Friday, July 17, 2009

What happens next?

Those that have ever read a pregnancy book are probably well aware of this already, but those books tell you absolutely nothing about what happens to you AFTER you deliver the baby. There may be some vague references about making sure to take time to heal or sleep when your baby sleeps, but that is as far as it goes.

Well, let me tell you, it is no walk in the park. Baby aside, there are a lot of things going on to slow down the new mommy.

First things first, the first couple of days are pretty much awful. Having the baby is awesome, but pretty much any type of movement was out of the question. Even getting to the bathroom in the hospital was a challenge...and time consuming. It took me longer to change my own diaper than it did to change Lindsay's....I had special wipes and all. There is nothing cool about adult diapers...not even in the Miles Davis sort of way.

Walking around is something else that I don't recommend....even if the nurse's push it on you. One of my nurse's asked me "what my goals were for today" when I was there. I wanted to say to lay here and let my nether regions heal, but she insisted that I at least get out into the hallway for a walk. She wouldn't let it go either...kept asking me about it whenever she'd come in. "Hey...did you get a chance to take a walk yet?" Nope, lady....give me another Percocet and leave me alone. I eventually did get out for that walk around the hallway, but it wasn't any fun at all. And said nether regions paid the price later...turns out the diapers, swelling and bleeding don't really mix that well with walking. At least not for me.

Getting home wasn't the remedy either. Turns out sleeping in your own bed doesn't fix everything. It certainly doesn't fix stitches. I have no idea if everyone gets stitches, but I had to and that has not been fun at all. Even still today they are keeping me from taking that long-awaited walk. I was talking to a friend on the phone the other day and she told me about someone she knows that has to do physical therapy for her tearing....yikes! So my complaining would probably seem pretty ridiculous to her. I guess I should take solace in the fact that at least I don't have to go through that.

As a bottle/formula feeder, I didn't have to go through the process of getting Lindsay to take to my boob, but holy smokes, that doesn't get rid of the boob issues altogether. I didn't have any issues for a couple days, but by day 3 or 4, my boobs were about 3 times their normal size and hard as rocks....and "HOLY CRAP" painful. Apparently it is called engorgement. No one really told me a good way to deal with it, so picture me with a bag of peas over each boob for about 10 hours a day. Nothing cool about that. I'm sure my husband and my houseguests were impressed with my classiness. A couple days of that and then the leaking starts. And let me tell you, that is pretty sweet. Nothing in my life to this point has compared to the moment I was standing in the bathroom, getting ready to take a shower and there was a steady stream of milk running down my belly. I can't even begin to explain the mortification that comes along with that.

Alright, enough of the complaining for today. But before I go, let me leave you with what has so far been my favorite thought from the book about the baby's first year that I'm referencing. Here is the exact sentence....no lie. "Your first look at your body in a full-length mirror can be a shocking expereience, and we recommend putting it off as long as possible." Really? That's the advice? Talk about supportive. Nothing like having a book telling you that you aren't attractive. I, for one, never felt more loved.

1 comment:

  1. Been there--Done that--3 times
    I promise that the painful waking
    and stitches will get better very
    soon--Lots of love, Mom

    ReplyDelete

 

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