Postpardum Info

I researched wraps and belly-binding after we had our first and I ordered a bengkung from Malasia after our second was born. The total cost was $38 (including shipping), and it was SO comfortable. It's cheaper than the elastic ones you can order online, and it reaches from below the chest to the hips. It worked great for me, and I wish I had it with our first. My rib cage and hips went back to what they were before I had our first.

http://happyconfinement.blogspot.com/2008/04/bengkung-mia-intro.html

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Many women (especially the Asian culture) also wear wraps around their stomach during pregnancy to help support their back and then they wear it postpartum to help shrink their stomach back into shape. These are called "Sarashi" or "Hara Obi." Here is a link on what it looks like and how to put it on:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU2thhFGnw4

I never found a place to buy one, but you can make your own...do a google search for "how to make a sarashi" or "how to make an hara obi." It seems a little too cumbersome for me...with the long fabric. But if you have back pain, it's worth a try.

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I wish someone had told me that the aftermath of having a baby is really hard. I never knew it took so long to recover - both emotionally and physically. I felt really good the first week and then crashed. I literally felt like my joints were coming apart. I could hardly turn over in bed...and having to nurse all the time - I was miserable and felt like a cow.

I wish I had stayed in bed that first week and gotten more rest. I think it would have helped me not crash. Give yourself plenty of space to feel lots of emotions you may never have felt before, and don't take yourself seriously for at least the first few weeks. It takes nine months to build up the pregnancy hormones, and then they leave your body within a very short time...so much of the emotional turmoil is just physical.

The pregnancy hormone that causes the joints to expand does not completely leave the body for a few weeks after the birth. If there were bones or joints displaced during the labor or during the many hours you will be holding a 7+ lb baby, you will have trouble. One of my ribs was displaced during labor and it did not go back into place until after I became pregnant with our second. I had a rib sticking out of my side...literally. I even tried going to a chiropractor, but the joints/cartilage had already hardened. A week after the birth of our second, I went to a chiropractor and he was able to get everything back in place. I went only once, but I wish I had gone a couple of times during the first two or three months.

With our second child my midwife recommended that I have my pregnancy hormones encapsulated from the placenta after the birth. I did, and I felt a night/day difference. The same capsules can be stored and used during menopause. Who would have thought?

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Came across this link for miscellaneous postpartum info. Very interesting. I remember having a lot of dryness after Elliot was born but when he was a couple months old it went away. I assumed that it just went away. This link says that flaxseed oil helps with dryness and balances out your hormones. About the time the dryness went away, I had purchased some flaxseed and used it on my cereal almost every morning. (Just a health kick!) :) I still use it when I remember. I haven't read all of the website, and some natural remedies are a little kookie, but thought I would pass it on. :)

http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/postpart.html