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Your Postpartum Body
What's happening the first six weeks after the last nine months
Have you packed your favorite non-maternity jeans in your hospital bag? Think your flat tummy will smooth into place days after your baby is born? Set aside what's fantasy for most new moms and read on for a helpful—and gentle—reality check.
Blame it on hormones. Blame it on wishful thinking. But many pregnant women suffer terrible delusions of grandeur when they imagine what they'll look and feel like walking out of the hospital, toting their newborns. Time for a reality check: You won't be wearing your pre-pregnancy jeans and strappy stilettos. A woman who has just delivered a baby may still look about five months pregnant despite the fact that she's carrying her newborn in her arms, instead of in her womb.
While you may be elated that you've got this adorable, seven-pound little bundle to take home and that your pregnancy is finally over, the temporary aches and pains of new motherhood are just beginning. You're sore from the delivery, your breasts are starting to swell, your uterus is cramping, and you may be experiencing some of the other "joys" of new motherhood—mainly constipation, incontinence, hemorrhoids, and hair loss.
Here's a little more detail for the uninitiated. And just remember: it doesn't last forever!
Post-Pregnancy Weight
So just how much lighter will you be leaving the hospital? "It varies from patient to patient," says Dr. Bruce Shephard, a clinical associate professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of South Florida, College of Medicine and an OB-GYN in private practice in Tampa. He continues, "But as a general rule, less than you expect, less than you would like." You shed about 10-15 pounds while giving birth. Whatever came out of your uterus during delivery—the baby, the placenta, and the amniotic fluid—is what constitutes your initial weight loss.
Dr. Shephard says that by six weeks postpartum, about two-thirds of your total pregnancy weight gain will probably be gone. "More than 90 percent [of patients] are not back to their pre-pregnancy weight by six weeks," observes Dr. Shephard. Many women seem to follow the "nine months up, nine months down" weight mantra that so many OB-GYNs are fond of reciting.
As for breastfeeding, some women swear it makes the extra weight practically evaporate, while others complain that it's hard to shed pounds when consuming 2,500 calories a day.
Related Links
- Article: Postpartum Recovery
- Advice: Is It Normal to Feel Like Crying When Breastfeeding?
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- Quiz: Should You Try Natural Remedies?
- Poll: After your first child, did you experience "baby blues" or postpartum depression?
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