The most surprising part about giving birth wasn't the actual birth itself. It was all the painful things that came within the two weeks afterwards that no one warned me about.
After my experience, I realized there are a few reasons no one tells you about these things:
1.) It's not Instagram friendly (it's gross).
2.) It might scare you.
3.) Not everyone experiences the same symptoms.
I decided to write about my experience because I think it's good to be prepared for what might happen. Plus, it could help you make some decisions to prevent pain if it happens to you.
Before getting started, I should mention that I had a C-section with twins, so my painful aspects might be different than someone who had a natural birth or a singleton, however some of my experiences will overlap with all moms.
So without further ado, here is my list of the Most Painful Aspects of Postpartum No One Told Me About:
1.) Constipation that is worse than childbirth-
When I tell you it was more painful than the C-section I'm not joking.
After talking to other moms I have learned that I'm not alone! Post C-section constipation caused me to vomit for two solid weeks (while trying to pump and take care of twin infants). Many have agreed this was the worst aspect of childbirth in terms of pain. It can involve crying, bleeding and agonizing days before you are healed. To make matters worse, it's very hard for other family members to understand how painful this is and to understand why you may not be able to even hold your baby while dealing with it. It was so bad I ended up going to back to the hospital for an ultrasound to check for leftover placenta parts, but the doctor found nothing and diagnosed me with severe constipation. I got an enema at the hospital to help. It didn't work. I had to get a second enema and finally relief came, but only after the most agonizing experience of the entire childbirth. Because constipation is caused from pain meds, it's important to try and get off all pain meds as soon as it's safe. This situation is complicated because your doctor will likely encourage you to continue pain meds to mitigate C-section pain. You will have the option to switch to Tylenol early on, but you will have to make this decision on your own! Once I realized the pain meds were the culprit, I immediately stopped the opioid pain medicine, but I wish I made the decision days earlier! I finally switched to a combo of Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Colace and Miralax to assist after the second enema until I was back to normal. I'm telling you this was so awful, it gives me anxiety thinking about it. Lucky for me, a relative of mine had the exact same problem after childbirth so she helped me to know I was not alone, because there was a moment I was scared I may not survive! It truly was the worst.
2.) Trapped gas-
In addition to constipation, trapped gas was another one of the most painful postpartum symptoms I experienced post C-section.
The trapped gas added to my nausea and vomiting in the two weeks after I was released from the hospital. The trapped gas was so painful my mom was literally burping me as much as the babies. She would hit my back to help me get the gas out and we used an electric massager to push the gas out of my back. She did that for me while I was pumping because I would be in so much pain sitting up to pump. These things really helped! I also realized some gas medicines that are supposed to help relieve gas actually make the situation worse. For instance, when I stopped taking GasX (which was prescribed at the hospital), I felt better. Read all the side effects of your medication to see if gas is a symptom and consider eliminating it if this happens to you.
3.) Nipple pain from pumping will subside-
Nipple pain is horrible for many women when you initially begin to pump and breastfeed, but it's important to note that nipple pain from pumping is temporary until your body gets used to it.
Don't give up! A lot of women quit pumping and breastfeeding in the first weeks due to the pain, because they can't see an end in sight. If you have the knowledge the pain will subside in a few weeks, it helps you to power through. Another thing that helped, make sure to use a nipple cream while you pump! This cuts down on the pinching that causes pain. Warm baths also help. You are not supposed to soak your C-section incision until 8-12 weeks after giving birth and the doctor will tell you not to take a bath. I would get in the bath, but wouldn't allow the water to hit my scar. Also, icing your breasts after you pump and putting warm wash cloths on your breasts before you pump, helps tremendously those first weeks. I would take warm shallow baths 4-5 times a day before pumping, placing the wash cloths on during my shallow bath which helps relieve pain and to generate milk supply. Warm baths helped with all of my physical pain after C-section.
4.) Hormone drop after twins-
After giving birth to twins, I didn't expect to drop 35 pounds in less than a week!
The female body is amazing, but the hormone drop experienced from losing so much weight and the shift in pregnancy hormones is enough to make you sick. I'm sure the weight drop added to my nausea and vomiting the first two weeks postpartum. I had to carry a barf bag!
5.) Postpartum uterine contractions-
Severe cramping was not something I expected in the first weeks postpartum and it was really painful!
This was due to pumping milk for the twins because pumping and breastfeeding helps your uterus to contract and shrink back down to size. It's was so severe it added to the nausea and vomiting. This may have been worsened due to my twin pregnancy since the uterus has a long way to go to get back to normal, but it was certainly unexpected. Warm baths seemed to help.
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