Honesty? I had no idea how rough my postnatal recovery from giving birth to Isaac would be. You're always told about cesarean section recovery but never a natural vaginal birth other than a few tales or symptoms.
So let's start right at the beginning to just after I gave birth to Isaac on Monday 3rd October 2022 at 7:43pm. My labour lasted about 18 very long hours. By the time Isaac was born, I was exhausted and sore. I had a natural birth but needed an episiotomy and Isaac was delivered by a kiwi vaccum. The first part of my recovery was getting stitched up downstairs. My legs were still in the stirrups and ached so bad. I either had a shower or was given tea and toast but I can't remember which way around.
Goodbye Gestational diabetes
As soon as I gave birth, my Gestational diabetes was gone and boy was I glad. I could finally eat and drink what I wanted now. I was so excited about the tea and toast I was given after giving birth. I finally had white bread toasted and sugar in my tea. I was so hungry by this time too and wolfed down my tea and toast with strawberry jam. I didn't really like strawberry jam before this but now it was the best thing ever. I had a long list of yummy foods I now wanted to eat but truth be told, I hadn't that big of an appetite just yet. I definitely have made up for it now, though by eating everything and snacking constantly. Being at home on maternity leave isn't good for my waist line as I'm always snacking and wanting chocolate lol. I no longer had to check my blood sugar's too which was music to my ears.
Bloody Hell
I knew that I'd bleed alot after giving birth but I had no idea I'd bleed as much as I did. As soon as I stood up after getting stitched up, the blood started dripping out of me. I was given a pad to place between my legs until I got to the shower. I was worried about bleeding all over the white hospital towels but I suppose they get covered in all sorts of bodily fluids. The bleeding lasted for a good 6 weeks. It was very heavy to start off with but thankfully lightened as the weeks went on. I needed huge maxi pads but I got good ones for 90p from Boots. Everytime I moved, I'd leak and I was always scared of leaking through my pants and trousers. Thankfully I didn't. This was all before I got my period back again. That happened two months later. My periods came back irregular and heavier than before. As it's only been 15 weeks, my body is still getting back to some sort of normality.
A Pain in the arse
Nothing could have prepared me for the pain that I was going to be in after giving birth in my vagina and bottom. Oh my goodness, it hurt like hell and I'm not joking. It felt like my whole bottom area had been ripped to shreds. I had an episiotomy and a vaccum delivery so i needed stitches in my perineum. Sitting down was so painful that I had to sit on a pile of cushions and no amount of pain relief helped. Even walking about hurt after a whole. Some midwifes told me to keep the area dry while others told me it was OK to have a soap free hot bath. The pain lasted for a good 8 weeks, though it calmed down to more of a sting than pain.
Hair Loss
Before I got pregnant, my hair would fall out a lot when I washed it. However, after giving birth, the amount of hair I lost doubled. I was finding my hair everywhere and I mean everywhere. Even in places it shouldn't be (like Isaac's nappy of all places). I'd wash my hair and it'd be all over the shower and as I detangled it afterwards, I'd have a nice little pile of hair pulled out. At the time of writing this - 19 weeks post partum, it's still happening. I'm finding little clumps of hair all over the house, on our clothes, in the bed and goodness knows where else. I'm hoping it'll calm down soon or I fear that I'll end up going bald. I don't think getting my hair dyed a few weeks after giving birth, helped either. It probably wasn't the best of ideas.
Painful breasts
I had started breast feeding Isaac while in hospital and he latched on beautifully the first couple of times. It was all too good to be true though as after a day of breast feeding, my nipples were sore, red and cracked. Everytime Isaac latched on, it felt like I had a baby shark biting onto my nipples. It was so painful, so much so that I'd sit and cry while feeding Isaac. I had a few latching issues on day 2 but got some ointment for my nipples to help with the cracks. When I got home I used a hot face cloth on them and a hot shower in the hope to calm them down. Then Isaac's weight dropped more than 10% so I was encouraged to top him up with formula feeds. Honestly, I had been planning to bottle feed from the start but after being diagnosed with gestational diabetes, I was encouraged (or forced) into breast feeding. So I reluctantly gave it a go, despite the fact I hate my breasts being touched. I couldn't even express colostrum before Isaac was born. I spoke with the midwife who helped with latching on again and Isaac stayed there for nearly an hour but screamed minutes later so we topped up with formula. I even had a breast feeding specialist out with me who gave me a very snazy pump but I was lucky if I expressed a teaspoonful of milk. She was expecting me to spend my whole day expressing in between feeding. I spent an hour and got about 4 tiny, pathetic drops of milk that couldn't feed an insect let alone a baby. I made the decision to fully formula feed but that didn't stop the painful breasts. My milk still came in and when it did my breasts were rock hard like I had, had a botched boob job. They were excruciatingly painful. It anyone had tried to touch them, I would have screamed blue murder. Thankfully after a few days, the pain disappeared as I wasn't breast feeding. I didn't have any leaking breasts either, despite sticking a pad in my bra. My milk was there, just not coming out.
So tired
Yes, we've all heard people say "you'll never sleep again once you have a baby." yadeya, so I was expecting the tiredness from the lack of sleep. Even before Isaac was born, I wasn't getting a decent night's sleep due to needing to pee constantly and the pain in my hips. My contractions started at 2am so I lost out on several hours sleep the morning that Isaac was born. I was lucky if I got 1 hour after he was born in the very noisy maternity ward. The 2nd night I don't think I got any sleep as Isaac was so unsettled. One of the kind midwifes did take him away for an hour in the hope I'd get some sleep. I had the intention of having a nap once I got home and showered but ended up getting stuck into the pile of dishes and washing that was needing done. Once I got Isaac down to sleep at night, I'd been awake listening to every little sound Isaac was making, to ensure he was OK. Then there was the night feeds too. The good thing about bottle feeding is that Simon can do the feeds at night too, to give me a much needed break. Isaac would only waken twice in the night for a feed which isn't too bad. I definitely get frustrated with the lack of sleep. I'm not good when I'm tired. Some days I just want to sit on the sofa with Isaac in my arms, binge watching Grey's Anatomy but I know that's not good or healthy for either of us. Plus, there always seems to be a pile of washing that needs done or 101 chores.
Cry Baby
We've all heard of the baby blues that kick in days after giving birth and of course there's the Hormones which are all over the place. I don't think I had the baby blues as such but I did get a bit down in the dumps after the whole breast feeding drama. I've had bad days and I've had great days. It's been one big roller-coaster of emotions. I've had times where I've sat and cried. I've burst into tears for no reason and I've cried happy tears too. A few days after coming home with Isaac, he wouldn't settle down in his cot to sleep at night and I was so frustrated. I sat myself down on the cold bathroom floor and sobbed through the pain in my bottom area. Sometimes we just need a moment or two, too take ourselves off, have a good cry and take deep breaths. Being a new Mum is bloody hard work and it's perfectly normal to feel overwhelmed and emotional.
Spots
I've been prone to acne and spots since I was about 16. I think my skin cleared up a little bit near the end of my pregnancy but I don't think I'm ever going to have perfect clear, spot free skin. With my Hormones all over the place it's no surprise that I've been breaking out in spots all over my face again. Thankfully, they aren't the huge painful lumps I used to get, just normal, annoying pimples. My skin has been very dry too. I haven't been wearing make up as much either, maybe once a week, even if that. I don't use a lot of products on my face either. I just use a face wash and moisturiser. I never really needed a lot of fancy skin care before getting pregnant and I definitely don't have the time to start now lol.
These are all the delightful post partum symptoms I suffered with after giving birth. Every women is different and will have different experiences than me. It also depends on the type of labour and birth too. A woman who had a section will probably have a longer recovery time than someone who had a vaginal birth. I feel like I'm still recovering in some way, both mentally and physically. My body has gone through something huge. It's grown and birthed a tiny 7lb human so obviously it's going to take time to heal. Our bodies are amazing and when I look at myself in the mirror, I have to keep reminding myself of the amazing job it did of bringing Isaac into this world safely.
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