Bed Rest
the week after bubba was born was pretty hectic. so hectic in fact that i wasn't quite 'resting' like i was told to do. sure, you try to rest when you're rushing around trying to see your little one in the hospital.
i went to a checkup one week after giving birth, part of a grant the hospital has for new mothers, they check you out and ask how breastfeeding was going. i answered the usual questions: how are you feeling? how is the bleeding? do you need any pain meds?
my responses were, i'm feeling great actually, it's actually almost gone, and nope i've been doing fine without them.
until that evening... (TMI time: skip this if you get queasy just thinking about blood)
i was about to head to bed when all of a sudden i felt a huge gush of blood, quite honestly, it scared me. i knew this was not usual or at least i felt that way. always trust your instincts!! i was still wearing those huge hospital pads so i didn't worry too much about it and slept through the night figuring i would see how i was doing in the morning. by morning, the bleeding had slowed down so i assumed all was well just clearing out more "stuff" and whatnot. so as the week continued all seemed normal, we had our baby at home and we were trying to get some sleep when it happened again. that gush of blood that didn't feel quite right after 10days postpartum. i called my doctor and let them know i was quite concerned since all the nurses and literature told me that heavy bleeding 10days postpartum was not normal. they set up an appointment the very next day... what i was told was the placenta scab had come off. gross i know but what it means is that where the placenta was located in my uterus starts to scab over to heal (like any other open wound) but because i was not resting i was not letting it heal properly. another possibility was that a piece of the placenta was left behind and i could be hemorrhaging. WHA???
the best thing to do from this point on was to go on bed rest, pretty strict bed rest. that's fantastic and all but i have a newborn that needs me 24/7 so what would i do? Brian had just finished up all his vacation/sick time just being with me the last three weeks, how would he take more time off to help me?
thank goodness for Family Medical Leave, he was able to take a week off unpaid to take care of us. my husband is such an amazing man and father. he cooked for me, cleaned, woke up when the baby cried, changed the baby's diaper, hand him to me to nurse him then he would burp him and put him to sleep. it was a difficult week, not being able to do anything but lay there all while worrying that i was hemorrhaging.
the bleeding came and went and i was absolutely miserable, thinking i was a horrible mother for not being able to even carry my baby to his nursery. i'd pray every night for the bleeding to stop but it didn't. i called the doctor after that week and told her i was still bleeding and she told me it was normal to bleed for 6-8 weeks postpartum so i shouldn't worry until then. just as long as i wasn't bleeding profusely for an hour at a time, which i wasn't, but i was still so nervous to do anything strenuous.
i have stairs in my house and was only allowed to walk up/down them once a day. this meant setting up everything i needed downstairs and staying there all day until Brian came home from work. i hated it but had to do it because i didn't want to bleed out and have to go to strict bed rest again.
i can safely say now, at 8 weeks postpartum, that all is well and i've been given the ok to carry on life as usual. i can finally carry my kiddo in his carseat all by myself. just imagine, having to have someone go with you everywhere you needed to go just to carry your baby in and out of the carseat. thankfully my parents were able to help me with this (remember Brian was out of vacation time) and not to mention my mom coming over everyday of my bed rest to cook us dinner and a few days after too. she knew Brian needed a break.
i'll be able to start exercising next week, slowly but surely. i definitely need to start exercising.
you know that saying, when it rains it pours? well let's just say i'm not having the best of luck when it comes to motherhood. we'll save that for another post though.
Such is Life
i went to a checkup one week after giving birth, part of a grant the hospital has for new mothers, they check you out and ask how breastfeeding was going. i answered the usual questions: how are you feeling? how is the bleeding? do you need any pain meds?
my responses were, i'm feeling great actually, it's actually almost gone, and nope i've been doing fine without them.
until that evening... (TMI time: skip this if you get queasy just thinking about blood)
i was about to head to bed when all of a sudden i felt a huge gush of blood, quite honestly, it scared me. i knew this was not usual or at least i felt that way. always trust your instincts!! i was still wearing those huge hospital pads so i didn't worry too much about it and slept through the night figuring i would see how i was doing in the morning. by morning, the bleeding had slowed down so i assumed all was well just clearing out more "stuff" and whatnot. so as the week continued all seemed normal, we had our baby at home and we were trying to get some sleep when it happened again. that gush of blood that didn't feel quite right after 10days postpartum. i called my doctor and let them know i was quite concerned since all the nurses and literature told me that heavy bleeding 10days postpartum was not normal. they set up an appointment the very next day... what i was told was the placenta scab had come off. gross i know but what it means is that where the placenta was located in my uterus starts to scab over to heal (like any other open wound) but because i was not resting i was not letting it heal properly. another possibility was that a piece of the placenta was left behind and i could be hemorrhaging. WHA???
the best thing to do from this point on was to go on bed rest, pretty strict bed rest. that's fantastic and all but i have a newborn that needs me 24/7 so what would i do? Brian had just finished up all his vacation/sick time just being with me the last three weeks, how would he take more time off to help me?
thank goodness for Family Medical Leave, he was able to take a week off unpaid to take care of us. my husband is such an amazing man and father. he cooked for me, cleaned, woke up when the baby cried, changed the baby's diaper, hand him to me to nurse him then he would burp him and put him to sleep. it was a difficult week, not being able to do anything but lay there all while worrying that i was hemorrhaging.
the bleeding came and went and i was absolutely miserable, thinking i was a horrible mother for not being able to even carry my baby to his nursery. i'd pray every night for the bleeding to stop but it didn't. i called the doctor after that week and told her i was still bleeding and she told me it was normal to bleed for 6-8 weeks postpartum so i shouldn't worry until then. just as long as i wasn't bleeding profusely for an hour at a time, which i wasn't, but i was still so nervous to do anything strenuous.
i have stairs in my house and was only allowed to walk up/down them once a day. this meant setting up everything i needed downstairs and staying there all day until Brian came home from work. i hated it but had to do it because i didn't want to bleed out and have to go to strict bed rest again.
i can safely say now, at 8 weeks postpartum, that all is well and i've been given the ok to carry on life as usual. i can finally carry my kiddo in his carseat all by myself. just imagine, having to have someone go with you everywhere you needed to go just to carry your baby in and out of the carseat. thankfully my parents were able to help me with this (remember Brian was out of vacation time) and not to mention my mom coming over everyday of my bed rest to cook us dinner and a few days after too. she knew Brian needed a break.
i'll be able to start exercising next week, slowly but surely. i definitely need to start exercising.
you know that saying, when it rains it pours? well let's just say i'm not having the best of luck when it comes to motherhood. we'll save that for another post though.
Such is Life
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