Recovery

In my opinion, post delivery recovery was worse than labor. No one warns you about some of the things you will experience. I did not spend my first day home just a little sore and a lot a bit tired. No. I felt like I got hit by a bus, a tractor and King Kong.

Every single muscle in my body hurt. Even my fingers. I guess that's where laboring for 9+ hours with no meds will get ya! I tried my hardest not to clench during contractions but let me tell you..it's hard!

I was exhausted as all get out. I got maybe 4 1/2 hours of sleep (total) at the hospital. For one, I was too excited after the delivery to sleep! And two, I had a newborn in the room with us where I was her source of food. There's no sleep when ya got a hungry 9lb baby!

My nipples felt like they were going to fall off. Due to some imperfect latches I got micro-cuts and at one point tiny blisters. It all got better after about 5 days..but those 5 days were full of tears every time i heard her cry for food. Lanolin ointment was a life saver.

The non-period period. Such a gross nuisance. Stock up on tons of maxi pads people!

The actual stitched up area wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I just felt pressure when I walked around. Witch hazel pads worked wonders for relief.

The cramping in the lower abdomen. Oh man was that a pain (literally). Every move I made my round ligament area really really hurt as well at my lower ab area, which I guess would have been my uterus shrinking. At one point I got worried about how much it all was hurting but I guess it was normal.

Baby blues. It happens to most. I cried at the drop of a hat. I couldn't even attempt to sing a song to Savannah without crying. Every time I thought of her growing up fast I would ball. I felt like I was in a funk a lot of the time. Finally around day 9 the blues cleared up and I was able to 110% enjoy this little bundle of cuteness. Not that I didn't enjoy and love her from the get go..I absolutely did. But feeling lousy and in pain and emotional...it's hard to see through that cloudiness sometimes.

At week 3 is when I finally started feeling completely human and not needing my Motrin 3x a day. Now, at 7 weeks, I feel great. My abs are still a little sore, but hey, that's going to happen when your muscles separate and then try to put themselves back together again.  Breast feeding still has it's ups and downs. I'm pretty sure I have a clogged duct at the moment which is pretty painful. Hopefully it works itself out soon. Other than that I feel like the old me again. An old me which is finding it hard to fit into my tops like I used to (the joys of breast feeding and bigger assets).  My feet don't hurt anymore. My knees don't hurt anymore. I can bend over without having to grab something to hold on to. I can finally sleep on my tummy again. The non-period period is gone (thank gawd) so no more wearing pads that can soak up the sea if need be. I can finally pick up my baby without wincing (ya, it took a week or two to be able to do that..). 

All I have to say is: thank goodness for Matt and him being a wonderful daddy and husband. He took care of me like no other. For the first week he changed every single diaper. I may have changed a few but he volunteered to do 99% of it. He cooked for me. He brought me water. He walked the dogs. He got up to get a crying Savannah to bring her to me to nurse so I didn't have to strain myself. Without him I wouldn't have gotten through the baby blues as fast as I did.

When I get pregnant again this will be what has me the most anxious: going through recovery all over again. Not gaining weight and feeling the discomforts of pregnancy. Not the labor or the delivery. But the recovery. Ugh.