2 Week Postpartum Update

It’s hard to believe that Flora is two weeks old now! You can read her birth story here. I thought I’d share a few postpartum updates as we navigate through this special (and difficult) time ! Overall Flora is an amazing baby, we feel so, so lucky. We thought Piper was an easy baby but this girl seriously rarely cries! It’s crazy. It’s definietly made the transition to a family of 4 much easier,

THE FIRST 48 HOURS

The first 48 hours after Flora’s birth were HARD. I forgot how hard this time is, I think because the joy of having a new baby clouds your mind a bit in the days following you almost forget! I didn’t realize with your second child the post-labor pains are worse, as your uterus is larger and has more work to do to shrink back to it’s normal size. I was on 800mg of Motrin and still in quite bad pain throughout the first two nights, especially after each nursing session. There would be a surge of pain, bleeding and I just had the worse thigh and uterus cramping. My hospital bed was so uncomfortable and I just wanted to get home! I feel grateful that Flora latched right away and showed no signs of having a hard time nursing, but by the day of our discharge from the hospital my nipples were SORE and each feeding I’d cringe, it actually got worse before it got better. I’m so glad we had a lactation consultant come in and help give me some pointers before we left, they were super helpful!  The time in the hospital is also hard because you virtually get no sleep – we had nurses coming in every few hours to check on either Flora or I and while I appreciate the care it’s exhausting.  Flora was so good in the hospital, the second night was harder because she was gassy and couldn’t seem to get comfortable in the bassinet.

PIPER

Piper came to meet Flora a few hours after she was born and her visit was great, she was with my family and so excited to see her sister. We gave Piper her hospital bag which she loved and Piper was so excited to give Flora the gift she picked out and wrapped for her. Her second visit the next day was harder, she cried and cried when it was time to leave us and in retrospect it may have been better for her not to have come back. She still talks about us leaving her and being separated and I think it really stuck with her that the three of us were in the hospital and she wasn’t there.

At home, Piper has been pretty good though the overwhelming holiday festivities, visitors, PRESENTS, sugar combined with the fact that we have newborn here have definietly caused some challenging behavior. I’m hoping once Piper goes back to school next week and we get back into more of a normal routine it will help. My husband is home for 8 weeks paternity leave as well, so it’s definietly a different vibe in the house right now and I’m soaking up every second of this special time, I know I’ll be soooo sad when it’s over. Overall I’d say Piper is adjusting wonderfully, she loves to look at Flora, hold her hand, hug her, help with diaper changes. There have been a few times she wants to cuddle with me while I’m nursing but I’ve tried to accommodate her the best I can.

HORMONES

My hormones have finally settled a little bit but as soon as we got home they were pretty wild. I was feeling so emotional about EVERYTHING and crying non-stop. I wasn’t the nicest to Austin and I’m so, so glad I’m feeling more like myself now. Piper has been in a major daddy phase for the past 6 months and I was having a really hard time with the fact that she wanted nothing to do with me after being nervous for months about how she’d handle less attention from us. I’d just look at her and think about how amazing and special she is and cry! It was pretty crazy, ha! But like I said I’m feeling much more like myself now, still working to get used to this new routine and having close to no time for myself but I know these days are short lived so I’m trying to appreciate them.

NURSING

I’m so thankful that Flora is such a good, happy eater! I was engorged again when my milk came in and it lasted for about 2-3 days – combined with my healing nipples it made for a fun few nights. Flora is feeding every 2-3 hours during the day on demand and at night she’s been giving me at least a 3-4 hour stretch most nights. My nipple pain actually got worse when we got home from the hospital, so combined with the cramping it made for a pretty painful blurry first few days at home. Something changed with Flora’s latch, or I just got used to nursing though and they have completely healed and I don’t experience any pain with latching anymore. For that, I’m so grateful!! I know they say you shouldn’t be in pain if your baby is latched properly, but after going through the same experience with both Piper an Flora I think my body just needs to adjust to having someone nurse around the clock!! I think this time I felt better about the entire nursing/engorgement situation because I KNEW it was only temporary and would end!

BODY CHANGES

I have about 15lbs to lose to get back to my pre-baby weight (although I haven’t stepped on the scale in a week, because HOLIDAYS). I definietly do not look like I did after I had Piper. I still have a pretty pronounced baby bump and I just feel so soft all over. I’ve been thinking about trying one of the corset/belly bands and see if that helps pull things together again! I’m already anxious about finding the time to exercise to get to a place where I like how I look, but at the same time I’m going to be easy on myself during my maternity leave. We haven’t been eating the healthiest because we’ve been so tired but hopefully in January we’ll get into a better routine and at least that will make me feel a little better.

WHAT I’M WEARING & USING

For sleep: I’ve been wearing a stretchy, simple nursing bra with disposable nursing pads (I love these from Munchkin). I’ve been rotating between this Belabumbum bra that’s super soft, these from Gilligan & O’Malley that are stretchy and breathable (and really hold the nursing pads in place, in fact sometimes I use my reusable ones). So far this Target nightgown is by far my favorite thing to sleep in – it’s so comfortable and I just leave it unsnapped when I go to bed so I can easily nurse. I also love this nightshirt and a very similar one from H&M that’s now sold out.

For day: I’ve pretty much been wearing joggers (favorite pair) and my sleep leggings (wearing in top photo with my Boob nursing sweater that has been great), nursing tanks & cardigans. I have recently started wearing blouses I can lift up to nurse in but since we are just at our house 90% of the time it’s just easier to have quick nursing access with a tank. When I leave the house I’ll wear maternity leggings or jeans. I haven’t try on non-maternity clothes yet.

Other products I’ve been using:

This FridaBaby Fridet is amazing! Wish I had it with Piper.

I’ve been using my Solly wrap non-stop to wear Flora and it’s been life changing. I can get so much done and play with Piper and Flora will just sleep!

WHAT’S HARD FOR ME RIGHT NOW

Not being able to really go anywhere – Piper’s been out of school and we haven’t really left each other alone with both girls yet unless one is napping. I’ve gone out to the grocery store and ran quick errands but I’m looking forward to taking a trip to Target etc. Not having any freedom is hard for me. We’ve been going on a family outing once a day which has been so fun and it’s really necessary for us to get out of the house!

Flora is the BEST baby and I can’t really complain about anything — she sleeps so well, eats so well and rarely ever cries. When she does we know something is bothering her and can usually fix it pretty quickly. My parents have been amazing with taking Piper on special outings and coming over to help us too.

SLEEP

I’ve been getting up with Flora in the night (obviously!) and have been trying to get at least an hour nap during the day when I can. I have a hard time wanting to do this because I always have a million things I want to accomplish during Piper’s 2 hour nap. When she goes back to school I’m sure I’ll start taking more naps with her.  Getting 4-5hrs of sleep a night is all I need right now and during the day I feel great, it’s just in the night that I feel pretty exhausted when I’m feeding her!