Post pregnancy changes.

[HowDoYouDoAnything]

Mostly here for the rant so I apologise.

Before having a baby I did plenty of research as to what that would mean and what effects it would have so I thought I was relatively well prepared.

However, there was still bits that no friends, forums, Internet chat or Web pages prepared me for.

For instance I wasn't prepared for how much my nose would run when I was pregnant. I had a permanently damp nose like a happy dog for 9 months. And I wasn't prepared for the carpel tunel I got for the last 3 weeks of the pregnancy either. Googling them I found they can be normal symptoms but people always forget them when compiling lists and so only appear when you look for them specially (which only happens after you get them)

But the main post pregnancy symptom I'm hating the most (and the reason I am writing) is the new post pregnancy periods.

I was told my periods could change after having a baby but omg there's a line between 'could change' and where I'm at.

I have always had very heavy periods which led to me being on the pill (progesterone only pill) when I was 13. At 18 I switched to the implant.

I had an unrelated health condition from the age of 16 which resulted in chronic pain among other things.

At 25 I saw a specialist who said that sometimes my condition can be made worse by progesterone only hormone contraception and recommended I switch to the combined pill as the oestrogen helps.

It was amazing. I was pain free for the first time in years within 2 weeks.

Fast forward to having a baby and I ended up having an EMCS and was told by an overly exielted consultant I had a placenta with a velamentous cord (dont know if they are relevant or change things). Now I'm post birth though I can't go back onto my pill until we are ready to stop breast feeding.

And the periods are KILLING ME.

I have to use a super plus tampon AND a maternity pad AND sit on a puppy pad all at once just to try to catch it all. And the tampon is full and needs changing every hour. It's like there is razor blades inside me and I swear my kidneys are trying to escape out of my back.

AIBU to hate this post pregnancy feature more than any any other part of pregnancy/birth/raising a baby?

P.s. if you have any of your own symptoms that you were unprepared or under prepared for then please feel free to share so we can be irritable together. 😆

Interesting. Awful for you though.
My periods got lighter with each baby.
My shortsighted actually improved a bit - enough to need new hlssses

Annoyingly, my feet got bigger and stayed there. Now too big to easily buy shoes on the high street, and my teeth turned to chalk, or some such crumbly substance for a few years.

I think there are too many variables on postpartum recovery to have a list readily available somewhere. Firstly because it would be bloody huge, secondly because it would just cause anxiety and finally because it would be very vague. For instance:

Your periods might get lighter, but they might get heavier or they might stay the same.

It isn't very helpful to highlight this issue prior to giving birth. Sometimes it's better to have a very general understanding that your body is going through some big changes and that you may have birth injuries but without too much thought.

Obviously if your doctor or midwife picks up through a test that you may be high risk for a particular health issue then they will tell you. Otherwise, isn't it just shooting in the dark?