Some qu re: bleeding, fertility, SPD after birth

1) Leo was born 4 weeks ago. I bled for just under 3 weeks non-stop, then it was stop, start for a few days. Nothing for the last 3-4 days. I did notice watery CM in the last couple of days and today, just out of curiosity, discovered full ferning on my Maybe Baby today. Is it possible I am fertile again already? (for those that don't know, Leo died just after birth and so I'm not breastfeeding). I'm just curious, we're not going to TTC yet..

2) I had severe SPD during pregnancy (on crutches). Things got a little more stretched during birth but it seems to be slowly clearing up. How long did it take for others with SPD for it to clear up? When did you start exercising or DTD? I haven't done any exercise yet and really need to do something.

3) I'm constantly hungry. Is this normal for post-partum women who aren't breastfeeding? Taking into account that I don't have a baby to look after. I'm just wondering if it's normal or if it's possibly part of grief. I don't want to stack on the weight - I weigh less than I did pre-pregnancy.

4) DH has mentioned my body odour has changed - it seems "chemical" to him. I can't smell anything. Just curious as to if this has happened with others? I'm figuring it may be the hormonal changes.

TIA

The bleeding sounds normal to me. some women can bleed for a while after giving birth and because you aren't BF then your uterus doesn't have that to help it contract back down to size :hug: It is possible that you are getting the fern because you still have hormones affecting things. Some people use them as HPT's don't they? If they do, then it would be picking up on the pg hormones left over.

I don't have any experience with SPD sorry. And I can't remember if I was really hungry or not.

Hi Tash :hug:

It's possible you are becoming fertile again. It's not uncommon for women to conceive in the first 6 weeks after giving birth!

My SPD wasn't as severe as yours but it did ease up quickly after birth. I found though that I had troubles about 3 months after, especially in the front and in one side at the back. It could have been postural but with things like lifting the washing basket it was obvious that problem was SPD still. I found pilates helped strengthen the core muscles and my bounce back time was shorter if I did something that hurt me.

Not sure about the hungries but as your body is still healing, perhaps it is to do with that.

My body odour changed post partum too. I tend to get BO too :redface:

HTH :)

Thanks ladies. I guess I'm just trying to see if everthing is normal or not. At my last MW check, she seemed happy with the uterus contraction (was down to 14wks about 3 days after birth) but I haven't asked her about the fertility thing, as we're not going to do anything about it yet. She's convinced my body was made to breed, so it could be a return to fertility already :o Excuse if this is TMI, but the libido seems to have returned in a big way too, which is always a fertile sign for me.... just too nervous to do anything about it yet.

Trillian - I figured it could still be pregnancy related. No idea about the estrogen levels during pregnancy. After last year's m/c I was getting +ve HPT's for weeks, including after ovulation, so I'm not going to waste an OPK. It was just weird to get full ferning already.

Sam - good to know I'm not the only one with a different odour. I'm looking at starting pilates again soon.

Hi Tashybabe

my SPD was much improved within days of birth, but not completely better for a few months. 2 and a half years later it is gone apart from the occasional twinge. It's usually best not to exercise (other than walking) for about 6 weeks post birth, but if you do decide to exercise before this point then try to stay away from anything high impact or jumpy, and stick to things like the treadmill and exercise bike. Also let you instructor or a personal trainer know you have recently given birth so they can guide you as to what is safe.