Post Postpartum

 

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There is so much information out there for the weeks directly following birth and after your 6 week check up, it's like the medical field dusts off their hands as if to say "Good work, you're back to normal!" Ha...haha. I'd like to talk a little bit about what they don't tell you and how long things can last! Because I am nearly 7.5 months out and there are still physical signs that I "just" had a baby.

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For starters, depending on how you birthed your baby, your healing could go well beyond 6 weeks. Sure your tear can heal, but it can also re-tear. That tear takes awhile to heal because they can't go putting stitches in you now, but they can cauterize it with silver. Yup, fun times.

The linea nigra. That awesome line that appears on your belly during pregnancy doesn't fade right away! And maybe its because I am breastfeeding still, but I can still see mine. It has faded quite a bit and thinned out, but it is still visible.

Hair. There is lots to be said about hair during and after pregnancy! Yes my hair was awesomesauce during pregnancy, just like all the books claimed. And the makeup of it changed a bit, I used to be so oily that I could not skip a day of shampoo ever. I was a serial 7-days a week shampoo-er but about halfway through my pregnancy I noticed that I didn't need to wash everyday! My hair wasn't as greasy, it was great! I also thought I wasn't going to have the major shedding that everyone describes but it happened to me too. About 3-4 months postpartum my hair was shedding like mad and my brushes were filling up so fast! Thankfully I never had any bald spots or clumps coming out in the shower. Skip to now, it is back to how it used to be, needing to be washed frequently and now I have a crown of disgusting baby hairs that are over 1 inch long. I haaaaaate them. And they are obviously my natural color of darker blonde that make my whole head look darker! This one bums me out the most.

But there are some pluses. Weight loss for one. I weigh less than I did before I got pregnant. This has got to be because of breastfeeding because I exercise maaaybe once a week and eat ice cream after dinner often. (Although my alcohol consumption has gone WAY DOWN.) And the weight fell off fast. I don't own a scale but at my 6 week check up I was 5 pounds away from my starting weight. This was a huge welcome surprise!

And maybe the most awesome of all? No period...still. Which if you do the math means I haven't had one since December 2011. Yeaaaaah. That doesn't suck!

What am I missing? Anything you other new mamas want to add? I'm all ears!