Thoughts on Postpartum Healing

A recent conversation with some fellow new moms as well as an email from a friend who gave birth just a few weeks ago, prompted me to write this post about the healing process that takes place after giving birth.

When it comes to child-bearing, I have found that the focus seems to be mostly on the discomforts of pregnancy and the pain of labor leaving little warning of how your body may feel afterwards.

I, being the mom to just one and for only eight months am by no means an expert! So, if you are a seasoned mother, please comment and enlighten us newbies with your wisdom!

Everyone's postpartum experience is, of course, different and I think that mine might have been a little more extreme than most. (I gave birth naturally, posterior, and almost four weeks early.) So if you are pregnant with your first or plan on having children in the future, I am not writing this to intimidate you. Hopefully your healing process will be much faster and easier! I just want to share these thoughts so that you will, hopefully, not be as in the dark as I was.

Childbirth is a truly miraculous and life-changing experience that's totally worth all the discomforts in the world -- I promise! :)

• Pack your hospital bag & keep it in your car a few weeks in advance just in case. I don't mean to be dramatic but, as I mentioned, I went into labor almost 4 weeks early during an overnight stay at my in-laws. Had I at least packed my silly little necessities I might have felt a tiny bit more in control of the situation than I really was.
• If you plan to breastfeed, make sure you have Lanolin & use it, even if you don't feel like you need it right away. I didn't and my nipples were bleeding before I even left the hospital. (My son was in the NICU for the first 48 hours so I was using a pump which probably made them worse.)
• Breastfeeding hurts. But it will get better so don't give up! Imagine how your lips feel in the winter when they're chapped to the point of bleeding -- that's how your nipples will feel but worse because they're not used to that kind of exposure. After about a week, your nipples will toughen & breastfeeding will, most likely, be an enriching, bonding experience for both you and baby. (And I've heard rumors that nursing subsequent children is even worse as it entails the added bonus of uterine contractions...!)
• After leaving the hospital, stay in your pajamas for at least a week. Of course shower and all but afterwards, put on a clean, comfy pair of p.j.'s so you'll be more likely to stay in bed and rest. (Since you're uterus will still be contracting to pre-pregnancy size, maternity leggings with a tummy panel like these are great too!) My Mother in Law told me this and it was one of the best pieces of advice I received. Once you're wearing real clothes you start thinking you're fine and the next thing you know you're picking up around the house, throwing a load of laundry in, and emptying the dishwasher when, really, you should be resting. 
• Ignore your catastrophe of a house and just take this time to cuddle with your baby. Enjoy the fact that they're perfectly happy just curled up on your chest while it lasts.
• You may feel like your insides are falling out. After about a week I was convinced that I had a prolapsed uterus because if I walked more than eight steps, it felt like all my reproductive organs were hanging out of me. It took at least two months before that feeling went away completely.
• After your six week recovery period, when you've been given the green light to start exercising again, just walking to the mailbox to check the mail may leave you feeling like you've run a half marathon. Be patient with yourself and give your body time to build up its endurance again. Take it slow when you feel out of breath and you'll get there. 
• Weather permitting, take some time to sit outside and get a little sunshine. After a day or two of being cooped up inside, you may start to feel a little claustrophobic. I know that I didn't feel up for much walking, but just getting out of doors did wonders for my mood.

• Statistics show that 60-80% of postpartum women experience 'The Baby Blues' to some degree. I did, pretty badly. So if you find yourself crying at the drop of a pin, know that it's a completely normal reaction to the drastic change in hormones that your body is experiencing and that you will feel like yourself again soon. For me it took a couple of weeks. 
• Get ready for that baby to touch places in your heart that you didn't even know existed. Motherhood is such an incredible blessing from God and one of the most important jobs in the world -- its fruits are eternal, after all!

Again, I hope these pointers are helpful and not discouraging. I'm sure that many women feel great postpartum. Maybe even better than they did during pregnancy. But my experience was just the opposite -- pregnancy was a breeze while recovery was a lot harder than I had ever imagined it would be. 

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What was your postpartum experience like? If you had a c-section, do you have any thoughts to add?