after baby... pushing your body too far?

Ok... I'm wondering what kind of damage everyone is talking about when they say to not push yourself and rest after the baby is born. When I came home I had a nurse come over to check on Riley for the jaundice but she was also checking up on me. She was saying (and the doctor said the same when they discharged me from the hospital) that a sign of doing too much was more bleeding. My bleeding disapeared a little over a week after having her. Recently, (now a week later) I started bleeding again and heavily... Its not bright red like I was told to look out for but its very very heavy(does coloring have anything to do with if your hurting yourself or not?). I have a hard time stopping my routine so I'm wondering what all the fuss is about with resting. I feel great. I have to take care of all 3 of the kids, clean, cook, play with them, do laundry ect. Plus, I can't help but to do things I myself enjoy. I'm moving all day usually. I'm eating good, more than usual and I've already lost my pregnancy weight... What is the internal damage of this??? I'm not going nuts with working out or doing things like that so am I really doing any damage to myself?

 

Hon, laundry and chores can wait. Your children can't and that's understandable, but you JUST GAVE BIRTH! See if anyone can and is willing to help with the other stuff. Doing EVERYTHING can lead to stress on your body, and what your babies need right now is a completely healthy momma.

 

Ditto. If you're bleeding more, you need to sit and relax. You have a hub, right? He can clean and do laundry. He can cook when he's home. You can play with the kids while sitting. Sling the baby and read book, play blocks, now's even a good reason to watch a bit more tv. I know it's hard to not do stuff you enjoy, but you really need to rest your body (((hugs)))

 

I thought the same.. I was out and about.. stopped bleeding and all then I started with a fever cramps.. went in to get checked and all seemed okay.. they still told me to rest and I did not listen.. a few days later I feel as if am having contractions.. and this huge blood clot comes out.. no lie it the HUGE!!.. remember where your placenta was attached you have an open wound there. take it easy.. take some Vitamin E and Zinc it helps you with the healing. I thought my bleeding had stopped and when it came back I was bleeding for over a month.. listen to your body if you bleed more it's your body way of saying.. Eryn slow down.

Take care of youself.=)

Love ya!

Zenia

 

I never remember resting after having the kids, I hung drywall when Zoe was like 4 days old,lol. and yes I was fine.

BUT when Gigi was born and Zoe being only 1 wanted me to carry her I did start some serious bleeding, like I got in the shower because it was sooo bad, but it didn't seem to hurt me, just made me a bit light headed for a bit, but I suppose really it could have been bad, as said above there is an open wound on the uterus right now, and you wouldn't want to loose too much blood.

I would suggest not worrying about the laundry too much, it will be there later, a few weeks of rest won't kill you, but in my opinion you should do whatever feels comfortable and right. I for one would go crazy if I just sat around all day, I like to be busy!

 

Eryn you have had 3 kids in 3 years, the more children you have the more you need to take it easy.

Resumed bleeding is definately a sign of doing too much. Get some paper plates so you won;t have so many dishes to wash. Forget about making the beds; revive the old-fashioned custom of "airing" them. When your man is home, make a weeks worth of food (soups and lasagnas) and freeze them for the week. When the baby is six weeks old, you're body will be in much better shape (even though you feel fine now) and you'll be ready to resume your full duties. If you keep going like you are now, when she's six weeks you'll feel like crap.
I did the same thing with my third baby, felt great after a 45 minute labour, 3 days later I was cooking and cleaning and braiding my daughter's hair, but I got an intra-uterine infection AND mastitis. I felt like shit from the time he was 2 weeks old.
Even if you feel great, you need to rest. Most cultures have a mandatory 6 week "confinement" period after birth. We hippies like to call it a "babymoon". You should be doing nothing but feeding your baby and taking care of your own personal hygeine needs. I swear, you'll feel much better in 4 weeks if you take it easy now.

 

the babymoon my midwives insisted I have was the most wonderful thing ever!! They even lectured DH about not letting me do anything for at least two weeks after baby was born besides nurse her and eat, and get up to pee and have a shower. That was it! And it was lovely. I totally felt up to taking on the world after DD2 was born, but it was really nice to not have to do anything at all. Every new mom should be so lucky.

 

Erin, I know you feel good. Use that good feeling to take a Baby Moon, spend time lying around with your kids, reading books, laughing, helping them to get to know the baby, and her getting to know them, drinking lots of fluids, eating good food (like you have been doing) and RESTING.

I overdid it after my Moon was born. I had a very long labor, and then a C section, and was feeling so good at about 8 weeks that I started overdoing it, and started bleeding bright red blood and had to get back into bed with the kids and rest. Suddenly, I was exhausted. I think I got into bed just in time to have prevented an infection, though. (Although it was later than you are now, I had a section, so things move slower.)

Baby Moon. Honey.

 

yea... I'm going to try to. I admit, don't kill me guys! I skateboarded a little and then I went on a mile walk yesterday to the park but once we got there I realized "oh... I can't do this stuff anymore" and sat with the strollers while Chris took both the kids into the slides and stuff (something I normally love to do). We called someone for a ride back. I think today I'm going to be good and stop moving. I have a new poi set coming in the mail in the week... I think I may have Chris hide it from me so I don't go out and over-do it. *sigh* I'm not a very good resting kind of person. Guess its a good time to learn. Maybe I'll take the kids to the library and stock up on books for the week.

 

YES! Stock up on books, little crafty things the boys might get into, maybe some finger paints *colour wonders from crayola rock*, maybe some videos the boys would like to watch....

And let them play outside, just be willing to just sit and feed baby and watch them at it...If they want you to play too, just say that you are resting with baby for whatever reason...

*hugs*

 

OMG. to be 21..... I couldn't skateboard if my life depended on it. Mama, slow down......hugs........

 

skateboarding can be an addiction
But now is the time to take it easy. There's plenty of time left to go skateboarding. BTW, do you know the website www.skateboardmom.com ?

EDIT: daaaa... old topic, didn't see :&

 

nope I have never been there but I will go... thanks for the link! This isn't too old... I'm still on my rest period... *grumbles* lol. I am reading a pretty interesting book now so its going pretty decently.

 

you're right! I always get confused by the dates. in the netherlands today's date would be written 20-4-2006...

enjoy your resting time with the kids