YOUR BODY AFTER THE BIRTH OF YOUR CHILD

Jun 08, 2009 in Pregnancy

Now after you have come home with your baby and feeling at the top of the world and love towards your baby, there are moments of dejection and rejection. You suddenly find yourself tied down to your home and to top it all you cannot fit yourself into your old jeans too.
There are pigmentation marks on your face, swelling on the body and limbs.

SWELLING

Once you are home, your hands and feet become swollen, in which case raise your feet and legs while sleeping. You will gradually come back to normal.

STITCHES

You may have got a few stitches in your pelvic area (episiotomy) after the delivery. These will get dissolved on its own. You need to keep the area clean and dry.
Daily warm soaks with lavender oil will give you a lot of relief. Also get it checked regularly to see that there is no infection and it is healing.
In cases of cesarean section, you need to take pain killers for a few days. These stitches are very painful because the area remains numb for a long time.

BLEEDING

After the delivery you will have heavy bleeding called LOCIA. This can last even 6 weeks but will decrease in amount with time and later on it is just a brownish discharge. The discharge gradually becomes lighter.

You must contact your doctor if the discharge is profuse and smelly which might mean an infection or if there are many clots in the bleeding which may be normal or remains of placenta. Also the pain in the abdomen should subside with time.

AFTERPAINS

After the delivery, the uterus takes 6 weeks to contract and come back to the normal size. In the first few weeks you might experience pains in the lower abdomen as you feel in periods. These pains may also increase with breast feeding. Do not worry. Just warm soaks and mild pain killers may be helpful.

BLADDER AND BOWELS

After the delivery, you might feel a sting or pain while passing urine. This is because you may feel bruised after the delivery. You can try to pass urine in a warm water bath or pour a jug of lukewarm water between your legs. Do not try to hold your urine for long and drink plenty of water.
It will be a few days of discomfort and you may not pass stools for 2-3 days. Drink plenty of water; take in fresh fruits and high fibre diet. Also remember that codeine based pain killers can aggravate the problem.

BREASTS

Initially for the first 3 days, you may take time to establish milking but after the third day in most of you, the breasts will increase in size, will be engorged and tender and you might feel discomfort and pain. There might be problems of cracked nipples too because of improper positioning of the baby during feeding.
All these problems will settle in a few days.

PIGMENTARY CHANGES IN THE SKIN / STRETCH MARKS

Most of the skin changes which have appeared in pregnancy will disappear in time except for the stretch marks which will fade but not disappear altogether. Well, accept all that your baby has given to you and move ahead.

WEIGHT

Women vary in the amount of weight gain they have put on. But immediately after delivery, you will lose some weight. A few more pounds will go after the uterus contracts but the tone of your abdomen will take some time in coming back to normal. Most of the weight gets lost after 6-7 months of pregnancy and to reach the pre pregnancy state, most of you will require doing some exercises.

Some of you who are lucky and being thin is in the genes, will look like you have never been pregnant.

Overall, post delivery, you may feel a little uncomfortable with your new body, but you will come back to almost normal state in a few months. We say almost because, now you will be more beautiful by heart and body

Our other pregnancy sections to visit

• What to expect during ultrasounds
• How can I remain healthy in my pregnancy
• Am I eating the right food? Visit our weekly nutrition section.
• Calculate your due date with our due date calculator
• Read more about morning sickness
You have any questions about your pregnancy?

Visit our FAQ section or talk to a certified doctor through the doctor’s blog and get your doubts cleared.

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