Sunday, September 21, 2014
Friday, September 12, 2014
Your Body After Pregnancy - Breastfeeding, Tummies, and More
American culture is quite vain.
We are so focused on physical appearances, due to the media, society, etc., that we often do or do not do things if it results in our appearance being negatively affected.
As many of you know, I am not a very vain person but I would be lying if I said that society didn't have an effect on me. I did not look forward to looking like a deflated balloon.
But there is an unusual catch here: after you give birth, you don't care so much. You are so focused on this amazing little life that you forget to care about what you look like. I even went to the store on accident with my pajama pants on, when I specifically meant to change them before we left. Oops. Not to mention undergoing labor changes your perspective on your appearance. You just don't care what people think.
Let's face it though, you want to know what you'll look like after you give birth, you want to know if you'll ever go back to normal, etc. Before I get into more specifics, I want to mention one thing: plenty of models and actresses have gone into labor and come out a few months later looking exactly like they did before pregnancy. They work for it, sure, but women bounce back.
To get into specifics, let's start with your stomach. It's unrealistic to think you'll make it out without stretch marks. Some women do but it's pretty rare. What people DO NOT tell you is that stretch marks are technically classified as scars. So those of you who think that frequent usage of cocoa butter will cure you, sorry. Stretch marks do fade to almost unnoticeable after a time, however. Be patient.
What's more annoying than stretch marks is the deflated balloon look. Your stomach will look tired and saggy as well as misshapen. If you think about everything your body goes through during pregnancy and labor this makes sense. Over time and with exercise it will come back together but it can be a slow process. Worse, your belly button does change. My previously perfect little innie is now somehow bigger, deeper, and darker. I hope over time it won't be so bad.
Nursing is a big deal to me, being the perfect source of food for my little guy. One of the nurses told me when I was feeding my son that when he reaches his hand out to touch me it's his way of getting to know me. It got me thinking: I've seen babies reach out and touch/hold their bottles. How can a baby get to know a piece of plastic?
That said, breastfeeding is not easy. It seems so natural until you realize that because of frequent feedings you're in a lot of pain. Sure, the nurses and the internet will tell you it's due to an improper latch but that is not always the case. In fact, it was driving me nuts to read that as I was looking for a solution to my pain. I never saw another possible reason for soreness and tears. Sure other women would say they were in pain just to be met with a chorus of "improper latch" people. I read it could take weeks for nursing to get better. Women swear up and down that lanolin works. I tried that. I tried an organic nipple cream. I had a tear so bad I was prescribed a cream, which I didn't bother using. Showers were unbearable. Solution? Nothing. I stopped using everything. It took some time but even with frequent nursing the tear started to heal and is almost gone. Nursing on that side is not as painful as it was before either. It does get better with time, patience is key.
There are factors that were against me from the start with nursing. I'm fair skinned and bruise easily. I'm not a super quick healer. And then there's my ferocious little baby. He has a very strong suck. Plus he does not attach easily. Nurses who were against pushing his head toward me started pushing his head. Nurses were also against holding his hands down but found they had to; he's just too strong.
Breastfeeding takes a lot out of you, more than just milk. It helps you lose your pregnancy weight. It gets your uterus back down to size. It leaves you unbearably tired and hungry. They say you can eat an additional 500 calories a day when you breastfeed. What they don't tell you is you need it, plus a gallon of water on the side. (Nipple pads are invaluable by the way. I got some organic ones off of Amazon.com.) But breastfeeding is totally worth it, for you and especially your baby.
Something I was not prepared for was finding out my bladder was back to size. Of course this is a good thing, it was just weird for the habit of using the bathroom every 10-15 minutes to suddenly disappear.
Lastly, your post-pregnancy diet. It is a colossal relief to not have to worry as much as before, although I still eat as organic as I can. But here's the kicker: you technically should be eating more after pregnancy than during if you are nursing. Your milk production will suffer otherwise. I've never been so hungry!
It's worth pointing out that I never took a single prenatal vitamin, never took the glucose screening test, and did heavy lifting throughout my pregnancy. Guess what? Not only am I fine, but I have a perfect, healthy baby who could push himself upright on his feet at 6 weeks. We just hold his little hands and up he goes. He's also in the 75th percentile for everything. Take that modern medicine!
Anyway, some quick news: I have a new blog! The link is Additive Free and it will be discussing news from our world regarding food, society, and life. I will begin posting soon so check it out!
My baby is 8 weeks old tomorrow. How time flies!
What's more annoying than stretch marks is the deflated balloon look. Your stomach will look tired and saggy as well as misshapen. If you think about everything your body goes through during pregnancy and labor this makes sense. Over time and with exercise it will come back together but it can be a slow process. Worse, your belly button does change. My previously perfect little innie is now somehow bigger, deeper, and darker. I hope over time it won't be so bad.
Nursing is a big deal to me, being the perfect source of food for my little guy. One of the nurses told me when I was feeding my son that when he reaches his hand out to touch me it's his way of getting to know me. It got me thinking: I've seen babies reach out and touch/hold their bottles. How can a baby get to know a piece of plastic?
That said, breastfeeding is not easy. It seems so natural until you realize that because of frequent feedings you're in a lot of pain. Sure, the nurses and the internet will tell you it's due to an improper latch but that is not always the case. In fact, it was driving me nuts to read that as I was looking for a solution to my pain. I never saw another possible reason for soreness and tears. Sure other women would say they were in pain just to be met with a chorus of "improper latch" people. I read it could take weeks for nursing to get better. Women swear up and down that lanolin works. I tried that. I tried an organic nipple cream. I had a tear so bad I was prescribed a cream, which I didn't bother using. Showers were unbearable. Solution? Nothing. I stopped using everything. It took some time but even with frequent nursing the tear started to heal and is almost gone. Nursing on that side is not as painful as it was before either. It does get better with time, patience is key.
There are factors that were against me from the start with nursing. I'm fair skinned and bruise easily. I'm not a super quick healer. And then there's my ferocious little baby. He has a very strong suck. Plus he does not attach easily. Nurses who were against pushing his head toward me started pushing his head. Nurses were also against holding his hands down but found they had to; he's just too strong.
Breastfeeding takes a lot out of you, more than just milk. It helps you lose your pregnancy weight. It gets your uterus back down to size. It leaves you unbearably tired and hungry. They say you can eat an additional 500 calories a day when you breastfeed. What they don't tell you is you need it, plus a gallon of water on the side. (Nipple pads are invaluable by the way. I got some organic ones off of Amazon.com.) But breastfeeding is totally worth it, for you and especially your baby.
Something I was not prepared for was finding out my bladder was back to size. Of course this is a good thing, it was just weird for the habit of using the bathroom every 10-15 minutes to suddenly disappear.
Lastly, your post-pregnancy diet. It is a colossal relief to not have to worry as much as before, although I still eat as organic as I can. But here's the kicker: you technically should be eating more after pregnancy than during if you are nursing. Your milk production will suffer otherwise. I've never been so hungry!
It's worth pointing out that I never took a single prenatal vitamin, never took the glucose screening test, and did heavy lifting throughout my pregnancy. Guess what? Not only am I fine, but I have a perfect, healthy baby who could push himself upright on his feet at 6 weeks. We just hold his little hands and up he goes. He's also in the 75th percentile for everything. Take that modern medicine!
Anyway, some quick news: I have a new blog! The link is Additive Free and it will be discussing news from our world regarding food, society, and life. I will begin posting soon so check it out!
My baby is 8 weeks old tomorrow. How time flies!
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