After Birth Pains!!!

After Pains
I was downloading one of my SD cards the other night and came across this photo. The rawness and honesty of this photo took me immediately back to that moment in the hospital just a few hours after birthing Luca. The first thing that came to my mind was the PAIN, the after birth pain, that pain that no one seems to talk about or warn you about.
I’m not sure if it’s just not talked about because there is so much other stuff happening leading up to having a baby and then once you have had the baby there are so many other things going on that this topic just gets pushed to the side or if like what happened to me, the pain stopped after a few days when I had my 1st baby and then you get so busy caring for a newborn that it is almost wiped from your memory. Until…. you have your 2nd baby, and geez does that pain multiply!

I honestly had forgotten about the after pain from having my first until I felt THAT pain again.
It wasn’t as painful the first time around but it still hurt.
If you haven’t had a baby or about to become a new mamma, it is an unusual pain, different to any other, feeling your uterus contracting back down to it’s pre-pregnancy size.
So after having Luca and once settled into my hospital room for the night, I went to feed him his first proper feed and there was THAT pain. Ohhhh at first I was like, what is wrong but then all the memories came flooding back. I asked the midwife if the pain was meant to be this bad and she was quick to let me know that for each baby you have, the pain multiplies!
OMG at that moment it is almost enough to put you off having more kids if it is going to be worse with each one…
The cramping like pain is at it’s worst when breastfeeding, it releases the hormone oxytocin which stimulates the uterus to contract and increases the after birth pain.
Another reason why breastfeeding is so important to help the uterus contract more quickly back to it’s original size again. Not to mention when the midwives come in to check your uterus is returning to it’s pre-pregnancy size, by having to feel with their hands your stomach quiet a lot rougher then how you have just been nursing your poor belly which feels so fragile.

Did someone say milk?

Has your milk come in yet? Ummmm have you seen my breasts?

Okay so I knew that at first you produce colostrum milk and then milk after that, but I thought it just faded out from colostrum to normal breast milk. I wasn’t expecting that my now already over sized breasts would triple in size and get extremely hard and engorged and look like I’ve just come home from getting breast implants.
THIS was next level they were HARD and hot, the 2nd time around I came prepared and brought Hydrogel breast discs,
which I had ready in the fridge (lifesavers).
Milk is squirting everywhere, if baby unlatched usually from getting drowned in milk, it ended with a babys’ face full of milk!
The tenderness of your nipples is extreme, I remember thinking how are all these other mums doing this,
because breastfeeding sure didn’t come without pain.

The first time around is a little different because you are not sure if it’s just something that you are doing wrong and not sure how long the pain will last, will it ever end? Everything is running through your mind and everyone around you has an opinion about what you should do!
The second time you know you just need to push through it as it does get easier and less painful, but then you throw plugged ducts, mastitis and thrush in the mix and wonder how will you be able to get through that as well as being completely sleep deprived!

The only advice I would give my ‘pre baby me’ is to savour each moment even the hard ones because honestly it
is such a small moment in your whole life.
Before you know it that little baby is 4 years old and you will look at her thinking where has my little baby gone.
This realization really hit me when I had my 2nd, it made me realize it was not that long ago that this was my first born and how much she had actually grown.

I am so proud of my body and my mind for what it has done, to bring two beautiful healthy babies into this world.
A woman’s body is a true miracle and as women we need to really embrace this and be proud of your own journey that your body is taking YOU.

Thank you so much for reading and if you take anything away from reading this let it be to LOVE YOUR BODY

This blog is in no way sponsored, all wording and pictures are my own.