A Few Postpartum Tidbits

Well, baby is about 10 days old and I thought I would journal a few little tidbits about this postpartum time before it flies out of my mind forever. This time, I didn't really tear, which made postpartum days a SNAP. By day three, I had no soreness at all and felt surprisingly good. By day 7, I felt ready to exercise again. But first, a few tricks I figured out this time.

First of all, I had tremendous post labor contractions. I immediately took herbs which I got from www.wishgardenherbs.com. The tincture I took was afterease. This seems to help a lot on the first day and then not as much on day two or three. I'm not sure why. This time, I immediately began drinking my magnesium drink (calm) which I got from www.vitacost.com. I drank it all day and had no post partum contractions starting about an hour after I drank it until six at night. At that point, my stools went all loose on me and I had to stop drinking it for the rest of the night. (if you have "d", take activated charcoal...works wonders) About four hours AFTER I stopped drinking it, the contractions started again, strong, every 10 minutes for the rest of the night. I could not sleep because of them and ended up in a ball in the bottom of my bathtub at 5AM. Finally, I got to doze from 5AM to 6AM or so. Needless to say, I was a wreck after that night and Holly suggested a heating pad and some advil. I started my magnesium drink again when the sun started shining through the window and had another contraction-free day. By the end of the day, "d" again. Stopped drinking it, then took an advil....and that was it. The post partum contractions totally subsided after that and I felt great.

The second I have the baby. I start wearing my "belt". This time I tried the "belly bandit" original. It was sort of hard and scratchy and by day three, I had a little heat rash from it and realized I could not wear that particular fabric for six weeks. I contacted belly bandit and sent them photos of my heat rash and they sent me an "upgraded" version of their belly wrap...the belly bandit couture. Very nice. Very soft, much more doable. I wear it day and night, just about 24 hours a day. This concept has been around for years in other countries. In other countries, women wrap their bellies right after the birth (very tightly ) with cloth and their stomachs go right down to normal much more quickly. I have wrapped all but one time and that one time, my stomach looked TOTALLY different than the other times. I had loose skin which I thought was beyond repair....and it stayed for 9 months. Finally, I did an extreme makeover stomach video workout routine and it got whipped into shape right before the next pregnancy. Not fun. My stomach looks the same as it did pre-birth by 6 weeks at the longest when I wrap.

Emotionally, I have not experienced any post-partum blues this time. I was all ready with my "baby blues" tincture from www.wishgardenherbs.com and I have been taking them since my milk came in, but I have never felt quite so normal in my life. The only "off" balance item is I am super clumsy and forgetful which seems to be par for the course when you are nursing, otherwise, by day three after this birth I felt better than I ever have and was pretty much ready to go again. God's grace for five children HAS to be part of the equation since you can't lie on your back too long with four others running around.

I'm trying to think of any other tidbits. I have gone walking and swam some laps today. I will say that swimming was the greatest gift of the pregnancy. I would hesitate getting pregnant again if we lived somewhere that did not have a pool. I did not swell this time (which is my least favorite side effect), and got to exercise up until the DAY of the birth. Then, when I swam today, I realized just how refreshing and wonderful swimming could be as a post partum pick-me-up. Wow.

Interestingly, this pregnancy left me totally different than the other four. This time, I realized I've been bitten by the pregnancy and baby bug and I seriously....could have five more. Once you pass four.......???? I dreaded each pregnancy leading up to number four. I knew we were destined to have four, so I just gritted my teeth and jumped in to each pregnancy counting down from four to one. After number four, I got back into shape as fast as I physically could....and then SURPRISE....number five. And suddenly, the whole process seems so simple and wonderful and uncomplicated. Now, I really will have to pray because I think I might be dangerously unafraid of the process and completely enamored with the whole pregancy and baby thing. You would think it would "get out of my system", but somehow, this pregnancy left me different than I was before. What's one more? Join the gang, we sing as we make another little space for the upcoming baby in our hearts and in our home.