Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Please or to access all these features

Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

When does body feel normal again?

49 replies

Puppie · 28/08/2007 20:26

Okay I know things will never be 'normal' again (this is my first baby) ....but when do the aches and pains and general physical rottenness go away after birth? Feel like I cant relax and look forward to meeting my baby as at any one time I seem to be suffering from about 10 unpleasant symptoms. (sorry for rant)

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Puppie · 28/08/2007 20:26

am 36 wks!

OP posts:
whomovedmychocolate · 28/08/2007 20:29

Oh dear, I remember that feeling well.

Well 10 days after the birth you are generally feeling better, the bloating will have gone, you may well have piles the size of vegas but now at least you can get super duper drugs to treat them. You will also be physically a lot lighter.

If you don't have a caesarian you should be mostly physically recovered.

However you will be shagged out from lack of sleep and this continues for about a year (I'm at 10 months and I never knew I could survive on so little sleep!)

BTW you forget all of this when you meet your baby - well for a bit at least and YOU CAN SEE YOUR FEET AGAIN!!!!

tutu100 · 28/08/2007 20:29

Some things go away immediatly after birth but unfortunately tend to be replaced with other complaints

FioFio · 28/08/2007 20:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

whomovedmychocolate · 28/08/2007 20:32

Oh and I forgot to say, you get to a point, normally about nine months post partum when things are started to even out and you feel much better and you find yourself saying:

'a little brother or sister would be nice wouldn't it?'

Puppie · 28/08/2007 20:35

Lol FioFio! Yep i am hoping that I will be so overwhelmed with meeting the little one that any lingering aches will pale in comparison ! Urgh was kinda hoping the water retention would magically wash out when my waters break

OP posts:
pistachio · 28/08/2007 20:35

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Puppie · 28/08/2007 20:37

Oh God whomovedmychocolate the thought of another one at the moment is INCONCEIVABLE!! ) pardon the pun

OP posts:
ScottishMummy · 28/08/2007 20:37

honestly, for me 11 or 12 months before i felt myself again, but everyone different

pistachio · 28/08/2007 20:38

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

deaconblue · 28/08/2007 20:40

ds is 16 months and my back still feels like its on fire when I lay down in bed each night. My boobs are (I fear) beyond hope and my belly is still wobbly. BUT I don't care and ds is such fun

Puppie · 28/08/2007 20:45

shoppingbagsundereyes I think at this point I dont care if my boobs hang by knees or have a saggy tummy as long as it doesnt HURT like everything seems to be hurting at the moment I just want to be ache free!

OP posts:
Gemy · 28/08/2007 21:02

It was about 3 months before I started to be able to say "phew, I feel like things are getting back to normal" like my boobs and my body (down below; after the initial discomfort, my stitches healed very neatly) and DD had started to sleep through til 6am.

At 6 months after I went back to work and felt alot more normal after this. DD sleeping through every night....solids introduced.

At 9 months Most of by baby weight was gone and I'd started buying nice clothes again (and that bit made a big difference to me!) DD crawling around and being beautiful)

at 12 months my body was 100% back to normal down below, boobs and flat stomach (though it will always be soft and squishy) DD turning into a gorgeous little girl.

And when DD was 1 I found out I was pregnant again (so I'll be experiencing it all again this christmas!)

skidaddle · 28/08/2007 22:04

puppie, sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I have to warn you that the first week or two (or more like six for me but I had a really bad tear) were MUCH worse physically that any part of pregnancy. For me at least it was really really sore and I couldn't believe that no-one had told me how much it hurts after birth as well as during!!! However, once you are healed up and your milk supply has calmed down and your nipples have stopped bleeding, you will only have sleep deprivation to complain about plus of course and hence why I am pregnant AGAIN you will have a beautiful little baby

cupcake78 · 28/08/2007 22:30

Oh no

I was praying that the birth would be like a big sigh of relief!! except for the going to the loo problems I have been warned about.

Puppie I know how you feel. I am sure I am beginning to fall apart at the seams - it just seems to be one thing after another at the moment.

I have been willing labour to start for ages but all I seem to be getting are more symptoms. Most of which seem to get more embarrassing as time goes by.

Twinklemegan · 28/08/2007 22:32

If you're suffering with heartburn then that disappears IMMEDIATELY after the birth which was bliss for me.

kathryn77 · 28/08/2007 22:43

Yes heart burn went automatically! Literally, i had it all the way through labour, then it went!

The ahces and pains seem less important as you have little one to focus on! Its all worth it..

TheYoungVisiter · 28/08/2007 22:51

If it's any comfort I think 36 weeks was the worst for me - the baby dropped shortly after that and the heart-burn and aching ribs got slightly better.

Post-birth I was on a weird ecstasy-type high (entirely natural I hasten to add - only had gas and air in the delivery so I don't think I can blame that) so felt truly marvellous for about a week, in spite of various nether-discomforts.

MrsThierryHenry · 28/08/2007 23:14

I had the post-birth high, too! I had a bad tear and believe it or not was singing as they wheeled me into theatre!

Bless you, Puppie, you poor thing. I do hope you start to feel normal sooner than you expect, but my advice is to be kind to yourself, both emotionally and physically. You can't predict how your body will respond to birth, and the experience may or may not leave you with a slow healing process. Just take it easy, look after yourself whenever you can, eat nice food (cook and freeze food before the birth - believe me this will save your life!! Then when your frozen store is emptied, just cook in bulk and repeat meals during the week).

Ask your partner to buy you a surprise treat once a week. Get lots of funny videos so you can laugh and relax (once you get time to watch TV!). Buy yourself an expensive body scrub and matching rich moisturiser (oh my word this was one of the nicest things I did post-birth). After 6 weeks do some post-natal pilates to help you start getting your body back in order.

Also when you're in hospital, if you're given any advice at all, ask the medics to write it down at the time they're talking to you as you prob won't remember it all. Also do ask 'why' they're telling you to do those things, as you'll understand better and will be more likely to follow their guidelines.

Oh, and when you've given birth, make sure you take a bottle of warm water in to the loo for your first wee - pour it down yourself as you go, otherwise it stings like hell!

If you have stitches, avoid long baths as it can interfere with healing.

If you breastfeed, you may be lucky and find that the weight melts off...but quite a lot of us find that our bodies retain the weight until we stop BFing. If you're in the second group, try to accept that things will happen for your body, but just slowly and gently. Then enjoy yourself again.

Oh, and if you BF and find that it hurts, contact either La Leche League or the NCT or a trained hospital BFing counsellor (though I think the first two groups are generally better). Many midwives sadly do not know what they're talking about when they offer BFing support, and in my opinion should not dish out advice on this matter. It's all the better if you have the BF counsellor's details before you give birth as you can just give them a call there and then.

And finally spend as much time as you can just relaxing and adoring your gorgeous baby (actually, nobody needs to be told to do that!).

Hmmm...not quite what you asked for, was that?!!

Good luck and have fun!!

rubles · 29/08/2007 06:47

Well my experience was that the pregnancy hip aches/back aches/heartburn and swelling did all go either immediately or in the first few days after the birth. I sweated loads in the first week and lost a pound a day through that.
It was wonderful to lie comfortably on my back. However, all these things were replaced by other discomforts in the nether region and nipples, and I was unable to take advantage of the lying on my back luxury for any significant amount of time because obviously at that point I had a new baby.

Celery · 29/08/2007 07:11

It varies very much from pregnancy to pregnancy too. After baby number one I felt okay ( apart from the exhaustion and shock of being a mum ) straight away, despite having an episiotomy. I wasn't in any physical discomfort. After baby number two, I had a graze on my labia which was excruciating for a week, and was okay apart from that. After baby number three, I was a physical wreck for about 5 or 6 weeks. Obviously I knew exactly what I was doing regarding the baby and feeding this time, and the birth had been straight forward, but I was just aches and pains and pulled tummy muscles and sore bits for ages and ages. I guess after three pregnancies my body was telling me enough is enough! I took my eldest into school when baby was 10 days old and fainted in the playground ( wasn't carrying baby at the time! )

twinkle5 · 29/08/2007 11:37

I felt terrible at 36 weeks, various aches and pains, and constant heartburn. I can honestly say that I felt much better almost immediately after ds was born and that is dspite having a bad tear. Get the number of a BF counsellor ready though! 12 weeks on and I feel great, just the last half a stone to go....

foxybrown · 29/08/2007 11:46

Many of the pg problems disappear after the birth - but are replaced by a whole load of other woes! I traded my varicous veins for piles, my backache for cracked nipples - I'm going to stop now before I put you off completely!

Oh but she is worth the pain! They all are. Good luck

Mumpbump · 29/08/2007 11:49

Depends on what you mean by normal. Assuming you don't have a c-section, a week or two will probably see you feeling much better physically, but suffering from sleep deprivation. Takes several weeks iirc to lose the saggy tummy and I would have thought 6 months or so to really get your old bod back. I think you carry extra weight until you stop bf so that might affect how long it takes and my breasts were smaller after bf - which was fine by me as I was very well endowed anyway...

Jojay · 29/08/2007 12:08

Puppie, In the last few weeks before I gave birth I ached all over, esp. in my back. i couldn't get comfy anywhere, esp. not in bed, and I had horrible twitchy legs that drove me MAD.

Once I gave birth, all these things stopped, like the flicking of a switch.

They were replaced by other things - soreness from stitches, sore nipples etc etc, but IME these were a lot easier to deal with, and more short lived.

And anyway, you have your gorgeous baby by that point, who reminds you constantly that it's all worth it.

The last few weeks of pregnancy are grim. You wait and wait and ache and huff and puff, but when your lo arrives , it's all put into perspective.

Best of luck for the arrival of your lo.