about a week later

The thing about pregnancy is that women only recently started to talk a little candidly about the, um, less desirable parts. Even the books kind of minimized things. You need to find frank authors and friends and pump them for information. Then comes labor and delivery. One of my friends recently mentioned that there's even less information about what comes after the baby. While friends and family coo over the wonderful new addition, mom is often left out in the cold to deal with all sorts of weird things lumped into the category of "recovery." All I have to say is thank God for the blogs and books and friends who were willing to give a realistic picture of what to expect because a lot of this stuff would freak you the heck out if blindsided by it. With that, I figure I'll do one more recap post similar to the pregnancy ones.

Total weight gain: I tell ya, I'm glad people said that you appear 6-7 months pregnant even after you've gotten rid of amniotic fluid, placenta, and that bundle of joy. And if you need fluids, Lordy. Can we say puffy? In this last week, however, I'm down about half the weight I gained. Still in maternity pants but I can wear a few of my larger pre-baby shirts. Weirdly exciting.

Movement: This baby moves around a lot still. :) One fun thing to note is that her little elbows and heels feel so familiar to me. Those things jabbed me in my left side for months.

Cravings: Let's just say we haven't had to cook at all. Everything everyone has brought over has been fantastic.

Symptoms: This is the real reason for this post even though I know it's out of order since I haven't posted the birth story yet. Just wanted to get this out there. First, it's weird that some pregnancy symptoms immediatly are gone while others unexpectedly linger. Not surprisingly, still a little bit of baby brain, lots of waking in the middle of the night. I've had limited crazy dreams because it doesn't seem like I'm dreaming as much. No more hip pain but still with the round ligament pain. I sure wish that one would have gone away. Still have good hair. Puffiness subsided enough to be able to get my rings back on. No more digestive issues, the one sensitive spot on my gums is gone, and no more snotty nose (not sure if I mentioned those last two before). After the first few nights of just wanting to make sure she's breathing, no insomnia at all. New since birth? Various types of boob uncomfortableness that has really lessened up already. And, of course, bigger boobs. Woohoo. Jiggly, Santa-like belly with that giant belly button. And really all of me feels softer--even parts that I swear didn't before. I'm pretty sure I still have wider hips. And my girl bits have seen better days. Thank goodness for drugs and sitz baths. But, honestly, it's not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. It seems like a lot of improvement was made in such a short time. Between Wednesday when we came home (when I wasn't feeling that great) to Friday...wow, world of difference. It's nice to be able to easily go up and down the stairs, to put on shoes and socks, to pick something up off the floor.

Belly button: Never became an outie. Woohoo. Now, though? It's deep and a lot wider than before. I'm hoping that will repair itself as my skin (hopefully) gets a little more back to normal.

Preparations: As far as preparations for recovery? I bought some things that I thought I'd need but you can only prepare so much. If you've never breastfed I don't think you get how different this is for you lifestyle (even if your "lifestyle" is hanging out at home). I needed to run to Target for a few clothing items and nursing bras that would help facilitate the whole process.

Milestones: You know, there's a baby.

Weekly wisdom: For me, I think it helped to be prepared for the worst while tentatively hoping for the best. I'm hugely and pleasantly surprised by my recovery so far as well as life with a newborn. That she's super cute is just a bonus.

I know this is all pretty scattered. Tried to get it written over many baby breaks today. I have a feeling you may have to get used to this...