Bloodbath!

[Tissy]

I've just started my first period since dd was born

My periods used to be very light, painless and only lasted a couple of days, so I was not prepared for the deluge that occurred this am... needless to say the mattress and bedroom carpet will never be the same again!!

Do post-baby periods settle down to the way they were before, or am I going to have to stock up on industrial strength tampons and super-size towels?

Um... I'm still with Super Plus tampons and DS2 is 19 months old

I'm still hoping they'll settle down!

Poor you, Tissy! Mine are more or less back to the normal (for me) 5 days, probably a bit heavier for the first 2 days, but before ds I used to get a little warning (a few brown spots) - now it is like a tap being turned on straight to gushing!

I've had 4 periods now and it is still a bit of a bloodbath compared to the way things used to be. Have gone back on the pill, more to try and control my periods than anything else (as they were lasting 2 weeks as well), but even that hasn't lightened things up too much, but has at least confined them to just one week! Having said all that, other people I know haven't had the same experience after the first period, which is always really heavy I think, so maybe yours will calm down after this one.

Ooh, I haven't had mine yet - thanks for the warning! Could be a sticky situation if it happened at work...

Glad to know I'm not the only one who has to use the "belt & braces" approach on my heavier days.
BC (before children), I never worried about wearing light coloured trousers/skirts during my period. Now, there's no way I'll risk it.

I had a nightmare at Miami airport which involved me unpacking my luggage just before check in. Had chanced just Super plus and panty liner - BIG mistake. Didn't really want to explain to DH what the problem was either!!

Mine seem to be heavy for 3 days, then light and then, just to catch me out heavy again before stopping. Weird!

I'm at the other end of this, going into something called the peri-menopause, which I have to say I have never heard of. Apparently its the 6-10 years before the real menopause.

Looking back I think my periods after the babies were painful for some months, and increasingly so after each baby - almost as if the uterus was going through its paces again. It did get better in the sense of pain, but in general the periods were more intense but shorter. Side effects were more noticeable, especially confusion on day 2.

Just to cheer you up [ha ha], it gets worse. Last month the confusion was so intense that my dd was really worried about me - lasted badly for 2 days, and tiredness and feeling lousy for 3 weeks. Had a couple of weeks off and now my odd erratic cycle is starting all over again. I don't think I want to go through this. MAybe I should start a menopause thread for us older mumsnetters - having been a senile primagravida I can be a juvenile menopausa! Not quite so juvenile but I still feel about 25 in my head

My other problem is that I have a male boss, and we have a system of back to work interviews after any spell of sick leave. I DO NOT want to discuss this with him - in fact I dread it.

Copper, you are not obliged to discuss your intimate medical details with your boss. It may be appropriate to talk about how your "condition" may affect your work, but only in general terms. In any case, it may well be that if you make it clear that it was a "woman's problem" he may leave it at that - men are rather squeamish about such things!!

I feel embarrassed even about that!

I've just re-read my first message and it sounds that I had a couple of weeks off work. Wish I could. I actually meant a couple of weeks of feeling well.

Copper I think I'm with you on this, I still have absolutely regular periods every 26 days but they are worse than before dd2 born 5 years ago when I was 40. I also know what you mean about being brianless alongside of them. For me the first day every month is a day when I find decision-making impossible.

Yes! I thought I was the only one! Mine are heavier and more painful since having dd. BUT I've put on weight and I thought that was the explanation. Does anyone else think their weight is a contributing factor?

Sobernow
as far as I can make out, the perimenopause starts when you oestrogen levels start to decline, which can be as early as your 30s. The list of symptoms matches pretty much what I've felt over the last few years in terms of exhaustion, irritabilty, confusion etc which my doctor keeps telling me is because I've got 3 kids and a job, go away and don't waste my time.... Here is the list of symptoms - which I'm sure many of you will recognise! www.webspawner.com/users/pmssolutions/

There are lots of other websites which I haven't explored yet, but I'd love there to be a real physical explanation for how off-colour I sometimes feel.

Anybody know anything about HRT?

I've always had heavy periods on and off. It was very embarrassing when we went to a posh hotel for our wedding anniversary - first night without dd. I woke up that morning feeling uncomfortable, got out of bed and noticed to my horror a huge bloodstain on the sheet which had soaked into the mattress! I had to confess all to the Receptionist and then ask her if she had any sanitary towels on her!!!!! Dh didn't know what to do - bless him!

I can't remember what they were like after dd was born, I know I was bleeding more or less until I gave up breastfeeding, 4 months later. My advice is to get incontinence pads to wear at night. Not very sexy - but who feels sexy on a period anyway? They do a good job and mean you don't have to get up 4 or 5 times to go to the toilet - plus they save your sheets!

Meid - I'm a bit lighter than pre-pregnancy so no, I don't think it's the weight.