I recently stumbled upon a photographic documentary called "The 4th Trimester Bodies Project" focusing on women's bodies postpartum, and the extraordinary changes they go through.
This made me want to share my personal thoughts and brutal truths on these changes, especially since, almost 3 months after giving birth, I am still dealing with some "postpartum" body issues.
This made me want to share my personal thoughts and brutal truths on these changes, especially since, almost 3 months after giving birth, I am still dealing with some "postpartum" body issues.
Weight Gain: The recommended weight gain for women during pregnancy is 25-35 pounds if your starting weight is considered normal. If you gain a little less or a little more, it is perfectly fine as long as it isn't anything too drastic as you could be putting your baby (and you) at risk for problems. I, of course, fell in the "gained a little more" category. As a result, 3 months later, I still have about 10-15 pounds to go. Nursing has helped tremendously, and once I can start exercising again (see below) I am sure I will be able to shed off those last pounds. What surprised me about the weight loss is how little I lost right away. I wasn't expecting to be back to normal that soon by any means, but I was shocked to see the scale reveal that I had only lost about 8 pounds a day or two after getting home (Silas weighed 8lbs 11oz). What about all those amniotic fluids? The placenta? I realized that they pumped me so full of fluids during labor and delivery, that it was showing on the scale. My weight slowly went down in the next several weeks, and after about 6 weeks I had lost 25 pounds. I have plateaued at my current weight and I am sure I will be stuck here until I get my body active. In all honesty though, if you breastfeed, exercise, and don't eat too unhealthy, the weight should not be that hard to lose (the loose flabby belly skin however, may take some extra time and effort).
Stretch marks: I was very diligent about the applying of the cocoa butter on the belly during pregnancy (not really sure if this actually works or not, but it doesn't hurt to try). For the first 8 months I was ALMOST stretch mark free besides a few in the hip areas. I pretty much thought I was clear of those wicked front-of the-belly stretch marks that I see so often on women after being pregnant.... I thought I was one of the lucky ones. I also thought that at a little over 8 months in, my belly was already stretched out as far as it was going to stretch and wouldn't (or couldn't) get much bigger than it was. Apparently I was wrong, as those devilish little marks slowly made their appearance in the last several weeks of my pregnancy. And now will be my forever "stripes and scars".
The other stuff: so there is the bleeding, the pain, the actual physical recovery (whether a vaginal birth or cesarean) that also is part of the postpartum life. I hope Silas has lots of brains in that big head of his because he sure did a number on me coming out (and I am grateful the epidural was in full force at this time (and I of course love him dearly despite what he did to me)). Recovering from a third degree perineal tear has taken longer than I had hoped, and I am still dealing with some issues related to the healing, which in turn is preventing me from being too physically active.
On my 6 week check up, my doctor said everything looked good and my tear was healing great. I was still having pain here and there, but I knew my body went through a lot and it would take time to get back to normal. The following week the pain seemed to get worse, and not better. At 9 weeks postpartum I decided to call the doctor and have him take another look to see if he could figure out why I was still having pain, but he didn't see anything too out of the ordinary, and decided that if in 4 weeks I was still experiencing pain, to let him know and I may need pelvic floor therapy. But as much as I wanted to, I couldn't wait that long. The following week I could be found most evenings in fetal position on the couch, curled up in a ball of pain, something just didn't seem right.... so I called again. It was a Friday and my doctor was not in so I saw a physicians assistant as well as another OBGYN that was available. What they discovered seemed to be a fairly large blood blister that the physicians assistant accidentally popped when inserting the speculum (which was probably a good thing). I was hoping that was the culprit of my pain... which obviously didn't seem better right away considering I just had a huge blister popped, but the pain did seem to improve a couple days before my one week follow-up. I saw the same two women again, and I thought for sure they would say it looks better, just give it some more time, and you should be feeling great again. Not the case... they still saw something they called "granulation tissue" that needed attention, BUT they wanted to talk to my regular doctor to discuss my options with him, and they would get back to me the following week after talking with him. Well, of course they never did, so I finally called. Seriously such an ordeal dealing with this, but I met with MY doctor AGAIN, just so he could see what they saw, and finally getting somewhere. I have a procedure scheduled for later this month to go under and get a "revisional laceration" done. And then, I have to start ALL OVER again as far as recovery goes.... so bummed, but if it takes away the pain it will be so worth it! I will get back to normal again... eventually... and maybe by that time I will be pregnant again and the whole process starts over ;) stay tuned.
If you want a rundown of not so pleasant details
On my 6 week check up, my doctor said everything looked good and my tear was healing great. I was still having pain here and there, but I knew my body went through a lot and it would take time to get back to normal. The following week the pain seemed to get worse, and not better. At 9 weeks postpartum I decided to call the doctor and have him take another look to see if he could figure out why I was still having pain, but he didn't see anything too out of the ordinary, and decided that if in 4 weeks I was still experiencing pain, to let him know and I may need pelvic floor therapy. But as much as I wanted to, I couldn't wait that long. The following week I could be found most evenings in fetal position on the couch, curled up in a ball of pain, something just didn't seem right.... so I called again. It was a Friday and my doctor was not in so I saw a physicians assistant as well as another OBGYN that was available. What they discovered seemed to be a fairly large blood blister that the physicians assistant accidentally popped when inserting the speculum (which was probably a good thing). I was hoping that was the culprit of my pain... which obviously didn't seem better right away considering I just had a huge blister popped, but the pain did seem to improve a couple days before my one week follow-up. I saw the same two women again, and I thought for sure they would say it looks better, just give it some more time, and you should be feeling great again. Not the case... they still saw something they called "granulation tissue" that needed attention, BUT they wanted to talk to my regular doctor to discuss my options with him, and they would get back to me the following week after talking with him. Well, of course they never did, so I finally called. Seriously such an ordeal dealing with this, but I met with MY doctor AGAIN, just so he could see what they saw, and finally getting somewhere. I have a procedure scheduled for later this month to go under and get a "revisional laceration" done. And then, I have to start ALL OVER again as far as recovery goes.... so bummed, but if it takes away the pain it will be so worth it! I will get back to normal again... eventually... and maybe by that time I will be pregnant again and the whole process starts over ;) stay tuned.
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