Lets get Real about Postpartum – Part 3

Lets get Real about Postpartum – Part 3

Effects in General

Where do I even begin?! Hopefully my pregnant girlfriends don’t read these sections (heyyy CRBD! J)

Weight & Stretch Marks

You know you’re going to gain weight when you’re pregnant, but that doesn’t make it easier.  Everything is changing and you’re getting bigger.  People will say “oh, you look great!” and you literally want to punch them in the face cause you don’t feel great.  Even after being pregnant twice, I find myself being the one telling friends this.  But I do it, because I really do think they look great, honestly.  Even though I know when I say it, they probably wish they could punch me in the face.  I complained about the weight I was gaining, but on the other hand I was eating what I wanted and when I wanted without blinking an eye.  Makes sense right?!

I was doing so well with Hadleigh until the last week and then the stretch marks appeared. Are you kidding me?!  I might have cried at the time.  They were all below my belly button and I thought for sure my two-piece bathing suit days were over. 

After I had Hadleigh it took a while for the weight to come off.  I always thought of myself as one of those women who walked out of the hospital skinny and cute. HA!  Now I know those women are freaks of nature and super-duper lucky (no offense if you’re one of them…just a little jealous here).  I lost most of the weight in the first few weeks, but the last 15 pounds were a pain to get rid of.  I actually never got back down to my original weight, but my body was back in decent shape.  The stretch marks even faded after a while.  They were still there and noticeable, but I did break out the two piece on family vacation summer 2011. Holla!

Second time around I thought for sure I’d work out throughout the pregnancy – yeah well that did not happen.  I ate what I wanted again and still felt insecure about the weight I was gaining.  Each pregnancy was normal weight gain (40 with Hadleigh & 36 with Hayden).  I got more stretch marks and my stomach is definitely in worse shape than it was the first time around.  It’s more flimsy and being I’m only 7.5 months out – the stretch marks have faded but not enough.  Not sure I’ll be breaking the two-piece out this year! The weight has actually come off a lot quicker the second time around for me.  I’ve nursed longer, so maybe that has something to do with it.  I weigh less than I did before Hayden, but I can’t tell because everything just sits different.  My boobs are bigger (nursing) and I’ve totally lost my butt.

Weight is definitely an ongoing struggle, but I keep telling myself I look pretty good for having two kids – and if someone has a problem with it – I’ve had two kids, so there!  I have insecure days for sure, but as long as I don’t think about it, everything is good.  Totally normal.

Hair Loss

For me, this was ridiculous.  My hair got a little thicker during pregnancy, but not thick enough to lose as much as I did!  Daniel said next time he’s going to shave my head, so my hair isn’t around the entire house.  Anytime I did laundry, I’d find hairballs of mine that got tossed together in the wash.  And although I’m not losing my hair very much anymore, I still find hairballs in the laundry. Ahhh! I’ve even stopped wearing my hair up in public, because I have very thin spots next to my temples.  I can’t wait for it to all grow back, but you know, then comes those annoying baby hairs that stick straight out of your head cause they’re so short. Excuse me if you see me in public for a year after I give birth, more than likely my hair will look like crap. Actually, let me use that excuse for the next 18 years, please and thank you.

Periods

“Ugh” is how I’ll start this section.  That about sums it up!  After Hadleigh, I bled for 7 weeks.  It’s insane, I know.  Most people (I don’t think) bleed that long – lucky me.  Then, I went back on the pill a few months after.  It was the same exact pill that I was on for years prior to getting pregnant and it worked fine before.  This time around, not so much.  I constantly had break-through, so I finally said screw it.  My periods actually became normal after that.

After Hayden, I only bled for about 4 weeks.  I think I would have bled longer, but because of the birth I had (where they had to scrape me clean practically), there wasn’t much left to get rid of.  I again, tried the pill thinking maybe it would work. I was wrong, and had 2 periods in one month. NO THANK YOU. So, I’m back to being on nothing and it’s working wonderfully.  So funny, how your body changes in so many ways after child birth.