Eight Things You Find Out After Baby

“This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Poise, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #poiseatkroger http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV”

I am one of those weird people who loves being pregnant.  I love the kicks, I love the bump, & I just love the whole idea of creating life.  The whole process is just my favorite, I’ve never felt more beautiful than I did when I was pregnant (extra 45 pounds & all), because honestly, making a human in your own body is just mind-blowing and so freaking amazing.  With that being said, now that I’ve been through two pregnancies & had two babies, I feel I am totally qualified to say that these babes (and our husbands) owe us a lot.  I mean, a lot.  There’s just so much that changes that no one tells you about, obviously a lot of it during pregnancy but also afterwards.  In the hours, days, weeks, and even months (years?!) after birth.  So I’ve polled some of my favorite mama bloggers & friends and along with my own experiences, am excited to share the eight things that happen to your body after pregnancy!  The ones they don’t tell you about.  And nothing is off-limits (not even bladder leakage!).

1.  Your Boobs.  One of the biggest shocks to me after giving birth to Waverly was how hard breastfeeding was.  It was crazy painful, so much so that I would compare it to the actual birth itself.  Then my milk came in a couple days later.  And it hurt even more.  I’m here to say that you will live through it (and to push through the pain because breastfeeding is so wonderful!), but your boobs won’t ever look the same ever again.  My husband was excited the first few months after Waverly’s birth when I looked like I had Cs, but this time around, I think he knows better.  They are going to look like deflated balloons very, very soon, and I’ve just come to accept that one is going to be bigger than the other one forever.

2.  Your Feet.  My feet grew half a size after my first pregnancy.  Do you know how many pairs of my pre-kid shoes had to die because of that?!  A lot.  Of course I have no need for heels anymore anyways, but still, I would at least like to pretend I am going to dress up at some point.

3.  You are going to be tired.  FOREVER.  I sometimes look back on the days before we had kids & not only wonder what the hell we did with all of our time, but why I didn’t take advantage and sleep more to make up for all the lost time now.  After the miracle of getting both girls in bed (and asleep!) each night it’s usually a constant battle, spend some alone time or get sleep?  Because I know  the troops will be up and ready to party at 6am and there’s no turning back then.  And speaking of that, mornings are so crazy that there is never, ever time to get ready anymore (anyone else?).  So chapstick & one swipe of lip gloss it is.

4.  You will lose hair.  You guys, sooooooo much hair.  I didn’t notice it as much after Waverly was born (maybe too tired?), but this time around it’s seriously crazytown.  Like full small animals on the shower floor and hair all over the house crazytown.  I’m glad I had already heard about it before it happened or otherwise, I would have been up googling, convinced I was dying from some unknown disease.  You also get wispies & random hair breakage, so just enjoy all the thick, voluminous hair during your pregnancy because it’s probably not going to last.

5.  Your pregnancy brain will turn into mom brain.  Waverly will turn four in July & I was pregnant with her for ten months before that, so it’s safe to say that my brain really hasn’t been working at full capacity in about five years.  I am not able to stay focused on anything, I’m constantly working on about ten different projects and probably not doing any of them very well.  On the plus side, we can blame it on the mom brain thing, so that’s good.  Otherwise there would be no excuse.

  6.  Your Skin.  In both pregnancies, my skin was a wreck just a couple months in.  What happened to the pregnant glow everyone talks about?  Definitely not the case for me.  After birth, it’s gotten better, but I still have to watch for breakouts & take care of my skin better than I ever did before.

7.  You are going to pee yourself.  So this one (I’ve heard) just lasts forever and gets worse with each  kid.  And so far, I can fully attest to it.  After one kid, it was totally a thing and after two, it’s even a bigger thing.  The other night we were playing with the girls after dinner & Waverly did something funny, I literally could not help myself.  Sexy.  It happens all the time, running, sneezing, or you know, just walking up the stairs.

The good news, there is a product to save us!  Poise pads are available to help with bladder leakage, they provide the bladder coverage that us mamas need.  They can be found at Kroger, and click here to save $1.00 on any Poise Liner or Pad, 30-66 count until March 13th while supplies last.

8.  Your body will take time to return to what it was pre-baby.  And even then, it might never be the same again.  Luckily, all my clothes fit, just not exactly the same as they used to.  It’s important to remember, it takes nine months to put the weight on, it’s not going to take nine days to get it off.

So there you have it!  The not so fun side effects & postpartum things that they just don’t tell you about.  On the plus side, just think, we are all in this together!  Just a bunch of tired balding women, mourning their boobs with no shoes that fit, needing bladder leakage protection and not making one bit of sense.  And so freaking in love with their babies that they could never, ever imagine life any other way.  Oh, how they are worth it.  Every little bit of it.

Other mamas, please share your own experiences, I would love to hear!  Anything we left out?!
XO