It really is different for every woman. Some women can slip on pre-pregnancy pants a few days after the birth though I do no think that is very common. My belly was very jello like afterwards for a good while. At least a couple months. I too exclusively breastfeed my babies and nursing causes your uterus to contract and return to it's normal size much faster. But the belly itself was just jiggly and there. For some women it never really goes away, for some it's not a problem. Normal fits in a wide canyon with regards to birth, babies and beyond
Right after I gave birth like the second he came out my stomach went flat, it was a little soft but it was pretty much flat. The doctor said it was good and surprising. I lost all my pregnancy weight (40 pounds) in two months then lost another 15 pounds afterward. Now I am back to my pre pregnancy weight though and I still breastfeed. I was lucky I was able to pretty much fit right into my pants after birth.
EEe babies I've always wondered... How long do bebbehs breast feed for? And can you squeeze the milk out of your nnooiple like you can do with sheep or a coow? And what is the pain like when you give birth... Is it the same sort of feeling as period pains? Cus those are fooking horrible xD
The World Health Organization recommends that women breastfeed until at least age two. Sadly, most women rarely make it to 6 months if they even try. The milk can actually come out of your breast without anyone or anything touching them. It's called "letdown" and can happen simply by hearing a baby cry... not even your own. In fact, my milk would come in when I would get water from a water cooler... lol!! I think it was the noise or something. Some women can feel their letdown and others cannot. If you squeeze your nipple... yup, milk will squirt out. And I have to admit that I giggled at your comment about labour being compared to period pains. =) Sadly, it is much worse. Words will never do labour justice... ever! Whenever I get hurt now I can always say that labour was worse. Some women say that it's a pain that they forget... Not I. I remember it all very well and very clearly. It hurts like a motherfucker!! But is saying that, I did birthed my second son with only taking gas and air so I guess it's all what you make it. Think of the worst period pains you have had, then add in teh worst cramps you have ever had from food poisoning, then let's say you really pissed soemone off and they came and kicked you in teh stomach and back every two minutes for 12 hours... ah... um... Seriously, there is no way to compare it to anything. Simply put, it feels like you are pushing a baby out of your vagina. HAHA!!! It hurts during the labour and it hurts when the baby is exiting. Graphic enough? hehe Anymore questions? This is quickly becoming my fav thread ever!
HDH, i just called my sis and she said it is usually very slight and hers was only a day. But she said it can be a bit longer than that.
Labor sucks. Luckily mine was quick but I was given pitocin. The worst part for me was my back, it felt like someone was cracking me open, it was like breaking a bone and having someone twist it and smash it more. The stomach wasn't bad but the back ahh. Never again.
Haha that letdown thing sounds so silly xD Has anyone had sex so hard it felt like it hit your cervix? Like proper inside pains and nausea... My bf said thats what guys feel when they get kicked in the balls... xD Is it worse than that too?! Corrr giving birth sounds awESome xD I'm afraid that if I have kids my attention will divert from hubbo to kids... I dunno, I want to solely concentrate on him... If that makes sense? Gah I sound selfish xD I'm worried we would grow apart with kids in the middle... Was anyone who has kids worried about that? I see my bf's parents and they are like teenagers xD Its so cool. My parents separated when I was 13, so I don't have much perception of parents being "together" is that makes sense? Babiieeees
The duration of the breastfeeding relationship depends on the mother and child. Some children will "self-wean" meaning they just give it up on their and others have to be gently encouraged. I nursed my oldest daughter for 34 1/4months. And she would have nursed longer had I let her but at that point I had been tandem nursing (nursing 2 children) for 6 months and I was done with it. My youngest is 26 months and this pregnancy has all but dried me up so she still asks to nurse a couple times a week but really only gets colostrum (the first milk a mother's body makes before her mature milk comes in). Some children nurse until 4 or 5 and in other countries (like Africa) it is not uncommon for children to nurse until 7 or 8 years old. For some women they can gently squeeze their breasts to produce a stream of milk and for others they can't even get out a drop with an electric breast pump. Again it really depends on the person. It's very different for every woman. In the beginning (first few months of breastfeeding) I could shoot my hubby sitting a good 5 feet away but lost that ability as my milk supply leveled out over time. The pain that you experience in labor is also different for every woman. My first labor was quite intense but I didn't know what to expect. The fear of the unknown (when will it stop, how much harder will it get, etc) plays a lot on your pain. There are many pain management techniques that are very helpful in dealing with the discomfort. My second birth was so different in terms of the level of pain that I felt. It was a familiar road, yk? I knew what to expect, I had done it before, I felt empowered and I just rode the waves of pain as they came. Getting into a pool of water was a huge relief for me in labor. Being weightless was amazing and made things a lot more tolerable. But seriously, I couldn't really speak at all during my first labor and during the second I was chatty and cracking jokes between contractions. The main terrain of pain is in the brain - that was my motto. Both of my births were completely drug free and I am choosing this again for the third time if that tells you anything about the pain and a woman's ability to handle it. The things is - it's pain with a purpose. It isn't like slamming your hand in the car door over and over and over, it's a manageable pain that your body was designed for and made to tolerate. Read my sig I can only imagine what a labor with Pitocin would be like. That must have been incredibly painful. Pitocin forces the body to have unnaturally hard contractions. The natural rhythm of labor is supported by the release of oxytocin in bursts as needed, whereas pitocin is administered as a constant IV drip that confines most women to bed. This decreases their ability to control the escalating pain caused by drug-induced uterine activity, and laboring women are more likely to require pain medication that slows labor. Think of the dichotomy: pitocin is administered to speed up labor, but the increased level of pain requires medication that slows it down. In addition, pitocin often has no effect on cervical dilation even though the contractions are much stronger. So it forces you to contract while doing nothing for dilation. The let down or milk ejection reflex is a bit funny (and messy) at first. Breastfeeding really is just an awesome thing that I wish every woman was able to experience. It was amazing to look at my 15lb 8month old baby and know that I put EVERY SINGLE OUNCE on her body all by myself. Very empowering! And that feeling you are referring to about sex is commonly referred to as "bottoming out." Yes - I've felt it, there are just certain positions that are off limits because if I can't control the amount of thrust coming from the other end it can become rather uncomfortable And yes, labor is much different than that. At first your attention is turned 100% toward this completely helpless little perfect being and it is hard. I too come from a broken home (been through 2 divorces as a child) and the thought of having children scared me. I will say that if you have a strong marriage it will still be difficult but children have seemed to only add to the love that my husband and I have for each other. There is nothing like looking at a creation of love knowing it contains part of you and part of the man you love the most in this world. We learned more about ourselves and our love for each other than I think we ever could have had we not had children. Here is an article I wrote that you may find interesting - http://mamamojo.wordpress.com/2009/08/22/giving-birth-and-giving-birth-away/
For me I lived kind of far from the hospital and I was worried if I went home I wouldn't get the hospital in time but that was really dumb thinking on my part. Usually they give it to speed your contractions which leads to dilation and a faster birth, supposedly. I wouldn't do it again if I could, my contractions were bearable until I got that pitocin then it was horrendous and I opted for no pain meds.
And here's me thinking the only options where gas and air and epidurals LOL. Gretaoto, when you opted for no pain meds, was there a choice of meds you could take? Or did you just check a "no pain" box and they decided what drugs you should take? Sorry, I missed the point. Did you want a natural birth but was too slow at giving birth, decided on pictocin and picotin ruined your experience and left you unable to naturally birth? Maybe I'm missing the point again. Edit Mamamojo spelled it out in the below post.
HDH - YES! Unfortunately here in the states Pitocin is often used to "induce" labor. Basically, a woman in the end of pregnancy, tired and just ready to have her baby (but her body obviously isn't ready or she'd be in labor) has the idea of a magic procedure called induction waved before her nose and blindly trusting her doctors she goes for it. The end of pregnancy is a very emotionally vulnerable time for women. It's hard. And when someone promises you can be holding your baby in 8 hours, sometimes you cave. A lot of women aren't informed of the risks and complications, the doctor never mentions the risks and complications because most OBs here want to deliver women on their time table. They want to control the entire birth process and that just isn't how it should be. Sorry if I sound bitter I've just heard so many accounts of these actions and it really is sad. That's why it is very important to educate yourself so that you are armed with the knowledge you need - we cannot blindly trust our health care providers. Especially not Obs in America!! Not all inductions end horribly - but I will letcha know that ALL inductions come with a set of risks and the biggest one is the big C-section which is a major abdominal surgery. Here's another lil diddy - http://mamamojo.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/the-truth-about-pitocin/
WOW!! You are my hero! I do not think I could have a drug free labor with pitocin contractions!! That's friggin AMAZING! You are like super woman! No wonder your description of labor was so horrid. Poor Mama. We all make the choices we think are best at the time so never look back in regret. I do wish you could have had a different experience though cause honestly it's hard work, but it's totally not the HELL you described.
