a postpartum series: part 2

i'm not sure where i left off last time, and for some reason i don't feel like going back and reading part 1 to see......i guess i'm being lazy :)
but the truth is, romes just fell asleep for a napperoo, and i only have so much time before he needs me, you know....for a snack :)

so let's see....
i've been wanting to share about coming home from the hospital.
and, although my last post about postpartum was more about the emotional experience, this one is going to touch on some of the physical things. actually just 3 things. but i think they are important. so there. :)

i've obviously only experienced giving birth once. thus i have only went through it one way....
i have spoken with lots of friends who have had different experiences. but. either way, i want to share mine. because if i can even help just one other girl out there be a little more prepared because she read this and ended up experiencing the same thing, that cool. tadaaa. awesome.

ok, let's get started.
i wasn't really into reading books during my pregnancy. i mean, i liked the idea of sitting cozied up on the couch with book after book, expanding the my knowledge of everything baby. but it didn't happen. actually, mr leif did more prepping then i did. he received weekly email updates from 'what to expect'....and actually learned a lot through them!
however, i did try to stay pretty up to date with one of those week by week preggo books. i would take it to the pool with me (partly so that when people saw me in a suit, there was a little justification for my pouch / aka / not quite sure if it looked like a baby bump yet - see, they could see my preggo book and think "oh, ok, she's preggo) idk. just another one of those body image issues i went through (i guess i shouldn't say went, because it's not quite in the past yet) while being pregnant.

talk about interesting. it's so fun to learn how your little babe is growing each week, and it's great to find out that your symptoms are normal, or that heartburn is expected, and that i should be eating healthier..... yes. great book.

but.
what i found that really isn't out in the 'if your pregnant, read this' world....are books preparing you for the physical and emotional parts of labor and recovery.
i mean, there are those chapters in the ends of those weekly books that take you through the labor and delivery, and recovery.
but they just aren't really that great.
and to be honest? by the time you hit week 30 (remember non-moms, preggo is 40 weeks) of being pregnant, not much changes with the baby, so most of the time you, or at least i, stopped reading the book.

i'm truly thankful that my older sissy asked me to be in her delivery room when she had charlotte. it opened my eyes and my heart to SORT of prepare myself for what to expect. and i'm assuming, all of you non-momma's reading this, that you won't all get to have the experience of witnessing a birth, so that's why i want to share with you!

one: ouchie.
wow. i should tell you, i just wrote a big paragraph about things that are entirely too graphic, and then deleted it all. i decided that it was way too much for this blog. eeeek! but what IS for this blog is that i want you to understand when you come home from the hospital, you will have to take care of yourself. chances are you had some sort 'ouchie' down there and it will need lots of care. why do i say that? because so many friends have shared with me that they didn't know about that part. that no one told them about the awesome netted granny panties they have to wear along with the other stuff........ lets leave it at that. but warning: coming home isn't easy on your body (down there).

two: maternity clothes - don't baggem' up too soon.
when you come home from the hospital, you want comfy clothes. but you won't be able to hop right back into those cute little jeans you wore before you were preggo. nope. truth is? for those first few weeks, you are still deflating. and obviously it will take months to get back into those jeans. so prepare yourself.
a week or so before i delivered, my sweet friend colette and i went to the mall. partly ,to walk around in hopes to get babyleif out sooner, but also to buy something cute and comfy and able to wear if breastfeeding, for the hospital.
yes, buy something cute for the hospital, DO IT!
you just had a baby, you are sick of your maternity clothes, but you WONT fit into those 'real' clothes yet.......so buy something cute and loungy that is new and crisp, to put on after that first shower at the hospital. i still grab my cute zip up from american eagle when i run out the door......it easily masks my horrible saggyness while wearing a nursing bra........and looks cute at the same time. haha. hehe.

three: you're going to be starving.
especially if you're breastfeeding.
buy some snacks for those middle of the night feedings.
i went through animal crackers like they were goin' outta style.
remember this picture? yep. i lived off of animal crackers.


ok. i feel like this post is getting REALLY boring.
gag, i almost want to just delete it.
so i better stop here. before i just keep rambling.
hopefully some of those things help you (you, and you, and you who are pregnant or you, who aren't quite preggo yet, but will be someday, hehe)

and i still have two posts knitting themselves together in my mind.
one is about stella and dot.
coming soon.
maybe tonight?
(and in case you are wondering what stella and dot is, scroll down through the bottom of this post i JUST saw on a blog i follow!!
way cool.
see you soon.
yum
cheese pizza for dinner.
thank you papa johns, you never fail to impress me :)