Labour & lady garden

[emma94]

Hi lovely ladies!
I just wanted to know what happens to your bump straight after birth and within a couple of months after that? Also down there…does the labia stretch out and stay like that? I guess I just wanna know if it is significantly different or not afterwards.
Thanks,
Emma x

@squarecorners

I was strongly advised to have my emc just before a shift change! With hindsight I would have ended up having one anyway (based on what the surgeon found during the emc) but they didn't know that before the emc - they just wanted me out the way.

fishdogs yes I thought that too!

My vag still looks like war zone I hate it and really try to avoid looking at it/ touching it. It doesn't look or feel like me. It's really affected my self confidence and my sex life.

My friend says hers has never gone back to normal either and it just looks like the 'doors are always open'.

Had two big babies vaginally several years ago (2 years apart). Bumps went down after a couple of weeks. Could feel things 'shrinking' in there every time I breastfed. Was left with some crepey tummy skin which has never gone. No stretchmarks. Lost extra baby weight through breastfeeding so was back to normal after a few months. In terms of down below, was a no go zone for several weeks but generally ok after that. In terms of long term impact, inner labia tore a bit so now have a bit of skin 'missing' there but not a problem and DH didn't even notice. Didn't have any stitching. Internally - has never been quite the same if I'm honest in terms of 'ability to clench'! DH claims to not notice any difference. I do if I need to sneeze or cough with a full bladder! I probably just need to do more pelvic floor excercises. MW said you need to do them "every day, forever" which I don't!

Same as pp my bump deflated, I also made the mistake of looking down there when I was having a shower after the birth - was not a good sight, 3 and half months post partum and everything's back to normal except I've got a little belly and hips are a lot wider

Just remember to do pelvic floors! Mine are a mess now but all else went back to normal pretty quickly.

My waistline/bump has gone down each time pretty quickly, but I'm bloody convinced that my shoulders and rib cage are wider!

Get some stretchy trousers or leggings - maternity clothes will quickly be too big, but your own clothes won’t fit either for a couple of weeks, maybe more.

@floriad
Please check this out:
Breastfeeding and périnatal mental health
There is some really useful information about breastfeeding, mental health and medication. There is also a helpline you can call if you have questions.
What is your midwife saying exactly? I think your therapist is spot on so if your midwife is saying the opposite I’d be inclined to nod, smile and ignore...

Did anyone else see this in trending and think it was a post about the Labour party alienating female voters because of its stance on Trans issues?

I lost my bump straight away. I could have worn my pre pregnancy jeans almost straight away (I didn't because they were skinny jeans mostly and I wanted to be comfy), but I wore them a month later.

I had a section so can’t vouch for the lady garden.

My tummy was like a deflated balloon. Still big but probably about 4 months pregnant as opposed to nine! It felt squishy and tender but in all honesty it went down pretty well and I could get back into pre pregnancy jeans in about six weeks or so. I didn’t try before that as I was too tender. What I will say is that a little time after that when everything rearranged itself inside I was thicker round the middle. I had a very flat tummy for a while but think that was because internal organs and such hadn’t rearranged themselves!

My ribs felt wider but have come down again.

It wasn’t anywhere near what I thought it would be and actually things do settle quite quickly - at least they did in my experience. I have c section canyon as I call it where my scar is and my tummy does stick out there. It doesn’t hang down like it did at first as it’s pulled up somewhat. I have spare skin and stretch marks but I don’t look at it sadly. It’s here because it grew our happy and healthy son 😊

Had a very wibbly squidgy big belly after the birth (confy for a baby to lie on!). And looked like I had giant gonads/been kicked by a horse in the fanny. However fanny went back to normal after about 3 weeks and my stomach was flat after 9 months.

Am I the only one who has never actually looked closely at their labia?! Mine are 4 and 2 and i have never got a mirror and looked. Sex etc feels the same though.
My bump went down completely within a week. In fact it was pretty much gone straight after the birth. I don’t tend to retain water though so that might be a factor.
Still carrying a stone of excess weight 2.5 years on though.

Bump went back quickly with first 2, went full term with third and it took about 2 months for the 'chub' to go and is still a bit untoned now 3 months later but not bad.
Down there, first 2 were prem so was straight back to normal, and third I had 4 stitches but within 2 weeks was back to normal (though at first it looked bad, so don't panic it doesn't stay like that!)