Wondering about afterpains

[willemsmamma]

I was just wondering what, if anything, you are planning on doing/taking for the afterpains.
I ordered an herbal tincture and will probably have some ibuprofen on hand just in case. I heard they get worse with every baby and I thought they were pretty bad with my first (especially when he cried!).
Just wondering....

[babykaoss]

mine weren't too bad with my first.........why is it that they are supposed to get worse w/ each baby, do you know? i hadnt even thought about it.......

[Geofizz]

:lurk:

...terrified they could be worse...

[Awaken]

Good question. I didn't have much pain after my 1st- took advil a couple times in the first 2 days or so but otherwise just sat down verrrry carefully!

I have also read that they are more painful each time- esp. when nursing and your uterus contracts.

What herbal tincture are you getting? I am going to go back through my Wise Woman's Herbal and see if it suggests anything and get back to you all!

So much to think about/get ready!!! Yikes!

[RainCoastMama]

Hmm...I don't remember ANY afterpains with my first tho I was told to use Tylenol if I wanted...worse with subsequent? Eek!

[samsmamma]

From what I hear, they are worse for experienced moms.

My MW recommends motherwort and blue cohosh tincture. There is also a site called birth with love that sells a tincture called contractease which is supposed to be very good.

I woulnd't use ibuprofen personally b/c I don't use that when nursing - tylenol only for me.

[Queen of Cups]

I took prescription strength Aleve for them. The nurses at the hospital asked if I wanted anything and I told them I do natural childbirth, but not natural cramps!

Every woman I've talked to that has more than one child says they're much worse with your second (and subsequent). Your uterus "remembers" and just like it stretched out a lot quicker at the beginning of pregnancy, it shrinks up a lot quicker, too.

[scheelimama]

I know I'm butting in here, since I'm not apart of your November group (that was last year, :crying ) Anyway, I think the reason it is worse is because it's harder for your uterus to shrink back up. It wants to stay stretched out, kwim.

Anyway, it was definitely worse with my second and so much so that it made me consider not having any more kids, or at least getting something really strong for the pains afterward. (Okay, I'll definitely be having more kids, but man were those afterpains awful!) And they seemed to last longer (1-2 days with first, 3-4 days with second). It's the worst when you are nursing, so my mw suggested keeping Ibuprofin in my body, not letting it lapse, and when possible, take meds 30 min. before nursing, if you know that baby will be nursing soon. HTH!

[zjande]

Hot water bottle!! It's funny, in nearly every picture of me holding my son the 1st several days after his birth, there is my red, hot water bottle on my belly. Oh good golly how those afterpains hurt, every single time I breastfed. I plan to glue my hot water bottle to my belly asap after birth again this time, too!! :LOL

[birthjunkie27]

Afterpains with my second were SO much worse than with my first. I don't even really remember them with my first. With #2 I had to use a heating pad and I took Tylenol3 I think it's called. By prescription only. It was only REALLY bad the first 24 hrs. I remember laying and breathing through them just like they were labor contractions, until I got the Tylenol 3 then that helped take the edge off. I can't imagine them being even worse with this babe but I'm sure they will be. :( I'm hoping to be more prepared for it this time. Last time Dh had to run to the store and buy a heating pad, and I had to wait for the prescription to be filled before I felt any relief.

[Queen of Cups]

Remember new mamas - if you're using Hypnobabies keep using your cue-words to help relieve the pain!

[deathbygodiva]

They've gotten progressively worse for me. Heating pad and finally with #4 and #5, ibuprofen. Didn't have any with #1. Hadn't thought about them until now, but I remember really focusing on relaxing every time my milk let down because they were so intense. Okay, toe curling.... and I've had 5 natural births. Definitely my least favortie part of childbirth... just got to remember that they are a good thing!! Means your uterus is doing what it's supposed to!

[zjande]

Hey & we can all picture our fabulous, non-huge bellies slowly coming back, afterpain by afterpain. We'll have abs of steel again in no time! :LOL

[Gunter]

From what I hear, they are worse for experienced moms.
My MW recommends motherwort and blue cohosh tincture. There is also a site called birth with love that sells a tincture called contractease which is supposed to be very good. I woulnd't use ibuprofen personally b/c I don't use that when nursing - tylenol only for me.

Thanks for the natural recommendation. I don't want to take any meds. so I am hoping to be blessed w/o too much pain (my first babe!) but go for the natural option if there is pain. I'd like to have a tincture on hand, just in case.

[Boobiemama]

I'm butting in too. ;)
I am pregnant with my 6th baby. My last one the afterpains about killed me. They were AWFUL. Worse than labor. Horrible, horrible. yes, they get worse with each baby.
I am asking for a prescription after this birth.

[zjande]

Man, you know what sucks? I hadn't even heard that afterpains get worse with each baby until this thread!! And to think- I could've lived in ignorant bliss, now I KNOW what I'm getting myself into thanks to you guys, darnit!!! :LOL

[willemsmamma]

zjande, sorry!!!!! didn't mean to ruin your bliss :LOL

Gunter, I am the totally natural holistic mama type but man, seeing as how painful they were the first time I think a little medicine will help me from resenting nursing and help me bond with the baby better. KWIM???? The tincture I just got is called Afterease and you can get it from www.inhishands.com (they do the custom birth kits for my MW). It has a combo of crampbark, black haw bark, yarrow flower, and motherwort. I used just motherwort last time and though it helped with the hormonal changes I didn't notice a difference with the afterpains. My last mw said that black or blue cohosh is too strong to use after birth. I'll definitely go the natural route until I can't take it.

samsmamma... I can't believe I forgot the whole nursing and ibuprofen thing... where is my mind these days? Thanks for the reminder.

[bec]

I really don't remember having any afterpains after my first two. Here's hoping for a hat trick! :LOL


Bec

[flapjack]

Hot water bottles are your friend- and/or one of those heated wheat bags that are small enough to apply, then apply nursing pillow and baby. (If I have my bagpuss strapped to my tummy, the baby's going to have HUGE problems latching on- he's enormous.)

[Gunter]

My MW recommends motherwort and blue cohosh tincture. There is also a site called birth with love that sells a tincture called contractease which is supposed to be very good.

I bought motherwort but cannot find blue cohosh in stores around here. I joke with the employees that as long as it come before I have the baby, all is well. The motherwort says not to take it if preg. or breastfeeding. Any thoughts on that?

Also, when did you start taking each of them and how much?

Also, anyone have experience using White Willow Feverfew? I got it at Whole Foods today and it contains a combo of white willow, ginger, black cohosh, feverfew, and Kava Kava. I thought about just using the White Willow alone.

I also have blach cohosh on hand and arnica pills.

[willemsmamma]

About the motherwort, it depends on your source. Wise woman herbal for the childbearing year says you can take it through preg and breastfeeding but cautions that you can become dependent on it. She recommends 5 drops in a glass of water no more than a couple times in a day. And if you feel like you can't get through the day without it, cut back.

If you really want the blue cohosh in time, try looking for it online. Red Moon Herbs is a really good place to buy from... I took wise woman herbal courses there and know that they sell quality stuff... not the diluted junk you may come across in HFS. I think their web address is their name dot com.

Don't know from experience but I do know that aspirin is made from white willow bark (traditional aspirin) so you are dealing with the same salicylate situations though not quite as concentrated as taking straight aspirin(changes blood ph -makes it more acidic, if I remember correctly- and affects the blood buffering system, etc). I don't know about kava kava and postpartum hormones/breastfeeding. I think I remember reading something about it... maybe it was just that it could make you a little drowsy/dullheaded.

[Awaken]

The motherwort says not to take it if preg. or breastfeeding. Any thoughts on that?

.


I wondered about that, too- I got it b/c I read about it in wise woman's herbal, and also b/c supposedly it's good to take when having difficulty getting along with one's child (ha, ha- I need to buy stock in the stuff!) but then everything else I've read says not to take it during preg.

I only take it once in a while, and one dose only when I do take it, so I figure it's not going to hurt.