What was your body like straight after birth?

[Jaycee]

Hi everyone

I guess I'm just wondering what to expect my body to be like straight after the birth. I know I'm going to be exhausted, bleeding, all the things like that, but what did your body physically look like?
You see all these tv shows where the mother has given birth and 2 hours later her tummy's all flat again... obviously I know this is not the case, but just wondering what happens? Is it all saggy etc? What did you feel like?
I'm sorry if this seems like a stupid question, I feel silly asking it!!

[Spring Angel]

Not a silly question at all....No one prepared me for how much bleeding there was, I was a bit freaked out at first, especially when you get out of bed and there is a puddle (lol) I wish someone had warned me it was normal.

The other thing is your belly looks like a big deflated ballon for a while. It feels soft and pudgy and jiggles. If you have stretch marks they also look totally different and much closer together. If you are B/F you might find you are thirsty all the time and labour is exhausting so you might have a crazy hunger.

Oh and lets save the best for last, your vagina will most likely be swolen, you might have stitches and it feels stretched and for me numb. But it does go back so don't stress.

It all sounds very glamorous I know, but trust me, at the time you will just be so focused on your bub you most likely won't notice anything going on with you.

HTH
Spring

[Ambah]

Ummm... my tummy looked like a deflated balloon, or cake even... all dimply and squishy... and I still looked about 5 months pregnant for many weeks. I hadn't thought about it beforehand, or realised thats what would happen, so it was sort of dissapointing when heading out to the shops to buy new clothes - I remember being in tears!
But otherwise its not something you will probably focus on very much straight after the birth anyway, as your new baby will be much more interesting
Thinks will go back to normal in their own good time (or close to normal anyway!)

[Antheia]

Well for me it took about a week or so for my tummy not to look pregnant anymore. I looked about 6mths preg until my uterus was back to it's normal size. The skin is saggy because its been stretched a lot and hasnt had time to tone up yet.

[Trish]

Sorry hun, you won't look like the movies. Your belly is like a big saggy empty sack. LOL. It just hangs there, looking disgusting. But the good news is that it does go back pretty fast. Perhaps not as tight as it was, that part takes time, and a fair bit of it.

[Enchanted]

*Snap* with what the other girls have said. My feet swelled up sooo much after I had Oscar so be prepared for that too! They went down within the first week though. Be prepared to look like you have just had breast implants when your milk comes in, it doesn't last for too long though when you get into a feeding habit (if u are bfing) and if you don't bf they will go down soon enough.

As the others have said.... you wont even care or really pay any attention to your body as bubs will be taking up all your time.... you WILL just sit and stare in awe!

[Artechim]

I forgot about the feet swelling - worse after birth than when I was pregnant. Jelly belly was gross for a few weeks, now still a bit jiggly but probably no worse than pre-pregnancy.
Big golf ball sized clots every time I went to the loo, TMI but sometimes when I pulled my undies down a huge one would slide off the pad onto the floor. Yuck.
Cramps in you tummy when you bf. Apparently the hormones when feeding help shrink the uterus, it hurts.

[C~Q]

Yep all the above lol! Don't do what I did and take pre-preg clothes into hospital with you - I ended up going home, in tears, in my pyjamis!

Your belly goes really strange. I remember prodding mine and I couldn't get over how soft it was! What else...Like Oshani said - huge boobs! My eyes went all puffy but I think that was from lack of sleep so keep some cucumber or an eye mask in the fridge.

Good luck with everything!

[~breeze~]

I agree with the wobbly belly, mine was jiggly too but you have to expect that as you have been carrying a baby in there for 9 months. No-body will even notice because they'll all be looking at your gorgeous new bub anyway!

My vagina was sooooo swollen (at least it felt like it was!) & I had stitches too. I was scared to "push" for any reason when sitting on the toilet. I think that lasted about 2 weeks?? Could have been a little less or a little more but it does pass soon enough.

I was hugely suprised & very happy that I went straight back into my pre-baby clothes the day after DD was born so you dont have to be a movie star to have it happen, just lucky I guess. Don't rule it out as you may be pleasantly surprised too. I did have the "baby belly" underneath of course haha.

Just remember there is absolutely nothing wrong with having a "baby belly" it's something you should be proud of, not everyone can carry their own baby so its something we should all appreciate (& I'm sure all of us here at BB do)

Everything will be back to normal in no time because you'll find time will fly with your little one & you'll wake up one day & think where did my baby belly go?? Hey I can go to the toilet without feeling like everything might "fall out" (how I felt) etc

I hope this has helped & made some sense!! I agree there are alot of things that people dont tell you about PG & having a baby which is why this site is so fantastic! Everyone is so helpful

Good luck for when your time comes, I hope its as short & pain free as possible.

[Feathertop]

Soft tummy looking 5 months gone, but shrank 80% really fast. I was swollen plus even my arms and thighs, feet were awful. Boobs were impressive! They took attention away from the tummy!! I had a c section so had those staples and scar but it healed really well. I have no stretch marksbut have some spare loose skin now.

The leakiness was what I didn't like, boobs and bits, for weeks.

[Trillian]

Ditto to everything that's already been mentioned for me. Even now Alister is 7wks old I still have a tummy, but the worse thing is there is a little bit of overhang now too that I never got with the other three - I carried him quite low and I think that's what the difference is. I'm another one who still can't quite fit into pre-pg clothes again and that's a bit depressing, but after my first bub I never took pre-pg clothes to hospital, just mat ones because 1 it saves you going home depressed that they don't fit and 2, your DH doesn't have to rush home to find you something that will fit.

Another thing was my skin looked terrible! all over I was so dry and my face was yuck, so take a good moisturiser for your body/face.

[~Raven~]

Saggy of the tum and puffy of the face and ankles.

My tummy looked like a deflated balloon. It's alright now though. Reasonably flat besides the loose skin

[{sarah}]

I looked about 5 weeks pregnant but it wasn't hard like in pregnancy, just soft & spongy EEWW!

I also swelled up ALOT in my legs. So much so that the pant I wore before going into the hospital wouldn't get up past my knees. M entire legs were swollen & stayed that way for about three days then went down over the next two weeks. That said, I'm not sure if that was to do with the emergency c/s or if it's normal.

[Ashlee]

Yep flubby tummy here, but I had my pre preg tummy back within about a month. I only put on 7kg in total and had 3-4L of fluid and 2.8kg baby so not much was weight. I went 4 weeks early too, so didn't really have the time to pack on weight at the end.

[~Raven~]

Sarah did you have a GA with the emergency CS? I was puffiest after Angies birth and I had a GA for MROP. I'm certain that it contributed to my puffiness.

[{sarah}]

Nup I already had an epi in so that was just topped up.

[meegm]

I had emergency C/S my tummy looked yep like a deflated balloon I still have a bit of a pot belly 5 month on....

I remember when the Doctor pressed my tummy to feel my uterus etc and her hand almost got swollowed up it was so grose...

[~Raven~]

Oh well was just a thought