6 Weeks After Baby – The Real Story

Excuse the bathroom selfie.  I just want you to see my belly.  This was taken at 5 1/2 weeks after giving birth.  Guess what?  I still have a belly.

Dear friends, this is normal.

There are some questions that people ask that invoke doubt right around this time.

Is your baby sleeping through the night yet?

Nope, and in fact, they aren’t supposed to sleep through the night yet.

You’re feeding him again?

Yep.  (Babies actually  go through a big growth spurt around 5 weeks, at least all of mine have, and the constant rooting and hunger is known as “cluster feeding.”  Seriously, you aren’t imagining it.  It’s a thing.)

Do you think your belly will ever go away? 

Sigh.  I do get asked this one.  In fact, I usually get asked this around a week after birth.  That’s the way our culture works.  By 6 weeks, well…people think that I’m just comfortable with looking this way forever.

Yes.  I do think my belly will go away.  Mostly because it always has before, and this is my 6th time around the block. I’ve always bounced back, though each time it seems I bounce back slower.  Oh well.   Granted, I gained much more weight this time, and I got so much bigger and more stretched out this time.  Honestly, though?  Whatever dude.  I just gave birth to a baby.

Most women don’t go back to normal after 2 weeks.  In fact, it’s not healthy to work these muscles for a full 6 weeks, and you can do damage by pushing yourself too much too fast.  I know women who have had to have surgeries 20 years after giving birth on muscles that they damaged by going back to exercising too soon.  Your muscles need to heal before they can grow.

Ladies: of all the times in the world that we need to rest, this is the most important time.  Don’t give that away.  Keep asking for help at 5 weeks.  Let your house be messy if that’s what it takes to rest.  Seriously, it will effect your health for years to come.  Rest.  This is not the time for diet and exercise.  This is the time for rest.

This postpartum time is so ambiguous and not understood by our culture.  As someone who has gone through postpartum depression after some pregnancies, and suffered from hemorrhaging in other births, and have made the mistake of taking on too much too fast, here are some things that others have taught me along the way that are more important than you think.

This is the friend-version of this advice.  I’m no doctor.  But sometimes it’s good to know what questions to ask your doctor/midwife, when appointments get rushed.

1) Keep taking your prenatal.  At the very least take a B complex vitamin.  I remember talking with a friend of mine with 10 kids, and telling her that I wasn’t feeling sad or depressed.  I was just foggy all the time.  She suggested taking a B complex vitamin, as women are often really low on this nutrient after birth.  Within 24 hours I felt significantly better.  I love this prenatal because it has folate instead of folic acid, which for me absorbs so much better, and all the B vitamins I need to stay sane.

2) Be kind to your thyroid.  Your thyroid monitors your hormones.  Pregnancy is a hormonal roller coaster.  It’s common for your thyroid to be tired, so feed it things that make it strong.  Check with your doctor on this one especially, but iodine is something that helps my thyroid settle down, but different people need different approaches.  Keep in mind that so much is currently being learned about our thyroid that you will get vastly different answers from different doctors.  So do a bit of research on your own too.  Iodine (what I take) is found in kelp.  You can take kelp pills, or even eat a sheet of sushi wrap every day.  (You can buy a stack of it at Costco.)  Signs of your thyroid asking for help: the hair shed,  (It’s common for your hair to shed a ton after birth.  It freaked me out the first time that happened to me) mood swings, depression, insomnia, and the inability to lose weight.

3) Ask about belly wrapping.  This is something that my midwife suggested this time, because my stomach muscles got so stretched.  I wore a wrap for much of this postpartum period, and it has been so comfortable, and my muscles feel so much better for it.

4) Eat a lot.  I say this from a perspective of someone who breastfeeds.  I eat so much more now than I did when I was pregnant.  Am I worried about not losing the weight?  Not a bit.  This is not the time to diet if you are breastfeeding.  I lose my milk supply if I’m not eating constantly.  I’m too sleep deprived to count calories.  Seriously.  Eat.

5) Make friends with a chiropractor.  I didn’t know this until my 5th pregnancy, but I remember having some pain in my upper back after Ingrid was born.  People said it was just because I was nursing, but it was getting so bad that I went to a chiropractor for the first time in my life.  After examining me, he said that sometimes the hips twist when they go back into place after birth, causing an uneven foundation for the rest of the back.  This can cause a little “pooch” in the lower belly as the muscles can’t return to their proper place, and it can cause back pain.  I got adjusted, and wouldn’t you know it: my pain disappeared and my belly got significantly smaller, and my exercise felt like it was actually doing something.  With this pregnancy I just planned on going in to make sure everything was fine from the beginning.  Did you know that many chiropractors will adjust your newborn for free when you go in?  They can help with colic, constipation, and fussiness with your baby, and baby adjustments are silent, and a piece of cake.  Bjorn enjoys his like getting a massage.  (Just a fair warning…when any of my babies get adjusted, I’m changing poopy diapers pretty much non-stop for a day or two.)

6) Make a plan that motivates you, for when your rest is over.  I’m actually excited, because I miss the mental boost I would get from exercise.  As someone who deals with anxiety, I’ve realized my brain needs my body to exercise at least as much as the rest of my body needs it.

Remember the end goal is to be healthy.  When you focus on your looks, numbers on a scale, or the size of your waist, you will be tempted to cut corners on your health.  Know that when the goal is health, the journey may take longer.  But doing things the right way, especially with your health, makes all the difference.

All that said, I am really looking forward to getting back in shape.  I can’t wait to feel strong again, and get some energy back.  My usual exercise is working on the elliptical machine at our YMCA, and doing some physical therapy exercises for my back on some equipment there as well.  However, I don’t feel ready for much cardio like that yet, so I’m going to start off with my Wholly Fit DVD.  I’ve used that for a few years, and I find it calming and encouraging, and flexible enough to use when I am in shape and when I’m not.  As a bonus, I feel like I’ve been in a worship service afterwards.  It’s full of so much Scripture that I feel spiritually fed as well.  That’s probably why it’s my favorite.

I’d love to hear what others have learned about taking care of your health after baby?  What helped you?