Your baby is now 1 week old.
Baby’s here!
Whew! You made it. Now that your little one has arrived, your body goes through a whole host of changes—again. During this first week, your uterus will start to shrink back to normal size, known as involution. A nurse will probably come in every so often and put pressure on your abdomen to encourage the uterus to expel any remaining afterbirth and to begin shrinking back to its normal size. You may experience very painful cramping during breastfeeding, as well. Hormones released during breastfeeding encourage the uterus to cramp down on itself, which helps stop the bleeding at the site where the placenta detached, and helps it return to pre-pregnancy size. You may also experience weakness and feel shaky at times as your body adjusts to having gone through a birthing “marathon.”
You’ll experience bleeding over the next several weeks; it’ll be shorter and lighter if you had a c-section. For vaginal births, it’ll start off heavy and bright red; you may have some clots. Over the next few weeks, it’ll gradually slow down and become lighter pink in color and eventually brownish. Large clots (walnut-sized or larger) should be reported to your healthcare provider, as should bleeding that slows and then increases or returns back to the bright red bleeding after having gone to pink or brownish bleeding. All these could be a sign of infection…or that you’re simply doing too much and not allowing your body a chance to heal properly.
If you had a c-section or episiotomy, you’ll have an incision that needs to be taken care of. Follow the directions given to you by your healthcare provider carefully. Whether you had an episiotomy or not, your perineum will need a little TLC. Sitz baths are a great way to not only clean the area, but they feel good, too. |
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