2 weeks of loving our little munchkin and wow I have learnt so much. Here’s a little snap shot of our first 2 weeks as parents.
We were admitted the night before she was born so we spend that night in the birthing suite then we spent the first 3 nights after her birth in hospital with her which as actually great. The midwives were fabulous – and came in regularly to check how we were doing, check Harper’s temperature and heart rate before each feed, and check how my healing was going. It was such a great experience as first time mum, and it also meant that I didn’t need to worry about doing anything around the house and could just enjoy our new little love and take care of ourselves. The hospital we were at, Epworth Freemasons, has an agreement with the Park Hyatt – so if you qualify (no complications and good recovery) you can go over and stay there if there’s room on their maternity floor. We were hoping to go straight away but they were booked out however we were super happy we got to spend our 4th night there. It was so beautiful, and cosy to be in a gorgeous hotel room with our baby. We had so many gorgeous visitors – it was so nice to see how many beautiful people we have in our lives – and how loved Harper is already. With final checks – completed – her weigh in – where she lost 200grams – which is normal, and my final check we were ready to go home on the Monday.
I ended up having 1st degree tear – so 2 stitches in my perineum, but then also a stitch in my labia. The 2 at the back weren’t uncomfortable at all – I hardly noticed them, but the one at the front was quite uncomfortable. When you’re at the hospital the midwives were great and had little ice packs to put in your knickers which really helped relieved the initial pain. That and daily panadol and anti inflammatories I was feeling pretty good about that whole area. The other discomfort I found was in my bottom – and this as mainly because I had to push so hard to get Harper out. There is so much pressure when you push that it’s bound to hurt afterwards. Childbirth is rather traumatic. So standing up and sitting down was slightly uncomfortable and made sure I did it slowly. I kept getting told I should be lying down, putting my feet up and resting – especially as your ankles swell post birth – as all the fluid from pregnancy goes down to you feet. I just found it so hard with so many visitors to actually lie down – but when I did it was definitely the most comfortable. So – listen to the midwives.
On day 3 my milk came in and OH MY GOSH! I knew that my boobs were going to get even bigger when my milk came in but HOLY SHIT – I felt like Pamela Anderson. They were rock hard. The midwives had told me to avoid mastitis and engorgement to make sure I was massaging them every day in the shower – especially if I found any lumpy bits. Harper took to breastfeeding really well. Whilst at the hospital Chris gave her some of my colostrum during a couple of night feeds which was good – before my milk came in and one night when she just wouldn’t latch on properly.
New born babies are so good – they sleep a lot and their poos don’t smell. That was all about to change when we got home. For the first few days – up until she was a week old she was still sleeping really long hours – however once she was drinking my milk and not colostrum her poos started to change colour and yup – you guessed it – started to stink haha.
It was so nice to have Chris off work for the first 2 weeks while we settled into mum and dad life with our new little addition.
Our second day at home we went for a lovely walk to a local cafe which was so nice. I was feeling fine to walk – just quite slowly. It was nice to get outside – as nice as the hospital was – I didn’t venture out once – so hadn’t’ seen sunlight in 5 days. What else was AMAZING was those first soft poached eggs, smoked salmon and feta. After not eating certain foods for 9 months they were so delicious. 
About a week after the birth I started feeling more painful downstairs than I had been – after chatting to my doctor it seemed I had an infection at the entrance to my vagina – so nothing to do with the stitches. Some antibiotics later and it had calmed down but still didn’t completely relieve how uncomfortable it was. It turns out that I had another tear on my labia that he couldn’t stitch up because of where it was – and an area that takes a while to heal. So it was back home for salt baths with tea tree oil to try and speed up the healing process. Everyone’s recovery is so different – but it’s so weird – even though all these things were going on with my body – it hardly bothered me. Having our sweet angel here took away so much external stress and worry – and she’s worth every second.
We are just soaking it all up. She’s just perfect and we can’t imagine life without her in it now.
Next week it’s back to some light exercise and slow meal prepping – so stay tuned. Life with a baby is beginning
Love and Life
the Figure x
