Reply to Veteran moms: Tell us what the first month is like...

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[quote=Anonymous]"Get your sleep now" is a big joke. Because well, you can't since you're peeing every couple of hours, it takes a whole lot of effort every time you want to roll over, and your mind is racing.  Even if you did manage to get your sleep, by 2 days in you're so bleary eyed that no amount of sleep in the previous months or weeks means anything.

The nice thing is that you won't be peeing constantly anymore, and you'll be able to roll over again once all the other soreness goes away. Heartburn will be gone.  But then you'll wake up in nightsweats  - payback for laughing at your menopausal mom.  And your boobs will leak through your PJs if you haven't yet figured out that you need breastpads and a bra at night. Your boobs will get rock hard and painful as well. Keep nursing through it all.

Baby will wake to nurse maybe every 2 hours, maybe more often. And each feeding will take longer than expected, even once you've established a decent latch. As for establishing a good latch - have the name of a good LC on hand, and a whole lot of nipple cream. Even if your mom, mil, sister, sil and bff have all breastfed, the LC will be able to help the best. In place of nipple cream you can use colostrum - just rub it around after a feeding and let it dry.

My dh just didn't sleep in our room for a couple of weeks, since he was back at work right away. I needed the lamp on to nurse or pump (we had latching problems), and it was easier to just be alone to do it all. He would help change diapers in the middle of the night, but that was quick and easy compared to feeding. Learn to swaddle, make dh learn to swaddle, and practice during the day so if you find you need to do it at night after nursing you're not fumbling around with a squirmy baby.

You will bleed a LOT those first few days. Pads are your friend once again, even though you thought you were done with them in your teens - get used to it for a while. You won't really care anymore if your husband sees you cleaning up blood and pads.

Your hair will start to fall out a few weeks after and keep going for a few months. Keep a good drain protector in the tub. Once it stops falling out, it'll start to grow back, so you'll have straggly little pieces growing towards the front of your head. Headbands are not your friend again too.

The other advice people love is "sleep when the baby sleeps" - but you will enjoy the quiet moments to call a friend or try to do laundry and miss the opportunity often.

So the only real advice I have is try to enjoy it. Stare into your baby's eyes and remember that he will never be this small again, and no matter how much pain your body is in, no matter how many more months you're going to be wearing those maternity jeans, no matter how sleep deprived you are, you have never been more madly in love with anything in your whole life. The laundry can wait. Dinner can wait. Enjoy those poppy, vomity, squirmy snuggles while you can.
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