so much as move. It was days before I could walk unassisted, and over a month before I could stand up quickly without passing out.

[georgia]

With my drugged hospital/interventive/episiotomy/etc birth, I was in tremendous pain and felt like I'd been hit and run over by a truck for weeks It hurt to move, and I didn't go out for months.

With my (drug-free) home waterbirths, I felt ecstatic and oddly awesome right after. Immediately after, I felt a bit tired physically, but totally "buzzed" emotionally. I may have needed a helping hand out of the water, but I just felt so happy, relieved and good. But like I'd just been through hard work...but not in a negative way. I went to the grocery store the next day :

IME, just doing what my body needed to do when it needed to do it, without outside interference, was critical to my feeling of well-being afterwards.

Best wishes on a beautiful birth

[Kabes]

After #3 was born (my best labor and delivery!-natural) I had to move to another room. I picked up the baby and started walking. It must have shocked the nurses because they asked if I was O.K. I remember saying "I'm great, Lets go dancing!" Such a huge high.
So as said before - everyone is different. The spectrum is huge.

[*Melissa*]

I didn't have any pain after birth. I jumped right into my shower and got all clean and then cuddled in bed with DH & DS. I think peeing was a little rough the first week... #2 wasn't bad at all, even though it had been a few days.

I was a little tired the next day, but that was offset with my baby high. So all in all, I felt fantastic.

[Chinese Pistache]

I felt pretty great right after my hbs. There's a big adrenalin rush that helps, I think. I did almost pass out after my first was born though. They gave me smelling salts and I perked right back up. It was funny though, because I totally didn't see it coming. I was chatting, walking (with a little support, over to the couch to be stitched) and I just started getting woozy. Anyway, I've always been perky enough to take a shower, eat something and then, snuggle down with my baby.

[Smokering]

Ooh, I like all these 'I felt great' posts. More of those, please!

[ripcurlgirl26]

The details are kind of blurry, but I remembering getting up by myself afterwards, going to the bathroom, and getting changed and "diapered" up. And this was with a 4th degree episiotomy-induced tear. All the pain I felt post labor was from that stupid thing. I'm sure I was tired, but I was flying so high I didn't sleep for about 24 hours. I just wanted to watch my babe!

[StrawberryFields]

I don't remember being in any pain after birth. I got up, went to the bathroom, took a shower, got dressed, combed my hair and had something to eat. No moaning and groaning I don't remember any remarkable pain the next day either.

[savithny]

I had that adrenaline/endorphine rush both times. I felt so perky that the nurse had to remind me to take it slow getting up. I remember this rush of "I really need to PEE now, and by the way I'm ravenous."

I felt like I could dance across the room, but when I actually stood up and... uck... streamed down my legs I did decide to take it slower.

WIth #1, I pushed for about 40 minutes (he was posterior at first), and the day afterwards I felt like I'd done too many situps without warming up. With #2, I felt swell. And not swollen, just swell.

An hour after both births, I was tucking into a meal. A fairly big meal. I felt on top of the world.

[attachedmamaof3]

After every single one, after birthing the placenta/nursing, I've gotten up, used the restroom, taken a shower/bath and then laid down on my fresh clean sheets with the baby to eat and sleep!

Feels like you'd feel after a REALLY good soccer game! Worn out in a good/exciting way.

[danotoyou2]

I don't remember ANY pain after giving birth... I did need a hand getting out of the tub, but that's just because I was a little unsteady on my feet from all the physical exhertion, not pain. And not really getting any sleep for 3 days, then running a marathon can take its toll on the body... So, just tired, not pain.

The only pain came with getting stitched up. After that, I was more sore than I expected to be, just because I was so preoccupied with avoiding a cesarean, that I didn't think about the effects of a vaginal birth on my body. But it just meant sitting on a pillow for a few days. Also, my muscles were sore the next day, because pushing was very... um... physical.

[SublimeBirthGirl]

I could walk after both though after my 1st I was exhausted. AFter my homebirth I got out, went upstairs, took a shower. I let them put me in the wheelchair to get to recover after my hospital birth (hardly any sleep for 2 nights) but also showered soon after and all. I tore and had a couple of stitches w/ her, and was sore for weeks. My 2nd, only a tiny skidmark and no stitches, and I was hardly sore at all. My physical recover from #2 was incredibly quick.

[wannabe]

Depends hugely.

After a short daytime labour I felt totally normal with a tender bottom. After a long long labour I felt like I'd been hit by a really vindictive truck who'd come back a couple of times to finish the job.

If you have stitches the local will take a while to wear off, too.

[kerikadi]

It's not about the pain it's about being exhausted and having lost blood. I could move around with very little pain but I was a bit woosy and liked having someone walk with me and give me a hand getting in and out of the tub. Of course I was also holding a newborn and didn't want to fall.

In the hours after birth I would say I was nearly pain free. It's after the adrenaline wears off that the aches and discomfort set in. Notice I said aches and discomfort and not pain.

[Violet2]

As someone else said, it's not the pain, it's the fatigue that's killer. It would be rare I think to be in so much pain you can't move.

You won'y be physically incapacitated, but rather energetically incapacitated.

V