What should I expect AFTER birth?

[Lulu]

he he Tummy - will be sorta soft and fun to poke cos it will be wobbly. Not concave though! I'd say it will go down to 3/4 the size as soon as he is out, then it will take a few hours/days to contract your uterus back down. BFing helps sooooooo much with this! They will poke your tummy a bit too on order to check your uterus is shrinking back nicely.
OMG it feels great as soon as they are out!

Vag - depending on the circs, it may sting a bit when you wee - I spose it just feels 'sore' and tender is a good word but unless you have stitches you can sit down fine. I was right after a day or so. Shall NOT remain stretched - you know muscles have memory so will go back to usual very soon. I was back dtd after 2 weeks of my first.......and OMG it was so much better! Like I had more nerve endings down there yahooooo!

[LaDeeDa]

I was back dtd after 2 weeks of my first.......and OMG it was so much better! Like I had more nerve endings down there yahooooo!

here's hoping!!!!!


Couple of more things I just though of....

Does BF really help with weight loss? .... I have managed to find an extra 20kgs this pg (I honesty don't know where it has come from ..... actually it MIGHT have something to do with the litre of ice cream I manage to consume most nights ....LMAO)

How soon after birth - providing your feeling up to it can you exercise .... I seriously had a dream about doing sit ups the other night and it was sooooooooo good.

[Trillian]

Mmmm yes and no, some women don't find it to be the wonder cure for weight loss post baby and I've seen others shrink back smaller than they were pre pg.

As for exercise, it's hard to say , just take it easy at first and see how you go.

[hj1981]

I lost 9kgs by the time i got home from hospy - not sure whether that was due to the healthy hospy food, just having had a baby (i had only put on 5.6kgs) or breastfeeding or a combination of all!
However i couldnt breastfeed for long and in total now i have lost 10kgs - wow an extra 1kg!!!!

as with exercise - i didnt do any - was too busy - looking after a newborn is exercise enough i think! hehehe

[KimmyF]

Hi Doubledee, good on you for being so prepared!
1. i was able to fit back in to my normal jeans about a week and half after DS was born but had a muffin top for a little while, my tummy is still soft but on the way to getting firmer am still BF so need to be a bit carefu i don't over do it with exercise. I was back horseriding at 7 weeks after birth and doing a light fitness class once a week about 10 weeks after i think.

2. sorry if this is TMI, I had an episiotomy and a haematomma (sp) and had to be stitched, unstitched then restitched again, i was convinced it was never going to be normal again, i remember looking at in a mirror when i got home and bawling think i was broken for ever, this is not the case healed up fine. i was very sore for about 4 weeks after until stitched dissolved etc. My advice is after the birth if the offer panadol etc take it! You dont want to give the pain a chance to take hold! I just had to be careful how i sat etc and couldn't stand up for too long at a time.

3. I was terrified of DTD after birth we waited until after 6 week check up it wasn't painful but i was scared so we took it slow, sorry if TMI I have found that it is uncomfortable in certain positions so we stick to what is okay with me. (hope i haven't grossed you out!)

I am BF and have lost heaps of weight I am actually lighter now than i was pre-pregnancy i think, with the exercise they tell you to take it easy until after your 6 week check up but they give you exercises to do as well as pelvic floor ones. if your BF you need to take it a bit easy i think so not to interfere with your supply (i think but don't quote me)

Hope this helps good luck with at all, enjoy your birth experience xxx

[satya]

You know I didn't give it much thought either.

Tummy - mine looked quite large for a couple of days then floppy. 6.5 months on & I still have no waist. I actually think I look pregnant - maybe about 20 weeks or so. Initially though I only had 3kgs to lose 2 weeks after giving birth. I've since put on another 3kgs - all in the tummy. I have not dieted or exercised though so it's my own fault.

Vag - well I had an episiotomy & vac extraction so there was quite a bit of trauma down there. I had loads of pain from the stitches for 3 weeks then suddenly I felt fine. For about 2 weeks whenever I walked for more than 5 mins I felt like my insides were going to come out through my vag. Not a nice feeling.

DTD - we managed it 3 weeks after the birth. No problems whatsoever. My DF told me that it actually felt tighter. Mind you when I had a pap smear recently the GP had great difficulty even finding my cervix and commented on how loose all my vag muscles were so go figure.

[hj1981]

So DoubleDee - are u looking forward to the after birth experience now? hahahaha

[LaDeeDa]

lol actually i really am I can't wait to feel in control of my body again and be able to exercise ... see my vag... paint my toe nails etc

I just didn't want to have this preconception of what I was going to be like afterwards and get something completely different and be upset IYKWIM?