What “They” Don’t Tell You – Part 2
Posted: January 19, 2011 at 1:00 pmAfter the interest in my “What ‘They’ Don’t Tell You About Pregnancy” post a couple months back, I knew I had to follow up with one about labor, delivery, and the early post-partum days. If you’re a man reader…you may want to avert your eyes. If you’re squeamish in any way about body parts and personal topics…you have been warned. Now for yet another post pushing the TMI boundaries.
Your boobs will hurt. And not just a standard ouch kind of hurt either. Whether breastfeeding or not, a few days post-delivery you will feel as if you carry 2 bowling balls on your chest. 2 bowling balls that are also ticking time bombs about to explode and rip in half from the pressure. Milk engorgement is fun, no?
Even better? If breastfeeding, your nipples will feel as though someone rubbed them raw with sandpaper. And that “let-down” feeling that lets you know your baby is sucking out the good stuff? Burn, baby, burn!!!! I do promise it all subsides after about a month and then is so much easier. Plus, it truly is worth it.
Ice Diapers. I briefly mentioned these in my previous post. They intrigued you all. And yes, they are very much real and very much useful.
Let’s put it this way. You know how long distance runners take ice baths after tough runs? You just gave your hoo-ha the workout of its life. It needs its ice bath. You will stuff a baby’s diaper with crushed ice and wear it as a pad without shame.
Tears. Sometimes things just don’t pop out so easily. Rip. You can use your imagination for the rest. Yes, it hurts. Yes, it does heal.
I still look pregnant?! The uterus takes awhile to shrink back to standard size. This means for a solid couple of months your body will inevitably have a pregnant looking pooch. You will likely still look 6 months pregnant coming home from the hospital. I looked like this 3 days post-partum…
And you saw my 1 week photos yesterday (in the bikini no less). Just remember how wonderful the body still is…even if it does mean some idiot will ask you when you are due, despite the obvious newborn baby you are holding.
Scared to poop. The first time or two after delivery is purely frightening. I’m not exactly sure why. Maybe the thought of having to push anything out again?
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The baby-blues are very real. It is standard for them to last two weeks. Any longer is when you need to consider talking with the doctor about post-partum depression. But for the first two weeks…fully expect mood swings you have never seen before. I haven’t faced them too much this time…but I can tell you I went from yelling at Peter that he was NO HELP to crying over how much I loved him and he was the BEST FATHER EVER in minutes last time.
Hospital food may actually taste good. After delivery and when trying to prep your body for breastfeeding, you want food. Any food. This actually looked and tasted good to me post-delivery.
Nothing like a bowl of congealed oats!
Babies trick you. It is very standard for newborns to sleep a lot in the hospital. They just went for the craziest ride ever after all. They don’t do this when they get home. You come home and it’s time to push limits and see how often they can wake up. I warned you.
And I’m likely forgetting some important things. Things like is baby pooping enough, sleeping enough, spitting up too much, going to be colicky, etc, etc, etc kind of make the rest of your mind a jumbled mass.
Thank goodness I knew what to expect this time! I can actually function! Good thing too because I have a very exciting post for tomorrow. Any guesses? 😉
Question of the Day – Totally random question…but color combos have been on my mind…what is your favorite color/color combo?
Tags: birth story, early post-baby days, pregnancy
I think this was a good and bad thing for me to read haha 😉 That hospital food does look good- amazing. Favorite color combos? turquoise and brown, black and gray, light yellow and light blue
Omigosh, your hospital food looks so much better then mine! Mine was awful this time ….. Then I realized (during my last meal there) that for some reason they had me on lowfat/lowsodium diet 😮 I. Was. Disapointed.
And that baby pooch, it sticks around longer when it’s your 2nd 3rd …. It get’s smaller, but is there longer 😉
Is it wrong that your breakfast looks good to me even now? I’m sure it felt like the meal of a lifetime for you!
I love pink/brown and baby blue/brown combos, and not just for baby rooms. I also like fuschia and black (my wedding colors 🙂
Those were the two of the better meals. LOL
Awesome post, I love how you tell it like it is! Feel a little more prepared for when I eventually have kids 🙂
Had my sister Jen not just had a baby, many of these things would be totally new to me, but the ice diaper thing, yep, that’s a new one I hadn’t heard before! And I don’t blame anyone for being scared to poop afterwards! I would too! ha!
My fave color combo? Brown and pink. LOVE it.
I’m just reminding myself over and over that it’s all worth it in the end… haha!
It really is! And you forget it all after awhile. Somehow it just fades into the recesses of memory. LOL
You’re right, I didn’t know a lot of those things!!
And I think that hospital food looks great! When I was in hospital the food was AWFUL. Seriously. Maybe it’s an England/America thing! 😛
I hung on every word of this post – haha! I am so intrigued by all of this!
I love bright yellow and clover green!
I’ve never eaten hospital food, so I wouldn’t know how good/bad it tastes. Haha! I have this theory that some might compare it to school food, and I really don’t mind school food, so… 🙂
As for color combos… I really like light blue/dark brown. I saw the combination on HGTV once (Design on a Dime or something; redoing a lady’s home office) and have loved it ever since. 🙂 The school I’m transferring to in August is blue/gold, I think, and our high school is red/black/white/grey (mostly red and white). Don’t ask me what my current college’s colors are. I don’t pay attention. Haha!
Love the light blue and dark brown combo as well.
Haha, I’m going to try to get pregnant soon and all the sudden I can’t get enough of posts/information like this. Thanks for sharing the good, bad, and ugly. I think we need to know it, even if it’s scary!
Favorite color combo is probably black/white/sage green- my wedding colors 🙂
I am totally terrified of potential future childbirth right now. Although the breastfeeding has terrified me for years…. You rock for all the candid pregnancy and post-pregnancy posts!
I like lots of color combos. Grey and pink is nice … grey and yellow … purple and mustard … green and pink … and I always love a nice contrast.
Purple and a deep yellow were our wedding colors! 🙂
I think you just scared me into NOT TTC’ing again haha. I liked yesterdays post much better, yum 😉
And I like turqouise and light pink for some odd reason. Pretty much anything that resembles tropical colors!
These are the things nobody else will say – thank you! I got to see some of this (or hear about it) from my sisters after they gave birth. It makes me realize how amazing our bodies really are. TOO funny about yelling and crying to Peter. Men will never *fully* understand our female hormones and emotions, but God blessed me with a patient man…I’m very thankful for that!
I’m thankful for Peter’s patience too. He thought I was crazy but never showed it.
I should do one of these on c-sections. Except I recall hating it so much and now the memories are slipping away. It’s been 5 years and my ovaries are a achin!!!
I love black & red. Red with anything though. Or just red. 🙂
These things are good and bad to read, no? 🙂 I remember being SO SHOCKED when my sister had her first little one – they make you wear a diaper? You still look pregnant for awhile? You TEAR?!!! But honestly, like you said….it has to be so worth it in the end. You get the best gift in the whole wide world because of it!
I am loving blue/brown color combo right now. I am OBSESSED with the color blue, pretty much.
I always appreciate your open and honest approach! 🙂
I knew some of these, and I’ve heard A LOT from friends who have already had babies! Our bodies are truly amazing – childbirth is miraculous.
um, anything pink and black. or bright green and turquoise.
I LOVE your blog because it is always so honest. Thank you for always telling it like it is and helping to prepare me for my future! 😉
I’m scared….very scared:(
I love anything that’s a Caribbean color…blues, teals, pinks :). And all I have to say is Lord have mercy in me when it’s my time…!
You’ll handle it fine when your time comes!! 🙂 All the love for the little one masks all the pain.
All the things I always wanted to know, but was afraid to ask. Thank you!
Though I’m still putting off pregnancy until I’m 30 –at least 🙂
Absolutely enlightening! 🙂 Loved this post! I think I knew all of this, but try to put it out of my mind so I won’t be scared out of my mind to get pregnant.
Color combo: pink and brown!
Does Northside not still have the ice pack pads? Those things were a life saver! They were actually pads that you break the ice coolant up and it was an instant ice pack! And it looks like they have better food now. Ugh, it has almost been 10 years since I was there delivering Max! The food was horrible! I seriously lived on the McDonalds food when I was there. This was all at the one in Dunwoody though. Oh and the boobs…seriously, they are crazy! Mine were sitting at my chin! That is not a a joke either. I know you can’t tell now, but mine were larger before I had kids, so they were pretty large to begin with…they were massive when my milk came in. Now, for the long time after nursing…they are gone. All gone. Good times!
Yep mine got smaller after nursing too.
And they do have the ice packs, but those die off so fast. One of our nurses showed us the diaper trick after M and I never went back. They last SO much longer and fit better.
I like either pink, black, and white OR pink and brown.
Wow, you would think as women we would know these things, but I had no clue! Making me reconsider having kids one day 🙂
Love this point! I always like hearing the honesty behind these situations. Even though I know the bad will outweight the good, I still like to be prepared!! I still remember when I was telling my Mom in highschool that I learned that when you’re a few months pregnant you have a beautiful glow and all this stuff and she looked at me and laughed. She said while it’s such a happy time period – she was pimply, sick all the time and her emotions were all over the place!
My favorite color combos: green & purple, purple & silver, green & gold
Hahahaha I think you should just give these to the Department of Education and have it replace sex ed. For girls, at least. I have major baby fever 24/7, but I’m not quite sure I’m ready to fear pooping or have sandpaper nipples just yet…
I love pink and green, in any shades. Classic!
Pink and green is one of my favorites too. 🙂
I love your honesty- especially about being scared to poop!!
I love blue and green together:)
I just saw this link on twitter and love it! Engorgement pain for me was worse than my entire pregnancy. The hospital food totally cracks me up because I thought the same thing!
And favorite color combo- definitely pinks and browns. Love.
Thanks for stopping by! Can’t wait to check your site out more. Its always fun finding other moms out there to connect with.
i’m saving these posts in my reader under “read when pregnant”. lol! i enjoyed reading them now, but i’m sure once i get to that point in my life, they’ll be even better!
my favorite color combo? i love LOVE purple + yellow together.
Hehhe these posts make me laugh out loud!!
I LOVE colour, and some of my fave combos are turquoise or pink with black, navy and white, and earth-tone palettes with browns, greens and creme shades.
Brown/Pink
Yellow/Navy
Love those combos!
Tearing is a huge fear of mine! I only recently learned about it. Also pooping during delivery, though that is nothing compared to ripping my body.
I don’t really have a favorite color combination; I like any combinations that include pink, purple, or blue.
That’s funny, in a scary way kind of funny! But you look so happy, so I guess it was worth it. As usual, I am digging the black/black color combo… 🙂
gee i can’t wait to see this all play out in a month or so…. not 😉
xo
I love this! Thank you for such honesty. I hope to have kids one day with my hubs and I’d rather listen to your truth than any other book. Your fabulous Tina!
Between you and HEAB, I feel much more prepared for when the time comes (which will be much, much, much later than anytime soon!). 🙂 I used to wear all gray and black and have only gotten into color combinations over the last couple of years, but I LOVE purple and green together… pretty much any purple with any green too… both colors look smashing on me too, so maybe that’s why I’m partial! 🙂
I’m excited for your post tomorrow!
I love pink/brown and Tiffany blue/brown color combos!
As an Alaskan resident, I have to say, I’m relieved now more than ever that I’m having a summer baby and not a winter one. It’s cold enough over here right now without ice diapers! 😉
Love the post! I delivered my first baby Jan 10th. We had our first pediatrician appointment one week later. As I was sitting in the “infant-well” section of the pediatrician’s waiting room with my one week old son, another mom asked me when I was due. Seriously? Another Mom? In a pediatrician’s office?
Oh my goodness!!! How ridiculous! And our kiddos were only 20 mins away from sharing bdays. 🙂
having a baby is soo fun, huh?! but totally worth it! 😉
The food at the hospital I had both my babies was sooo disgusting!! My hubby had to run out and get me something for all meals!
Despite being scary to read, I always love posts like this. Very…informative, ha! 🙂
Oh my gosh, so many things I could comment on…the ice packs, the tearing, the scared to poop! No one tells you…
But I can honestly say that it was ALL WORTH IT. My daughter is amazing, beautiful, and healthy! And starting to fuss ! :>
This was such an interesting post to read! Even though I’m several years away from having a baby myself. 🙂
Im fortunate enough to have honest friends that have told me some of these things.
The ice diapers were never mentioned though. That is a GOOD idea.
Haha!! This made me laugh! There’s so much more I want to add to this list but I want to keep it clean. 🙂
My favorite color combo right now is brown and light blue (witht a little yellow thrown in)!
I love how honest you are in all situations! I would have to say that my favorite color combo is blue and brown 😀
I would have totally freaked out if I had read this before having kids. I didn’t have major engorgement. My breasts never got huge…MAYBE a c-cup at most after not feeding for hours and breastfeeding didn’t change their shape or size. (Probably because I don’t have a large chest to begin with.) The nipples thing happened for sure. Ouch. The iced diaper? Never heard of doing that I did get a small tear but don’t remember it happening and it healed up just fine. Know what my big pet peeve over giving birth was…bladder control. I can run and do a certain amount of plyo but I reach a certain threshold and dang it. Sooo annoying but like you said….SO WORTH IT!!
I think men SHOULD read these posts so they know!
I love blue and pale yellow together.
Oh my your hit the nail on the head with htis post.
Here is one for you, you may spring a leak. Just this morning right before the baby was due to eat again I was getting ready for the day in my bathrobe. All of a sudden I feel milk pouring down my stomach. Funny enough I can also tell time by my boobs now. If the baby makes it to the 3 hour mark with out eating I have a let down with in a 5 minute time frame of when she is due to eat.
Ice diapers are great! My hospital had pads that had an icepack built in. It was one of those that you break and shake up to get cold. So nice!!!!
The joys of motherhood and what we truely go through for out sweet little ones!
I can tell time by my boobs too. LOL That is so true!
Now I’m glad that Baby H refuses to come out right now. Y
You’re right about all of this fading to the “recesses of memory” soon thereafter.
A mom with an eight week-old and a toddler who’s 17 months older came back to our playgroup today. I asked her how she was doing, and she just looked at me. “It’s really, really hard,” she said. She elaborated about the anxiety and exhaustion and how overwhelmed she is. All of the sudden, I’m scared again.
I can imagine only 17 months apart makes it a bit more difficult. Things have been MUCH easier the 2nd time around for me though. Much, much easier. Hope its the same for you!