Postpartum Life: 5 Things I Did Not Expect

Postpartum life is different. After you get your body back to yourself, you expect some generic symptoms like feeling fatigued. I want to share with you a couple of UN-expected aspects of postpartum life that I experienced. Take a read!

Expect to lose all your hair

My postpartum hair loss drove me (and my hubby) crazy. I’d always been guilty of shedding a trail of long black hair wherever I went. That’s why I loved my lush and voluminous pregnancy hair. Unfortunately this perk was short-lived because postpartum, I quickly lost everything that I was supposed to shed in the last 7 months. I’d lose handfuls as I ran my fingers through my hair and it seriously felt like chunks were falling out with every shower or brush. Fortunately I have thick hair so balding was not a concern. However, what a nuisance it was to deal with!

Expect to put your breasts to work

Within hours after a difficult birth, I entered the world of repetitive pumping and vigorous hand expression. I had never really given my breasts a passing thought before my pregnancy. The society indoctrinates: breasts are to entice and allure. It was an enlightening experience for me to realize that God fashioned my breasts to have an essential job – to nurture my child. Postpartum, they are my most prized possessions. I need to care for and tend to them so that they are able to successfully provide for the little babe. My breast feeding journey hasn’t been easy so I REALLY put these girls to work.

Expect to continue to not have a full night of sleep

It has recently dawned on me that I haven’t gotten a full uninterrupted night of sleep for over a year. By the second trimester of my pregnancy, I started waking up throughout the night to pee (just a perk of being pregnant). Now, I see that it was actually a providential way to ease me in to having little and interrupted sleep once the baby arrived. Rosie was a relatively cooperative baby but she still demanded milk every three hours during the night. As the months passed, she would sleep longer stretches but I still instinctively woke up to check up on her. Old habits die hard!

Expect to be flexible with your time

If you know me, you remember that I am a slightly rigid person when it comes to sticking by my schedule. How difficult it was to become subject to the routine of my baby instead. Newborn baby Rosie dictated my days. When to eat, when to sleep, and when to get a bathroom break revolved around the little one’s schedule. Planning on grocery shopping, taking a shower or meeting up with a friend? Forget it. If Rosie did not want to sleep, I could not get on with my day. I remember there were days when George would come home from work to find me sitting on the couch, not washed up and my lunch still sitting on the table!

Expect to feel a joy that you never felt before

I felt an unfamiliar joy during postpartum life with just about everything to do with the bundle of joy. Rosie’s first coos, smiles, sneezes, full belly cries, and all her other firsts had my heart overflowing with ecstasy. Yes it may be sappy and cliché but if you’re a parent, you know exactly what I’m talking about. There is a profound awe and wonder as I observed the little babe that God intricately created. As a first time parent, I was tired but full of pride and joy as I watched my baby develop every day. What a humbling thought that this beauty is mine.

So what about you? Can you relate or did you experience totally different symptoms? Let us know below!