Things no one told you

[olive]

Yes to everything kerbear said! Plus some Motrin to take! So much easier to have everything so you don't have to run out to the store in the first week!

[merryrissmas]

+1 to insane thirst while BFing at night. Load up the giant hospital cup they give you with ice & water each night & put it in the nursery (or on your bedside table if baby us in your bedroom) so it's right there for you while the baby is nursing.

[cbowl]

Have someone else like your H or another family member remind you take your meds on time! There is soon much going on especially once you leave the hospital and you are usually last on your list of priorities. It helps to have someone else to remind you (and even bring the meds to you) when you stay on top of them - recovery is easier.

[sodapop]

I have nothing to add to all the great things already said besides maybe that no one told me to prepare for the newborn life instead of focusing so much on the pregnancy, there are bigger things ahead. I read a lot about pregnancy but not so much about newborn and that's something I regret.

[cbowl]

so true sodapop !

[lovetruly2015]

Jul 25, 2016 9:51:03 GMT -5 theophania said:

If you have to have a c-section and you didn't plan on it, this is NOT a failure. This is you doing what you need to do to bring your baby safely into the world. You just has a baby and you are amazing no matter how that baby comes out.

Some advice for c-section moms.

- Take the pain meds on a schedule. You do not want to chase the pain, stay ahead of it.

- You're going to feel like you can do more than you actually can those first few weeks. Don't. Take it easy. Don't wait until you're already sore to rest. Laundry, dishes, sweeping, mopping, and even showers can wait if need be. No one is judging your house when you have a newborn.

- The swelling can be intense. It's normal. It gets better.

- The gas pains after surgery hurt. Tell the nurse. They can and will give you something. Also go ahead and ask for stool softener right away. You'll be glad later.

- The sooner you try to get up and walk after your c-section the sooner they give you real food. Let the nurse or your H help you.

This. All of this.

[thiscoffeechick]

A STM gave me this and I thought it was weird. Then I started sliding it into my bra on the side I wasn't nursing on, while nursing and I was collecting up to 2 oz of milk that would have just wet my bra and sat there.
I buy these for every FTM I know now.
www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001SMBRWO/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1469631659&sr=8-1&keywords=milkies&pi=SX200_QL40

[merryrissmas]

Jul 27, 2016 10:03:03 GMT -5 thiscoffeechick said:

A STM gave me this and I thought it was weird. Then I started sliding it into my bra on the side I wasn't nursing on, while nursing and I was collecting up to 2 oz of milk that would have just wet my bra and sat there.
I buy these for every FTM I know now.
www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001SMBRWO/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1469631659&sr=8-1&keywords=milkies&pi=SX200_QL40

This is genius!  I definitely need to order it.

[LadyNymeria]

Jul 27, 2016 11:40:27 GMT -5 theophania said:

Have we talked about post-partum hair loss? Sometime between 2-4 months you might start shedding like mad. You'll feel like you're going to go bald. You won't, but it really will feel like it for awhile.

My neighbor warned me about that recently. I usually shed a lot anyway, but haven't been too much during pregnancy. She warned me that everything I normally would have shedded during the time I've been pregnant will come out in force after baby is here. Not looking forward to that!

[pismoduo]

Jul 27, 2016 11:40:27 GMT -5 theophania said:

Have we talked about post-partum hair loss? Sometime between 2-4 months you might start shedding like mad. You'll feel like you're going to go bald. You won't, but it really will feel like it for awhile.

My mom told me this, actually. I was complaining about how much hair I had (I really should get a haircut) and she said to enjoy it now because it'll come out in handfuls in the shower after baby is born.
Save

[f14mama]

Jul 23, 2016 7:53:02 GMT -5 singingsea said:

Jul 22, 2016 20:15:29 GMT -5 merryrissmas said:

Make a pact with your H that anything said during the middle of the night in a sleep deprived haze/rage is not to be taken personally or rehashed in the morning. This alone has probably saved my marriage multiple times.

This times a million!!!

Hahahaha, this is so spot on. I would cry and apologize to DH every day for things said in the middle of the night for at least 4 months. 

I wish someone would have told me you can say no to visitors and unsolicited advice. I feel like my hospital stay was way more stressful than it needed to be due to constant barrage of MIL, sister, aunts, uncles, and whatever other family member felt entitled to come by whenever they felt like it.

[bennikki]

If you plan on nursing, check out LLL or breastfeeding support groups in your area before baby comes. Nursing was very important to me, and I really struggled with my first (poor latch at first, lazy eater, mastitis, clogged ducts, oversupply, thrush), LLL was a godsend of knowledge (often better than the LC at the hospital) and sympathy. Also, I decided I wasn't going to quit on a bad day.

Baby Blues are very real. I definitely felt them with my first (not so much with my second), but going from being very independent to suddenly having someone entirely dependent on me was such a huge change that took a while to adjust to. This was not PPD/PPA, but more a missing my childfree days.

It is totally okay to ask visitors to do stuff for you (they should be offering anyway). If your mom/MIL wants to come over to see the baby, she can also throw in a load of laundry for you, or wash up the dishes in the sink, or pick up some milk on the way.

It's also fine to say, "today is not a good day to visit." When I was at the height of dealing with thrush (yeast infection on my nipples), I was topless all the time, and no, I wasn't about to put clothes on my burning nipples in order for someone to coo at my baby. I thought I was being weird/rude, but people understood.

I had no appetite for the first few weeks at home with my kids. I knew I needed to eat for energy, health, and milk production, so I made a big kettle of vegetable soup once a week, and I'd quick warm up a mug when I had the chance (at least 3 times a day). Bonus: I could eat/drink it with one hand!

Stock up on one handed snacks/foods.

Invest in a good water bottle.

[thiscoffeechick]

Jul 27, 2016 11:40:27 GMT -5 theophania said:

Have we talked about post-partum hair loss? Sometime between 2-4 months you might start shedding like mad. You'll feel like you're going to go bald. You won't, but it really will feel like it for awhile.

SO MUCH THIS. I was pissed at my hair girl a few months post partum because I thought she had fried my ends since I had so much "breakage" around my face. I casually brought it up and she showed me that I had a one inch long "buzz" on like a third of my hairs from PP hair loss. Anywhere she split it, there was a one inch high sprout of hair sticking up from re-growth. Oops. It wasn't her fault.

[cbrandt1]

Human nipples are very different from bottle nipples. Milk comes out from about 10 different places. This was a surprise for me...

Eta- when you're engorged, there's a great chance you'll spray yourself or LO in the face. Mostly middle of the night when you can barely see and your trying to get a good latch. (D was a lazy, but aggressive, nurser and we'd have to latch and unlatch a couple times because my nipples were so bad from early bad habits.)

[olive]

Jul 27, 2016 20:57:32 GMT -5 cbrandt1 said:

Human nipples are very different from bottle nipples. Milk comes out from about 10 different places. This was a surprise for me...

And can spray every where when you let down!! I died the first time that happened! Poor baby was soaked haha!

[cbrandt1]

Jul 27, 2016 21:01:06 GMT -5 olive said:

Jul 27, 2016 20:57:32 GMT -5 cbrandt1 said:

Human nipples are very different from bottle nipples. Milk comes out from about 10 different places. This was a surprise for me...

And can spray every where when you let down!! I died the first time that happened! Poor baby was soaked haha!

Ha ha yeah, I edited to add that bit.

[briannea]

Jul 24, 2016 11:35:21 GMT -5 merryrissmas said:

Something else I thought of - you will probably be starving after delivery. I have never known hunger like that before. I don't know if all hospitals are like mine but at mine, the room service menu is all diabetes-diet-friendly, which meant tiny portions. Order as much food as you can, or send your H/family members to get you something. I had to wait 2 hours for breakfast service to start after DS1 was born and it was torture....and then the meal was so small that I could have easily eaten 2 more of them!

I was the opposite, I was horribly nauseated and couldn't eat for hours after the birth. The nurses ordered me a ton of food and I could barely even look at it. My husband ate some and we took a bit to my recovery room.

[briannea]

Hemorrhoids, bleeding for six weeks, horribly painful pooing, the pain of letdown during the first few weeks of breastfeeding, being afraid to drive with the baby in the car, being afraid of being alone with the baby, insomnia, crazy middle of the night googling.