I Have A What?–Interesting Results From My 6 Week Post Partum Check-Up

 

So, yesterday I eagerly jumped out of bed, took a shower and Silje and I headed off to the OB/GYN for my 6 week post-partum check-up.  You know you’ve been a stay-at-home mom too long when you’re eager to get a pap smear just so you can interact with other adults.

 

When I got there I let the girls in the office take care of Silje while I went back to wait for the Doctor. They were excited since some of them didn’t get to meet her yet & it’s not everyday they get to see a 6 week old that weighs approximately 13lbs.   As always we stopped off in the first room and took my blood pressure. A wonderful 122/80. Not bad. I then hopped on the dreaded scale that was the bane of my existence for the past few months & things were you know… alright there too….. if alright means at least I’ve lost all the baby weight from my current baby but still have around 40 or so to lose just to get back to pre-pregnancy (from all 3 babies). I then gave the obligatory urine sample & was finally off to the best part of the visit. Unclothing & propping my legs up in stirrups. Said. No.Woman. Ever (sorry had to).

 

Getting naked after having 3 giant babies in 4 years and donning some kind of makeshift shirt made out of paper that no longer covers my boobies is like the ultimate wake up call. My body, is shot. So as I’m laying there, trying to keep my boobies from falling to the side and possibly out of my paper shirt without the doctor noticing, I brought up the fact that I had seemed to have a lot more pain than I should have while healing. That I felt a burning pain that had started maybe in the 34th week of pregnancy or so. He nonchalantly proclaims. “Oh yeah, that’s a hernia.” “You had a pretty big baby there and women who are larger tend to have this happen. It’s fairly common. It should repair itself.” Uh…. Of course I was a bit stunned and asked him “So that feeling I had that my belly button was literally being ripped apart at the seams? “Yes, that was really happening.” he said. Wtf??

 

bigbelly

My belly being ripped apart at the seams. Not hard to imagine now, is it?

 

We concluded my 6 week check-up with a blood pregnancy test. The Dr. asked me if he thought it would come back positive & then ducked quickly as he waited for me to answer. “No way in hell”.  He then set up a prescription for low dose progesterone only birth control that you can use while breastfeeding. When I left his office after my 6 week check up with my last baby I had a prescription as well but “Hey, who needs the pill when you’re nursing. I hear you can’t get pregnant.”  I got pregnant with Silje the day after Aidan’s 1st birthday. I stopped nursing him at 16 months. You do the math.

The moment I got home I hopped on the trusty internet and searched. Ok, well first I actually said “I told you so” to my husband, who never seems to believe me when I’m in a ton of pain. “See!! Now I’ve had an 11lb baby AND had a hernia. Beat that you crybaby.” Ok I didn’t really say that.. I thought it. He had just had hernia surgery about 2 years ago (something he had since birth) and he complained quite a bit. Even though he had it since birth and it was just found accidently!!

So, as I was saying.. I hopped on the internet and I searched high and low. There really isn’t much info to be found except that.. surprise. Hernia’s supposedly don’t repair themselves! Nice. Of course my husband had already gone back to work so the prospect of going to another Doctor to have it checked out any time soon is low. I do still have a bit of pain in the middle of my belly but my c-section incision feels much better.  My Doctor had told me to wait it out another month or so and see if things get better. So that’s what I intend to do for now.

 

As far as the rest of my recovery I’m feeling much better now but I still have a few issues but I’ll talk about those later.  It’s funny because every time I have had a baby, whether it be the first time with a 4th degree tear, the 2nd time which was a pretty easy birth, or this last time with my 11lber and emergency c-section.. I somehow seem to believe that I should feel better almost immediately. It’s like my brain lies to me the entire pregnancy and says “As soon as this baby is out of you you’ll be fine!”. Of course it doesn’t usually work that way. Some births are easier than others but whether it’s for emotional or physical reasons, moms really need that 6 weeks to recover and take time to themselves in their own bodies before you really start feeling more like yourself. 

 

How long did it take you to recover from birth and did you or anyone you know ever suffer from a hernia due to pregnancy??

4 Comments

  1. Wow I really look up to you! I don’t know how you can manage everything you have gone through with your 3 children & being pregnant. I am currently pregnant with my first child and I am extremely scared of all the changes that are happening. Wish you the best & hope you feel much better soon!

  2. Thank you Vanessa. You’ll find out as soon as you’re a mom that you’re capable of almost anything. Lots of changes come about but usually all to prepare us better to be a mother 🙂

  3. I was never able to take the full 6 weeks off. My hubby had towhead back towirk within a week of delivery. I tried to relax and not do anything but with other children in the house…..well you know how it is. 😉 I did recover fairly quickly with the first 4 but it took 10 weeks at least to recover from the 5th one. The cartilage in my hips stretched so much with him that it took forever to heal and it’s still not totally normal after 20 months. It hurt so much to lay on my side or roll over that I spent the first 10 weeks in a recliner sleeping. I can understand the pain you have and you are so right when you say to take the whole 6 weeks to recover.

  4. I have big babies too and have had the same problem. I’m still feeling the pain almost a year later. I remember feeling better sooner after I had my twins. I hope you feel better soon!

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