How did you feel physically in the hours after giving birth?

[summerfruitsalad]

Apart from generally feeling awesome about having just had a baby and marvelling at your little bundle, how did you feel and what happened after you had given birth?

I ask because after a 6 hour labour with second deg tear, I was stitched up then told I could go for a shower. Fantastic I thought, I'm covered in god knows what, that would be lovely! I hobbled over (sore fanjo) to the shower room then had to immediately hobble back and sat on the bed and almost passed out. Told the mw's who sat with me, lay me back down and I think I felt really awful (don't remember clearly) they took my bp then gave me oxygen to help me. I don't know what my bp was but I think it was quite low. As far as I know my blood loss was normal too.

I couldn't stand for a long time, the lovely mw's helped strip wash me with wet wipes and soap then put on a nighty and headed to postnatal. It was a long time before I could stand long enough to have a shower and when I did go I used the chair they had in there to sit on for most of it, I just felt like I was going to pass out. I was strapped to the bloody monitor throughout labour as I had high bp and was on labetalol for it so don't know what the hell my bp was up to.

Is this normal post birth? Is there something they didn't tell me? Am expecting DC2 in January and I'm a bit nervous about how it will all go, the meptid spaced me out enough as it was! TIA!

Going to put that in my birth plan next time. Screw pain relief choices. Tea and toast is more important

Really Spudulika? I think that's the noise my brain was making in the hours after birth

Mentally I felt a bit broken (had wanted homebirth, had induction, spent the first day and night pre-induction in hospital for no reason as they didn't have a room free so had had a shit night before anything even happened, synto drip and CFM so unable to get off the bed as they kept losing the trace due to dodgy leads, epidural, forceps, 3a tear, PPH and MROP and had felt the rummaging as they tried to remove it) and then DH had to leave as soon as I was on the ward (DD was about two hours old) as visiting wasn't open until later.

Physically I felt fine, just tired. Once I slept and had something to eat I felt OK. Never had any pain despite everything and the midwives were that I didn't even want paracetamol a few hours later.

Different with all of mine.

I felt on top of the world after DC4 was born. So much so, that when I asked if I could go home 2hrs after delivery the MW cheerfully said yes. First feed, getting up and showering, all that I felt indestructable and then we walked to the car and I decided I had made a terrible mistake .

I shook and wobbled all the way home and felt dreadful. But climbing into my bed was soooooo worth it.

Thank you for all your replies, it has made me feel much better about my next labour and knowing its all quite normal.

Getting more excited about meeting my new baby too

I had a similar experience to yours, after the birth and being stitched up I was taken along in a wheelchair to the shower room and the midwife helped me into the shower but I could only stand for a few seconds before feeling weak and breathless. I was so, so exhausted, I had been through a 23 hour labour with a 4 hour pushing stage and eventual forceps delivery, I think the last of the diamorphine was leaving my system by that stage. I was also throwing up constantly, I had been drinking bright blue energy drink to try to replace fluids and that wasn't attractive when it came back up, they had to give me a jag to stop the sickness. When I was taken round to the postnatal observation ward I was too exhausted to even put a nightie on, I just crawled from the wheelchair straight into the bed and slept for ages, didn't even wake up when they put a drip in my hand.

After DS1 I was very sore (stitches) but the main problem was that I became anaemic after losing a lot of blood. Even walking felt like a major effort, I was exhausted for several days. Also, the firstborn is more of a shock all round.

DD1 was EMCS, so I wasn't remotely tired or sore, but the scar was painful for a few days, particularly when I had a sneezing fit, so I was moving around gingerly for a while.

DD2 was born very quickly, so I was shaking and laughing hysterically with the shock. Physically I was able to get straight into a hot bath and went home a few hours after she was born; I felt a bit tired for a couple of days, but nothing more.

Oh the tiredness, I'd forgotten that (it was a while ago!).

Tired like I'd never felt before. Exhausted to the bone - no tiredness like it. A strange kind of exhaustion & exhilaration at the same time.

But it's worth it - a million times.