Please help us welcome our newest writer, Jen Bobby!
When you’re pregnant with your first child you are constantly reading up on what to expect through this amazing life changing process. Receiving weekly emails from baby center, googling what is normal, reading what to expect books about pregnancy, labour and first few weeks at home with your new bundle. So what about all the magical things that happen to you once your baby is here, the glamorous things that are never really mentioned.
I have listed my top 5 surprises nobody really tells you about the postpartum period.
1. You will bleed a lot down there, like a very heavy period! Go out and buy several packs of absorbent pads to add to your thunder pads from the hospital. This is a normal discharge called lochia and it can last up to 6 weeks.
2. When your milk comes in you will have Pam Anderson breasts. Take pics now if you like this look because the girls will quickly change. I also recommend buying a hot and cold pad because they will hurt and be hard until your body regulates! Cold to help discomfort and swelling and hot to let your milk flow.
3. Buy breast pads and carry them at all times in the first couple months! You will leak or spray in public places. A friend of mine once sprayed the mirror in a change room when she heard a baby cry, she had to ask the shop associate for wipes to clean up her mess. I was also handed a breast pad on the sky train once. Talk about embarrassing!
4. Your tummy will look like pizza dough until your uterus shrinks down. It is quite the surprise when you were so used to your beautiful round hard baby belly. Breastfeeding will help get it back to normal..in the mean time tuck your pizza dough into your pants or wear one of those belly bandit things.
5. You will feel like a hot mess for a while. You will likely sweat like a 300 pound man, your hair will shed like a dog and you may cry at random times for no reason. All this glamour is due to hormones and will balance after some time.
So ladies, please don’t let these 5 things scare you, everyone’s postpartum is different so you may not experience any of these. You will look back on all of this with laughter.
With all of this said, cuddle your sweet little one tons as time goes way too fast. Be good to yourself, your body just worked really hard creating life so take some time for self care and relaxation and enjoy this life changing process. Being a mama is truly the best job in the world, Congrats!
