Three week midwives appointment, Post Partum Doula and "Oh Bo, Play that Oboe!"
Today we got our first postpartum checkup after leaving the hospital! It was a bit stressful for me because we'd be finding out how the recovery process was going, and I always feel this weird pressure to "do well".
I'd had an awesome labor experience, so much better than anything I had imagined, to the point that I could answer right away the question "Would you do it again?" with a confident "Yes!".
Well, it turns out that the aftermath was a little more disconcerting. During labor the female body gets infused with a ridiculous cocktail of relax-and-feel-good-yet-endure-anything hormones, otherwise we would never have made it through natural births. Indeed, Mara's birth was one of the happiest days of my life, with all its scary parts throughout the different stages. I remember an overwhelming feeling of being immensely grateful that I have Greg, our doula Felissa, our midwife Lin and the best hospital crew to help me through, and ecstatic to be going through the craziest experience of my life while being in such capable and loving hands.
The following week though the hormones wear out, and your body realizes what you really have been through. I get to take home the most unbelievably amazing baby whom I cannot fathom loving so intensely, and I spend 90% of the time caring and loving little Mara and the rest 10% feeling like I had been run over by a truck! Well that's way exaggerated, but at the time it was the closest comparison I could fathom to describe the general state of extreme wear my body was going through.
So after three weeks of "Oh wow, I didn't realize THIS would be happening afterward!!" I was feeling quite anxious to see how I was doing from the midwife's perspective. Well, seeing Lin again was awesome! She has this natural way of talking to you in which you feel so well cared for, and safe, and calm, and happy to be in that moment!
I'd had an awesome labor experience, so much better than anything I had imagined, to the point that I could answer right away the question "Would you do it again?" with a confident "Yes!".
Well, it turns out that the aftermath was a little more disconcerting. During labor the female body gets infused with a ridiculous cocktail of relax-and-feel-good-yet-endure-anything hormones, otherwise we would never have made it through natural births. Indeed, Mara's birth was one of the happiest days of my life, with all its scary parts throughout the different stages. I remember an overwhelming feeling of being immensely grateful that I have Greg, our doula Felissa, our midwife Lin and the best hospital crew to help me through, and ecstatic to be going through the craziest experience of my life while being in such capable and loving hands.
The following week though the hormones wear out, and your body realizes what you really have been through. I get to take home the most unbelievably amazing baby whom I cannot fathom loving so intensely, and I spend 90% of the time caring and loving little Mara and the rest 10% feeling like I had been run over by a truck! Well that's way exaggerated, but at the time it was the closest comparison I could fathom to describe the general state of extreme wear my body was going through.
So after three weeks of "Oh wow, I didn't realize THIS would be happening afterward!!" I was feeling quite anxious to see how I was doing from the midwife's perspective. Well, seeing Lin again was awesome! She has this natural way of talking to you in which you feel so well cared for, and safe, and calm, and happy to be in that moment!
She told us again that we were one of her favorite couples because I was so high on hormones throughout the birth that she was loving every bit of it too! She reassured us that every weird thing that was happening these weeks is perfectly expected and told us what exercises I can start doing to safely get back to a regular state. Too bad swimming is out of the schedule for now..
Quick side note: the pregnancy book we have recommends not attempting regular sit-ups at this stage to prevent further separation of the abdominal muscles; they normally split up vertically during the last part of pregnancy to avoid stretching too much around the baby. Penny Simkin writes that the mother needs to do oblique situps with abs support instead. Our midwife actually suggested the opposite - no obliques to not hurt yourself, but little tiny centered sit-ups. So we're going with Lin's advice.
The early afternoon of the same day we got to see our post partum doula Rotem once more! She is just fantastic, such a kind and relatable and experienced person! The first time I met her I felt in great hands after the first two minutes. I'm guessing not all post partum doulas are of her caliber, but I'd still dearly recommend getting one to every couple going through this experience.
Rotem helped us with great tips on how to care for baby, breastfeeding advice, showed Greg how to use our Mobi wrap, helped us give Mara her very first bottle, and cooked several delicious meals for us to eat in the next days, all in the span of two hours!
Rotem helped us with great tips on how to care for baby, breastfeeding advice, showed Greg how to use our Mobi wrap, helped us give Mara her very first bottle, and cooked several delicious meals for us to eat in the next days, all in the span of two hours!
Having Rotem over for a bit was great, because I was steeling myself for the first evening alone with Mara. Greg was going to a concert in the city with Nick and Jason, to get infused with some social energy after the sleepless cabin-fever weeks, and see Bo Burnham play live. That meant I was all on my own for the very first time for 6 hours with the baby!
As usual Mara was great, she just went through her cute little cycle of sleep on mommy & eat & make diaper surprises, as we call them. Greg got back around 11pm with a full charge of mirth after having uncontrollably laughed for minutes at Bo Burnham's Pentacorn act.
We survived our first mommy & baby evening!!
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