What happens to your body after the birth?

[Neverknowing]

Hey guys, I wanted to start a really honest thread about what it's like after giving birth. There's so many things no one tells you about pregnancy which would have been helpful to know before hand (heartburn, skin tags etc) and I'm wondering what I've not been told about what it's like after ?!

Major gas pains after section

Massive boobs (looks great don't feel great) when milk comes in

Couldn't move my legs for three days after section as had spinal block twice as it didn't work first time

Lack of sleep not due to baby but due to your own body

Piles and constipation

Weirdly my vijajay shrunk haha

waking up in pools of sweat

Major section pains when I'd forgotten what my body had been through, felt normal after about 4 weeks

Still would do it al over again for the absolute beauty you get because of all of this it's the most amazing surreal feeling ever!!! Your perspective on everything changes and makes you so much more emotional!!

Oh and my stretch marks arrived when baby was 3 months old

I don't know if this is a normal effect of birth but I get upset and a bit teary whenever I think back to my labour, and even some of the things that happened in the early weeks after dd was born.

Immediately afterwards my major issue (forceps delivery) was horrendous piles and the midwife looking after me on the ward said she couldn't see them despite my husband saying he could see them across the room. Took a few weeks for them to go and probably was my overwhelming source of pain. Bleeding was heavy for the first few days but settled fairly quickly. Had a small episiotomy which pinched occasionally and was saw but the piles were so painful it was distraction from this.

Took me a whole year to get back into 'shape'. Pre-pregnancy size and 'toned' but required a lot more effort. My tummy skin was always a bit more loose and doing exercises on all 4's I noticed just the middle bit of my tummy was always saggy despite contracting my muscles.

Boobs went back to normal accept slightly lower position due to stretching but nipples went back fairly quickly to non dinner plate size.

My biggest shock was body shape. I've always been straight up and down but despite putting so much effort into getting back into clothes my back and chest were never as petite as previous. I had seemed to become even more square after pregnancy. I had some lovely strappy tops from my early 20's that despite a reasonable weight loss which meant I was close to my uni weight didn't look the same and were a different fit.

Pregnant with number two and I know already I've stretched that little more. I've given myself the same year to lose the weight!

Oh and yes to hair loss at 4 months. I have thick hair and although it didn't change it's appearance (maybe a little around the front) I'd have clumps on brushing and after washing coming out. I'd get hair cut before this happens as it was pretty embarrassing when the hairdresser had to stop every few
Mins whilst washing your hair to peel wet hair of his own hands.

My body was better than pre-pregnancy. My shape did change but my waist returned to the same size it was before. The post birth jelly belly is weird. I think the midwife lost her hold hand in there when palpating my uterus. You have a day when you can't stop crying (hormone release causes this) about 3/4 days after. You might find you get pains in your hips if you deliver vaginally - I couldn't walk properly until my hips started to move back into their pre birth position. You will feel like superwoman for the first 48 hours and you must try not to over do it because the following crash can be a bit of a downer.

Constipation, oh god the constipation. My piles were horrific. I remember kneeling on the floor to feed DS because I couldn't sit down, and wailing while I was at it. Get lactulose! You can even get it over the counter.

I had a 2nd degree tear which took a couple of months to heal (constipation didn't help - LACTULOSE) and when DH and I could finally have sex again I got a bit weepy afterwards because I'd genuinely thought I was never going to heal.

10 months later I'm back to the same size as before but with a bit of a saggy tummy. But that is doing no exercise beyond normal running about after a baby and walking every day (off road and about 3 miles, to be fair).

I'm 16 weeks pp and my hair is currently falling in handfuls. Good job I have loads of it but it is all over the house, clogging up the drains, getting stuck in the Hoover. It's a pain.

I had a second degree tear and drank lots of water so my wee was really dilute so it didn't actually sting when I went to the loo. First time I pooed was a bloody relief since I never get constipated, I just sat and let it come naturally and whilst it sting a bit it wasn't too bad.

For a while I had a dragging sensation down below when I was walking and now it still feels heavy if I'm on my feet for a long time.

The worst thing for me is that whilst I didn't gain a single pound whilst pregnant (already quite big before) I have since gained nearly a stone after my appetite came back with a vengeance.

Swollen ankles, didn't expect that! Also physically couldn't walk at normal speed for a week or so afterwards. DD (full term) was in a neo natal unit for weeks following surgery and I made a twice daily pilgrimage to the hospital to see her. No matter how much I tried it took forever to walk down the long corridor to the unit!

I tend to swell up after giving birth. My feet and legs were massive. Midwives said it was water retention and would go. I was told to sit with my feet elevated to hip level.

Pour warm water from a small jug when you pee post partum it helps as it does sting when you pee after.

after I finished breast feeding my boobs deflated and looked like sad spaniel ears (to my horror), they took about a year after completely stopping breast feeding to return to their normal fullness and shape.

It is very variable though. I found birth fairly easy, the day after I was able to do a big weekly shop at Tesco, sex after 10 days. Back into size 10 jeans within a week. My sexual enjoyment went through the roof after having my first child and has stayed with me. My body seems the same as it was before pregnancy, and 7 years of breastfeeding ( not just one child!!)

After DC1 I got back to shape within a readibcabke timeframe and without an enormous effort in my part.

DC2 however...is taking rather longer!

My boobs got to an E cup whilst BFing first time, they are a HH cup this time and I've really struggled to come to terms with this new shape of mine.

The first poo after my c-section hurt worse than the actual scar!

Milk sweats and my milk coming in were the pits! I ended up sleeping on towels. Luckily, my boobs managed to sort themselves out fairly sharpish, so a few weeks later they weren't as painful etc.

My pp hairloss has just stopped recently at 27 weeks pp! I used to have huge handfuls of hair that I could pull out several times a day!

DrWhy, running five weeks post partum aren't you worried about your pelvic floor?? Lower impact exercise would be much better.

Post birth I couldn't stand up properly as I'd been pushing for two hours. My bits felt numb and I had to wee while pouring warm water over my bits otherwise it stung. The first poo was horrific.

My stomach felt so weird but I was back in my normal clothes within a couple of weeks although preferred comfy track suits 😬

Breastfeeding was painful until I got help with it.

After my second I ended up with a heamotoma (basically large blood clot under my skin) on my leg - noticed it just after I gave birth. I had to inject myself with anti-coagulant for a week which was weird.

I remember not wanting to let my baby's out of sight for a while. Even sleeping with ds in the cot felt too faraway (I co slept the second time around).

The after pains are worse than labour.. had none with ds but with dd they were horrific

I had a tear and couldn't sit down properly for ages, when I had an episiotomy it wasn't that bad!

Your boobs look like they've been inflated with a bicycle pump on day 4

Saggy stomach

Post birth poo was ok for me.. drank a tonne of water and seemed to help

But as pp said it's all worth it

Oh and for a while my bits felt so heavy I thought they might fall out

Planned C-section.
Bruised stomach between belly button and bikini line (it was definitely the bruising and not the incision or stitches that was sore for me).

No painful wind or gas issues - the no food rule pre-op helped with that.

Cold and shivery as epidural wears off.
Afterwards, the feeling of being too hot/over-heating.

Hunger, and extreme thirst.

Stomach big but squelchy I missed my smooth bump.

First few days post-op you may feel your insides will fall out as you slowly attempt to turn over in bed. They wont but the sensation is still weird.

Your milk comes in and although you read about it, it may come as a complete and utter shock even for those with ample breasts to begin with.

Emotions, like all over the place.

Tiredness.

You may have a firm ridge on incision line years after it heals.

The slight and soft down on your face from pregnancy may remain.

Go gentle on yourself

I was throwing up most of the way through labour and emcs. That was nice.

The heartburn, back problems and joint pain I had vanished immediately after delivery.

I have no stretch marks but have red freckles all over my stomach.

Everything else back to normal.

If you have bad wind after the birth don't take peppermint tea or oil if you are breastfeeding as peppermint dries up your milk. Hot water can help too.

You're emotions may go a bit up and down for a while. I'm not usually a crier but was quite weepy after.

You're hair might fall out, mine did by the handful!

The feeling the first time you stand up after giving birth is vile. I felt like my organs were heavy and drooping. I was discharged 6 hours after giving birth and it took me ages to walk to the car.

BF pillows are fab to sit on for a couple of weeks. I didn't come out too badly down there considering my DS was 10.6lbs but I still had a tear and stitches.

The stitching up was actually worse than the birth. It's the only pain I can vividly remember.

Really Scotmum? I never had a problem with supply and I drank gallons of peppermint tea in the first few weeks. Good to know for the future though.

Yes, breastfeeding counsultant suggested it when I stopped as one of boobs became really engorged and painful, worked really quickly too. I suppose if you have a really good supply it might not make a difference but it definitely dried me up. I didn't know either until I wanted to stop but will be avoiding this time round just encase.

Everyone is different. I gave birtb 6 weeks ago all natural with 3 stitches and a graze. As you said you've always had a relatively flat stomach you may be like me. I came home from the hospital the following morning in my size 8 jeans so the bump was gone. My stomach still feels empty as i need to rebuild the muscle work tò fet rid of the mum tum.
Reading some of these posts i see how lucky i was. My bleeding was ok, my stitches uncomfortable but not unbearable and my boobs were only sore for a day or 2. Extremely sore though i might add.
I had a weird thing though wjetr every single time i drifted off i felt like j was having a contraction, they must have mentally scarred me. I also could not stop thinking about my labour for weeks like constantly. I think my body was a little in shock.
I hope all goes well for you and congrats to all the other ladies who has got through it and unfortunately had to suffer.

Femnel tea is better than peppermint for trapped wind anyway. My mum had it post hysterectomy and we've all sworn by it for wind since. I drank it pre and post csection and had no trapped wind at all (kept doing weird little burps though), whilst one poor woman on the ward was wailing with the pain of her trapped wind.

For me, it was a shock that I was so debilitated after my csection. I was in a wheelchair with SPD, so I don't know what I was expecting really! I was able to shuffle about with crutches after the birth, but it took a good two months to relearn how to walk without them.