IS IT BETTER TO SHARE THE TRUTH ABOUT NEW MOM’S EXPERIENCES WITH OTHER MOMS OR NOT?
We need more women willing to say: “ I have been there and I’m here. You can always talk to me and ask without judgment .“
I talked to my friend, unfortunately only by phone, because she lives in Poland and I live in the Czech Republic.
Joanna gave birth a week ago and I was sure that I told her everything about the birth and what happened after the birth. She always wanted me to be honest with her and not hide the truth, even the most drastic one. Plus, she had read most of my posts, so she already knew about bleeding nipples, fake contractions, and hormonal crisis.
https://littlepuzzlesandme.com/do-you-want-to-hear-a-fairy-tale-about-being-new-mom/
How could I not tell her the ugly truth about the postpartum bleeding phase?
Bleeding during puerperium is different in each case. In my case, it looked like an endless flood.
I liked my friend’s statement that she once watched a documentary about piranhas. Joanna said that she thought the most blood she saw, was when the piranhas were eating fish.
Now my poor friend knows she was wrong. More blood Joanna sees now, every day.
It “leaks” wherever it goes. No matter what pads she wears, they always leak. In the shower, she feels as if only blood was flowing instead of water. And the worst thing is that you have to change the sheets after every night.
I remembered myself in this stage.
I had two friends from Prenatal Yoga who wanted to meet me. We had our children on very similar dates. A week after giving birth we were supposed to go out for coffee and show the babies. Expect that 7 days after giving birth, my pad was already soaked on the way from bed to the bathroom. For the next weeks I had to refuse the meeting.
I thought that my friend in Poland must be going through the same thing. I had to quickly cheer her up because I could hear from her voice that she was slowly suffering from a hormonal crisis.
HELPFUL TIP NO 1
In the hospital, they had special hygiene mats that they placed on bedsheets. When I was bleeding the most, these mats helped me a lot, so the nurses gave me a few pieces to take home. The mats were washable, which saved me from getting the sheets dirty every day.
HELPFUL TIP NO 2
Secondly: I don’t know about other women and their postpartum hygiene resources. my hygiene products did not help with such heavy bleeding, and the sanitary pads were not able to absorb such a large amount of blood
Yes, I used huge pads. Most often, I stuck two pads together to create something like a diaper and wrap them in a cloth diaper. It didn’t leak as much as regular pads.
HELPFUL TIP NO 3
Thirdly, chamomile tea helped me get through periods from the beginning. Both menstrual pain and bleeding. It also helped in the postpartum period. When the uterus shrinks and the pain becomes tiring, we cannot take medications because we are breastfeeding. So I recommend two herbal teas: chamomile and dill.
In one of the posts, I think I also wrote about bathing in chamomile tea or chamomile compresses on the cracked spot on the vagina.
I still remember the moment of relief when my husband prepared a warm bath for me and poured five bags of chamomile tea into it.
On New Year’s Eve, there were a few childbirth stories, but only funny ones. Then my husband brought up the topic of tea baths. Men’s Company summed it up: “Great, you had two in one: first relief, second drink”.
Natural problem removal
I, like Joanna, was terribly surprised that such blood loss is normal.
Special when the type of blood that comes out of you is mostly dark clots.
It’s just that our body helps itself. Bleeding after giving birth for several days is a natural stage of a woman’s body returning to normal. It’s better to survive all these stains and dirt and clean yourself naturally.
To sum up, it was a surprise to me that I had read and heard about bleeding, but I had not read about experiences like mine anywhere.
As I wrote, each postpartum period is different, just like each woman’s body.
Do you think it’s good to share real experiences and other new moms?
Or maybe share but with a lesser dose of honesty?
What do you think about it, Dear new mom?
One Comment
Pingback: