To ask how long it took you to fully recover postpartum

[Stillgardening9]

meaning physically. I had a vaginal birth, approaching 4 months postpartum however still feeling broken. Thought things would be better by now. I’ve seen the doctor as I thought I may have a prolapse but she couldn’t see anything. How long did it take you to feel fully recovered? Need a bit of hope.

I suppose it depends what you would class as “fully recovered” really. I had a difficult birth, episiotomy, forceps with 2 tears, I’m 7 months postpartum now and I would say I’m as fully recovered as I’ll probably ever be. I don’t have any pain, I started exercising again at about 2 months PP gradually building up and from about 5 months PP I have been back to my usual pre-pregnancy exercise with long runs, gym sessions etc, there’s nothing I used to do pre-pregnancy that I can’t physically do now and I’m back below pre-pregnancy weight so I would say I feel fully recovered. But I do feel different to before I had a baby, my body feels and looks different, I don’t think any of those things are really going to change now though.

I’m sorry you’re struggling OP.

Traumatic and very bad delivery… took me over 12 months
make sure you get the aftercare, mine was extremely slow and needed to complain to get things moving

I had sections and within a week was doing normal activities (other than driving). I felt pretty good a few weeks later so really just the time it took for my wound to heal. I was in my 40s both times, fairly fit for my first one, not so much for my second.

Hmm, "fully recovered" is a hard one because even without birth, pregnancy is usually around 9 months - your body is going to take at least as long to recover fully from that alone even without considering the birth. Breastfeeding also results in changes to your body and some people breastfeed for years.

If you don't mind sharing, is there something specific that you're struggling with that hasn't recovered yet? Maybe we could then see if anyone has had that specific symptom before and how long it took for it to improve? Just a thought but no worries if you don't want to elaborate.

As for me, I'm 6 weeks PP with #3 and my fairly small 2nd degree tear still hasn't even fully healed over yet sadly. I didn't have a straightforward perineal recovery after any of my births sadly so I'm relieved that this will be the last time I will have to experience all of this! The GP told me not to resume exercise until it's fully healed over which is going to be at least a few more weeks.

9 months pregnant - 9 months to get over it.

you will get there, but it’s still very early days

Also, in the spirit of honesty, you will never completely physically go back to how you were. My eldest is 13 next week and 3 pregnancies means that my body is different. It just is. Your hips are different, your stomach muscles are different and, like you, I had (3) vaginal births and everything is just…different.

I don’t feel broken. But I am definitely not the same.

I'm 3 months postpartum. PGP from pregnancy hasn't gone so even a 20 minute walk results in 24 hours of agonising pain. Sex is out of the question, everything is sort of tense and inflamed (and I had a c section so you would have thought I'd avoided all that but no). I'm severely sleep deprived. Fat. Basically not functioning.

It depends what your normal is. For me, normal was being able to feel fit and strong again, which took I would say at least a year. Some people 'normal' is able to walk around without pain, so can be a few weeks or months

If you can afford it I would highly recommend a 'mummy MOT' with a specialist pelvic health physio (I know the name is cringe but it's just a brand name for a specific check up) - much more thorough than a GP

In answer to your question, around 4 months with both of mine I was just getting back into exercise, feeling incredibly weak. Probably at least a year until I felt normal but still different. Being permanently exhausted also doesn't help!

I second getting physio , I think the feeling of back to normal takes a long time and it's not just physically it's the tiredness the change in hormones the new demands of the baby .

@Dramallama91 Being permanently exhausted also doesn't help!

Yes, the permanently exhausted feeling is very real.

It depends what you mean by back to normal - do you mean your pre pregnancy state? I had 10 stitches with my first and then 8 with my second but developed an abscess at day 7 which had to be drained etc and I couldn’t sit properly. I was able to get back to cycling around 2 weeks once the stitches had healed but it took about a month to build back to my pre pregnancy fitness levels. Give yourself time - it’s a marathon not a sprint

I agree with above posters about getting a private pelvic floor physio to check you over. I was told at my 6 week appointment I had prolapses following the birth then just sent off to deal with it. The pelvic floor physios at the clinic I go to have been so supportive.

I'm currently 7 months pp now and just starting to feel slightly better now with exercises from physio - it's been painfully slow progress for me. I used to run, weight lift and do multiple exercise classes a week prior to pregnancy and I still used to go to the gym several times a week while pregnant so I have found this slow recovery and limited exercising extremely difficult.

If you are breastfeeding as well my physio wrote to my GP asking them to prescribe vaginal oestrogen which I have found to be a pick help

My 3 vaginal births took about 3-6 weeks. My c-sections took 2 years to feel mostly normal but some of the damage was permanent. I am still fatter than pre pregnancy and my youngest is 10

Definitely consider a mummy MOT or pelvic health physio if you can afford it. I had a "mild" bladder prolapse that felt anything but mild and was repeatedly told it was normal by GPs...paid to go to a private consultant in the end.
It took me over a year to feel even nearly recovered.
Good news? I was back to the gym and doing just about everything I was pre baby, I have another little one and my recovery was night and day (I took resting VERY seriously) and I'm pregnant again ☺️

I had stitches but felt fine quite quickly. My body felt normal within a week or so.

I was out walking the dogs the next day after both my children were born. However it took about six months for the carpal tunnel to leave my wrists - I found it one of the worst parts of pregnancy so I wasn’t surprised it took a while to go

Honestly, about 2 years, but I had a traumatic labour with two lots of forceps and loads of stitches, and ended up with prolapse (front and back). The birth injuries, although loads better, will stay with me, so there's no 'fully recovered' really.

All the physios I saw (it took a lot of pelvic rehab!) told me that even uneventful labours with no intervention can take up to 9 months to fully recover from.

I'd also recommend a check up from a specialist pelvic floor physio. They can put your mind at rest.

Just wanted to say to you that it takes 18 months for your bones and organs to shift back into place after pregnancy. If you're only 7pp you'll definitely look more back to normal by 18m pp - your body isnt done changing back yet!

Thanks all for your replies. I am still struggling with postpartum haemorrhoids and what I still suspect is a prolapse. Unfortunately my doctor wasn’t very helpful and I can’t afford to visit a private doctor. Will continue with my pelvic floor exercises and hope things improve with time.

That is really interesting and I wasn’t aware of that, thank you! X

Well it's been ten years now, but I'll let you know.....