How long will it take for my uterus to shrink?
How much weight will I lose right after giving birth?
How come I can’t tell when I need to pee?
Will my vagina and perineum ever get back to normal?
What’s this vaginal discharge?
What should I expect if I’m breastfeeding?
What will it be like if I’m not breastfeeding?
Why am I feeling so moody?
Why am I losing my hair?
What’s going on with my skin?
How long will it take for my uterus to shrink?
By the time you go into labor, your uterus is about 15 times heavier – not including its contents! – and its capacity is at least 500 times greater than before you conceived. Within minutes after your baby is born, contractions cause your uterus to shrink, clenching itself like a fist, its crisscrossed fibers tightening just like they did during labor.
These contractions cause the placenta to separate from the uterine wall. After the placenta is delivered, the uterus clamps down even more, closing off open blood vessels where the placenta was attached. As the uterus continues to contract, you may feel cramps known as afterpains.
For the first couple of days after giving birth, you can feel the top of your uterus at or a few finger widths below the level of your belly button. In a week, your uterus weighs a little over a pound – half of what it weighed just after you gave birth. After two weeks, it’s down to a mere 11 ounces and located entirely within your pelvis. By about four weeks, it should be close to its pre-pregnancy weight of 3.5 ounces or less. This process is called involution of the uterus.
Even after your uterus shrinks back into your pelvis, you may continue to look somewhat pregnant for several weeks or longer. That’s because your abdominal muscles get stretched out during pregnancy, and it will take time – and regular exercise – to get your belly back in shape.
How much weight will I lose right after giving birth?
You probably won’t return to your pre-pregnancy weight for some time, but you will lose a significant amount of weight immediately after delivery. Subtracting one 7- to 8-pound baby, about a pound or so of placenta, and another few pounds of blood and amniotic fluid leaves most new moms about 12 pounds lighter.The weight keeps coming off, too. All the extra water your cells retained during pregnancy, along with fluid from the extra blood you had in your pregnant body, will be looking for a way out. So you’ll produce more urine than usual in the days after birth – an astounding 3 quarts a day. You may perspire a lot, too. By the end of the first week, you’ll likely lose about 4 to 6 pounds of water weight. (The amount varies depending on how much water you retained during pregnancy.)
How come I can’t tell when I need to pee?
Labor and delivery can take a toll on your bladder, causing some temporary swelling and loss of sensitivity. You may not feel the usual urge to pee in the first days after you give birth, especially if you had a prolonged labor, a forceps or vacuum-assisted vaginal delivery, or an epidural. This is also more likely if you had trouble urinating during labor and had to be catheterized.
But with all the extra fluid your kidneys are processing, your bladder fills up rapidly, so it’s essential to give yourself a chance to urinate frequently even if you don’t feel the urge to. If too much urine accumulates in your bladder, you might have a hard time making it to the toilet without leaking. What’s more, your bladder could become overly distended. This can cause urinary problems and also makes it harder for your uterus to contract, leading to more afterpains and bleeding.
If you can’t pee within a few hours after giving birth, a catheter will be put in to drain the urine from your bladder. (If you deliver by c-section, you’ll have a urinary catheter for the surgery, which will remain in place for a short while after delivery.) Let the nurse know if you’re having difficulty urinating or are only producing a small amount of urine when you pee. If your bladder gets too full, it can actually keep you from being able to urinate.
Will my vagina and perineum ever get back to normal?
If you give birth vaginally, your vagina will probably remain a little larger than it was before. Right after delivery, the vagina will be stretched open and may be swollen and bruised. Over the next few days, any swelling you might have starts to go down, and your vagina begins to regain muscle tone. In the next few weeks, it will gradually get smaller.
If you had a small tear in your perineum that did not require stitches, it should heal quickly and cause little discomfort. If you had an episiotomy or a significant tear, your perineum needs time to heal, so wait to start having sex again until you get the okay from your practitioner at your postpartum checkup. If you continue to have tenderness in that area, delay intercourse until you feel ready.In the meantime, figure out what you want to do for contraception.
When you do feel ready (both physically and emotionally) to have sex again, be sure to go slowly. When you start having intercourse, you’ll probably find that you have less vaginal lubrication than you did when you were pregnant, due to lower levels of estrogen. This dryness will be even more pronounced if you’re breastfeeding, because nursing tends to keep estrogen levels down. Using a lubricant is a big help. (Be sure to buy a water-based lubricant, particularly if you’re using a barrier method of contraception. Oil-based lubricants can weaken latex, which can cause a condom to break or ruin a diaphragm.)
What’s this vaginal discharge?
It’s normal to have vaginal discharge, called lochia, for a month or two after you give birth. Lochia consists of blood, bacteria, and sloughed-off tissue from the lining of the uterus. For the first few days after birth, the lochia contains a fair amount of blood, so it will be bright red and look like a heavy menstrual period. You’ll likely have a bit less discharge each day, and by two to four days after you’ve given birth, the lochia will be more watery and pinkish in color.
By about ten days after you’ve given birth, you’ll have only a small amount of white or yellow-white discharge, which will taper off over the next two to four weeks. Some women may continue to have scant lochia or intermittent spotting for a few more weeks.
What should I expect if I’m breastfeeding?
Hormonal changes after delivery prompt your breasts to start producing milk. When your baby nurses during the first few days after birth, he’s getting colostrum, a thick yellowish substance that your breasts produced during pregnancy. His suckling triggers the release of the hormones prolactin, which stimulates milk production, and oxytocin, which causes the milk sacs and ducts to contract, propelling the milk to your nipples. (This is the so-called “letdown” reflex.) If those first breastfeeding sessions cause some abdominal cramping, it’s because oxytocin also triggers uterine contractions. When your milk comes in, usually two to three days after you give birth, your breasts may get swollen, tender, hard, throbbing, and uncomfortably full. This is called engorgement and it should get better in a day or two.
Nursing your baby often is the best thing you can do for relief. (In fact, frequent nursing right from the beginning sometimes prevents engorgement altogether.) For others suggestions, check out our advice on treating engorgement. If these measures don’t help and your baby seems to be having trouble latching on correctly, talk to your caregiver or lactation consultant.
What will it be like if I’m not breastfeeding?
If you’re not breastfeeding, you’ll still begin to produce milk, and a few days after you give birth, your breasts will become engorged. This may cause considerable discomfort that lasts for several days. The pain tends to peak three to five days after you give birth. In the meantime, wear a supportive bra around the clock and put cold packs on your breasts, which will ease the swelling and help inhibit milk production. (Be sure to cover the cold packs with cloth to protect your skin.) It can take several weeks for your milk to dry up completely.
If you need to, you can take acetaminophen or ibuprofen for pain relief. If you’re extremely uncomfortable, you can express just enough milk to make the situation more tolerable. This may prolong the process, however, because stimulating your nipples and draining your breasts signals your body to make more milk. Avoid applying warmth to your breasts since this, too, can encourage milk production.
Why am I feeling so moody?
Mood swings may be due to a number of factors, including hormonal changes, discomfort you may still be experiencing from labor and birth, sleep deprivation and the other demands of caring for a new baby, as well as the emotional adjustment to motherhood. Whatever the cause, it’s common to feel a little blue, usually beginning a few days after giving birth and lasting for a few weeks.
If the feeling doesn’t go away on its own in the first few weeks or you find that you’re feeling worse rather than better, be sure to call your caregiver and tell her your symptoms. You may be suffering from postpartum depression, a more serious problem that requires treatment, and she can give you a referral for help. If you think you might hurt yourself or your baby, or if you feel incapable of caring for your newborn, seek professional help immediately.
Why am I losing my hair?
If your hair got thicker during your pregnancy, it may now start to shed in handfuls. This happens to some new moms in the first few months after having their baby. Don’t worry – you won’t go bald.
During pregnancy, high estrogen levels may prolong your hair’s growing phase, causing less to fall out than usual. After you give birth, your estrogen levels plummet and you begin to shed more. Over time, usually within a year or so, the rate of new growth and shedding will return to what it once was. On the bright side, if you suffered from excess facial and body hair during pregnancy (the result of a rise in hormones called androgens), you will likely lose most of that hair within six months after having your baby.
What’s going on with my skin?
Hormonal changes, stress, and the fatigue brought on by new parenthood may affect your skin along with the rest of your body. Some women who had perfectly clear skin during pregnancy will have more breakouts in the months following delivery. On the other hand, if you suffered from acne during pregnancy, you may begin to see some improvement now.
If you have chloasma (darkened patches of skin on your lips, nose, cheeks, or forehead), it’ll begin to fade in the months after giving birth and probably go away completely, as long as you protect your skin from the sun. Any stretch marks you developed will gradually become lighter in color, though they won’t disappear altogether.
(from http://www.babycenter.com/body-changes-after-childbirth)