So I am due in 2 weeks time. It can happen anytime. I am just sooooo exited now:D cant wait to hold my baby and look at her/his face, hands, feet and everything else…
We have packed the bags for the hospital and everything is ready at home.
Just wanted to know a few things.
What should I be careful about in the days right after the birth? As some of you may have read in Life1 forum my mother isnt coming as she is in Pakistan on holidays like my sisters and I dont have others around me for the time being. My MIL is coming next week but staying at SILs place. I will ask her as well but find it odd to ask questions that might lead to too personal answers such as when to shower, what to be careful of with regards to any stinges etc.
So I find it easier to ask you girls here.
How long should I wait till my first shower after the birth? can I shower the same day or should I wait a day or two?
What else do you advice to be careful of right after baby birth? I remember someone wrote here that one shouldnt drink too cold water and eat food with warm effect.
What else does the body need other than complete rest?
Also my mom was after me to cover my head with a topi and wear a shawl or something but i ignored her and paid for it big time when i got a fever and body aches etc. but then again, i gave birth in the winter months. So make sure you are properly covered. Ask your husband to dabaa you for a few days if he can. I dont know about the cold water but i remember my mom telling me not to drink too much water (i think there was a silly reason for it) but i couldnt help it. I was sooooo thirsty and i NEEDED water to make milk and get rid of all the extra stuff in my body.
Make sure you have nutritious snacks at home. Drink lotsa milk, eat nuts or panjeeri (for some reason they tell you to start eating panjeeri after a week or 10 of the birth).
Get as much rest as you can after you give birth. Make the most out of your hospital stay. Sleep, eat well there. Once you are home, you are on your own.
You can shower the same day but if you feel like you can't, don't force yourself. I didn't take shower the same day, I tried to get up and because of low blood count, I fell. So do it only if you can.
Make sure you have everything for the baby ready from his diapers, to milk, clothes everything. I didn't care about food and eating specific stuff. Eat whatever you like. I drank tap water which I always do anyway.
Days after birth are going to very hard.. umm actually very very very hard without much help but you'll see within a week you'll feel so much better. Freeze as much as you can, cooking is out of question in the first few days. Take out. Just be with your baby, take care of him and enjoy your time with him.
Also, some women suggest wearing a postpartum belt which helps in getting rid of hanging belly right after you give birth. Of course you can't wear it if you have a c section
u can take bath anytime i took bath just after delivery before coming out of labour room :) drink plenty of milk n water it help increase ur milk supply and have some body massage especially leg massage n all the best may ALLAH bless u wth a healthy baby ameen :)
My Sis in law said its a good idea to keep a bucket of luke warm water diluted with dettol in the bathroom..so everytime u use bathroom..clean urself with that water so you dont get infection coz of stitches and change ur pad everytime..
Make sure you drink plenty of water / milk / juice whatever you need but stay hydrated.....not only will it help with the milk supply but it will help to dilute your urine so it doesn't burn when you pee.....make sure you use the squirty bottle they give you at the hospital when you pee as well.
Some women get really bad hemmroids from pushing so get some preperation H or witch hazel and keep it at home just in case.....my midwife also recommended wetting a pad and putting it in the freezer and then using it....it really helped with the swelling and soreness
I got a really bad fever when my milk supply came in .... along with night sweats and chills, it only lasted two days but I was completely unprepared for it, so know that it might happen and keep some advil/tylenol at home as its the only thing I was allowed to take.
I found it really hard to find the time to eat, I felt I was either feeding or wanting to sleep and being new to feeding I couldn't feed and eat things that needed utensils at the same time so its helpful to have stuff you can manage with one hand, trail mix, boiled eggs...simple stuff that easy to eat.
I agree with showering the same day. It'll clean you up, and make you feel much, much better. Even if you end up having a c-section, make the effort to get out of bed and take a shower. The movement will be good for you.
Also to add, many women get constipated after having a baby. So please make sure that you have a bowel movement while you're at the hospital. Most hospitals don't let you go home, unless you've pooped, don't know what you're hospital will be like though. I found the best thing that worked for me, is All-Bran cereal. Eat a bowel of it, and it'll help you go easily. It's hurts like heck to push and poop, but you must do it! :D And once you've pooped normally, it's all good then :D
I was too scared to poop cuz i thought i would mess with the stitches… Soi got constipated… Hehe. But it all went good after a week. I just thought… Abbay, u can push a kid out… What is a lil bit of poop?!
^^^ haha me too. I would start crying before each time I had to go. I knew it was going to hurt so i thought chalo pehlay se rona shoro kar do. but here they give you stool softener which helps a lot. Do take that regularly for first few weeks. Just keep that area clean. I did a lot of sitz bath too to speed up the healing process.
i agreed do poop in hospital i was also bit affraid but my doctor asked me do before hospital bc if anything happen u r still in the hospital n whn baby sleep leave all other activities n sleep wth baby honestly the best advice i got was this
Haha, yes! We're always scared to poop afterwards, cause we think it'll hurt so much. I'm not too big on taking pills, instead I try to find something that I can eat that will make the constipation better. But if nothing works, the stool softeners are there to help!
I had a C section and I took a shower the next day.I believe with a vaginal delivery you can do it the same day maybe.It was no fun,but it did help me feel a lil better and fresh.Regarding cold and hot things,I drank apple juice and prune juice for days,with lotsa ice,all starting right after I gave birth and nothing happened.
Regarding poop,I was not allowed anything solid till I passed gas/or pooped.It took me 2.5 days after the C section to do that and during all that time I had clear vegetable broth/chicken broth or juices only.I finaly had a meal after 3.5 days.The reason for this long of a delay was the surgery,and they did not want me to eat anything till the gut motility resumed its normal pattern.
I wish you all the best...iA...:)
so the sum up is that there is no harm in showering right after, cold drinks are ok but best to leave it, and to eat food that doesnt lead to constipation..
but is there any food that can be harmful and should not be eaten? mum told me not to eat any strong masale or chilli waley salan...I am going on the chicken soup diet but want to add other stuff into my diet too..any suggestions?
can I use regular Always pads or should I get some bigger ones?
I don't know abt UK but if you are in the U.S hospital give you the pads and everything you need. What they give you is really heavy pad for heavy bleeding. Regular pads, i don't think will work. They'll also give you witch hazel mini pads and sprays/ointments to numb it down there. Don't be afraid to ask for all of these when you are leaving to come home.
Oh, since you mentioned pads, make sure you take grandma underwear with you to the hospital, so you can wear it once you come back home. Grandma underwear will hold the pad nicely in place, and will go over your belly nicely. Make sure to take at least 3-4. So no boy shorts, thongs, or bikini-type underwear :p
If you're in Canada, the hospital doesn't provide anything except for one diaper that they put on the baby after he/she is born. So take whatever you need with you. With regards to pads, just buy the overnight ones, and they'll do fine. If you have a normal birth, you'll have a lot more bleeding compared to a c-section. I put a whole package in my hospital bag, just to be on the safe side.
Oh, and if you have a normal birth, make sure you ask the nurses to provide you with a squirt bottle, to help you wash down under. You won't be able to clean like you normally do since it's a sensitive area at that time. The squirt bottle does exactly what the name says, squirts the water to help you with cleaning. It helped me a lot after I had delivered.
