My Postpartum Experience

Sharing my postpartum experience as a first-time mom! I'm still in it (he's almost 6 months), but I'm extremely grateful for my experience so far. Things don't always go exactly the way you envision or the way that you want. I feel like that's inevitable. I've really had a great experience though, even with a few little bumps in the road. I'm going to discuss the good things and the few things that didn't go as planned. I won't call them bad or negative, because they're really not. Sometimes things just don't go exactly the way you want but that's okay. We've adjusted and are doing great!

Okay, the great things: 

1. It’s been easier than I thought it would be. A first baby, you assume your world flips upside down, and it does, but in the best way. I truly thought it would be so incredibly hard, and my husband and I both agreed that it wasn't as chaotic as we imagined. I will say that our situation was ideal. My husband was able to be home most of the time for the first couple of months. Shout-out to him because he completely took care of everything - making me my morning coffees (which were no joke fancy coffee house type lattes like how @mark__michaud - so good), took care of the dogs, the house, and basically waited on me non-stop. I was able to take time off and had only a little work here and there to do. But mostly, my only focus was taking care of the baby.

2. Sleep has been great. The first week we were tired but after that we felt pretty normal. I co-slept with the baby for two months. After that, we started him in the bassinet the first half of the night, then I'd bring him in bed with me, feed him and go back to sleep. Then slowly started putting him back in the bassinet after his night feeding and so on. So it was like this slow progression that worked really well for us. Also, I have a pre-bedtime routine that I have yet to tweak because it's worked so well! He slept through the night from 2-5 months. Lately, he has been waking once in the night, but I usually just bring him in bed with me and nurse him back to sleep. 

3. Mental health has been amazing! I completely sympathize with anyone who has had a rough experience with this because I can picture how that could go and I’m sure it's not pleasant. I did have slight baby blues which I expected. That lasted about a week then I started feeling like myself again. I will say, even though I mentally felt well, I didn't really start feeling like my old self (before pregnancy), until 3 months postpartum probably. A couple things that I feel helped - diet while pregnant, lots of nutrient-dense foods, an awesome prenatal that I’m still taking (just a smaller serving), and I also took Rebalance from WishGarden herbs (for balancing hormones). I do think the experience not being as crazy as we thought, and my husband being home taking care of everything obviously helped! My only focus was really just the baby, as it should be.

Then the million other things that come with having a baby, especially a first! The joy, love, all the firsts, the smiles, your baby needing you, just everything! I love being a mama so much. It’s more than I could have ever imagined and I couldn't have dreamt up a more perfect little boy. 

Now the not so great/unexpected stuff:

1. Recovery. Yikes! I guess I was so focused on the fact that I had to give birth, I wasn't thinking much about postpartum recovery. I planned for it, but it was definitely more uncomfortable than I was picturing. I was like, yeah, I'll be sore just hanging out holding the baby. That was all I really thought. I won't go into too much detail but definitely more pain than I had anticipated. I hated having to go to the bathroom because I knew what it would feel like. Naive me pre-baby thought, nah, I won’t use whatever that peri bottle thing is. Umm, yes you will haha. It burns so bad when you pee. I did have a couple tears so that probably made it worse. Pooping wasn't great either but not horrible. I was just scared to go to the bathroom basically. Good times. I'm going to create a post on all of my postpartum products. I did use some things that helped for sure! Anyway, yeah, recovery was more than I was expecting.

2. Breastfeeding. I'm grateful to still be breastfeeding at 6 months BUT we are combo feeding. I know there are a lot of opinions on this topic but I had a personal goal of exclusively breastfeeding (no formula) for one year. I was definitely bummed out and even cried when I gave him his first bottle of formula at 3 months old. I felt like I had failed. I'm telling you mamas, please do not feel this way. I know it's hard, especially when you have specific plans or things that are extra important to you. This was really important to me. Basically, I produce just enough or slightly less than enough. Some women get tons of milk. Some don’t get much at all. I was sort of right in the middle. I was not expecting this at all either because the two biggest things for milk production are eating enough and hydration, which I felt I was getting enough. I eat a good amount of food, lots of great nutrients, drink water with electrolytes, etc. But either way, he needed more so I did what I had to. He's been happy and satisfied and honestly, I've enjoyed doing both. I still nurse him in the mornings then throughout the day. I typically give him 2 bottles of formula per day and the rest of the time I nurse him. He always gets one breastmilk bottle right before bed (I pump for that earlier in the day). I used to think it had to be one or the other, formula or breastmilk, but you can absolutely do both! Our little man isn't super picky which is nice and he's healthy, which is all that matters. I have tried to up my supply. All the things I've tried didn't seem to make a huge difference. I will definitely make a post on what you can do. I read so much about it and heard tons of great tips from other moms but again, just didn't make a big difference for me personally.

3. Nipple pain. This is something I was not expecting. It was pretty painful right from the start which I think is fairly common. Makes sense since we aren’t used to having a baby sucking on our nipples. I worked with a lactation consultant, but it still continued on for a while. I was still able to breastfeed which was nice, but I had to use nipple shields. This helped the pain a lot but it still hurt. The baby didn't mind it because I think he was just used to it. Every once in a while, I’d try to remove them, and the pain was awful! This was so frustrating because I didn't want to have to keep using them, washing them, keeping them clean, they'd fall off or he'd hit them off and they'd fall on the floor, etc. It wasn't the end of the world, but I didn't love it. It just felt annoying at times, and I wanted to just be able to feed my baby on a whim without having to take steps to do it. At month 5 I was able to remove them, and we've been breastfeeding shield free for a month and no pain! Very happy to finally not have to use them. Baby adjusted well. It was a little awkward at first because he was so used to them but now it just feels completely natural with no issues. I’m so grateful for this.

Then some normal, everyday stuff! He was pretty fussy in the evenings, so my husband and I rarely got to enjoy dinner together. Daytime naps didn’t really exist. He would take 15-30 minute naps here and there but only if I was holding him or put him in the carrier. It was really hard to get anything done. At almost 6 months old, he has finally started taking longer naps during the day and in his crib! It’s been a game changer and I feel like I can finally have some me time and get things done. Getting out the door the first few times felt overwhelming. Before a baby, I would just grab my keys and go. This felt like some kind of sport or challenge haha - make sure baby is fed, changed, pack a diaper bag, warm the car, get him in the car seat, plan timing for feedings, sometimes a second diaper change, etc. All of this stuff gets so much easier as time goes on. Now I pack him up and go on my own and it’s fun and feels like no big deal! These are all very normal, basic things that most people deal with. But, it does feel so surreal for a first. But again, in the best way. Thanks for reading my postpartum experience! Hoping I get to do this one more time :)