7 Month PP Update!

Body: 

Hello lovely ladies!

It's been awhile since I've posted because I've been extremely busy being a mom and working full time. I wanted to post for any postpartum ladies who are freaking out the way I was at 6 weeks pp.

Without getting too far into my history, at 6 weeks pp I discovered the infamous bulge(s) and thought my life would never be the same. I was depressed, anxious, angry, etc. I didn't really think I would improve much because I had such a traumatic delivery. HOWEVER...I am now nearly 7 months pp and I feel back to my old self. I work on my feet 8 hours a day, lug around my 20(!) pound seven-month-old, go for walks, use the elliptical, even jog a bit. I never thought I'd be at this point so soon. During my period I have a minor increase in symptoms, but that lessens every month. The only issue remaining is that when I jog for longer periods of time, I leak. I believe this will get better with time as well.

I can still find the bulge if I try, but I RARELY do try--what's the point? It has no negative impact on my busy, active, full life. Thanks to all of you who have shared your stories and progress; you have been such a blessing!

Happy Holidays!

mzimm

how fabulous that you are back to your busy active life! thanks for the update
happy holidays to you too!

That's great Mzimm. Thanks for the update. I'm feeling better and better too (now almost 11 months pp). Infact, months 9 pp to present I've felt some great improvement. I wear my baby on my back and hike in the snow with my son and dog, and do everything I used to. If I didn't know about it, I don't think I would even realize I had it! That may change when I get my period back, but I know the discomfort won't last forever. I start back to work in early January, so I'll keep you all posted then. I plan on writing my story once I hit 1 year pp! I hope you keep sending us your updates.

Happy Holidays!
Janice

Fabulous ladies, fabulous! Thank you for posting.

Great to hear you are feeling so well, mzimm!
Yay for WW! :D
Liv

Hi Mzimm

Great news! It is lovely to hear of postpartum recovery going just as it is suppposed to be. There are no quick fixes.

As an illustration, I had a gardening accident at the end of October, and found myself with a part of my post hole digger in my mouth, cracking a top front incisor near the bottom and putting the tooth through my bottom lip. It was a very silly thing to do, and was all my fault. I was lucky the damage was not worse. You would think I would learn, after using the post hole digger for 30 years, but no, not me!

I could not bear any contact on the tooth, and when the lip finally healed a couple of weeks later I visited the dentist to investigate the damage, as the tooth wasn't feeling any better. He did a few tests with ice and prodding and poking, and told me he wouldn't do anything, and to come back in three months. So I went home, unable to bite with that side of my front teeth. I have suddenly realised, two months later, that it is at last getting better. I can now bite off soft toast and banana, though I cannot bite an apple or take a bite out of a burger with all the trimmings. Bacon still needs to be cut up. So progress is still happening, slowly but surely. I do not know how much better it will get. I hope it does not mean that the nerve is dying.

The moral of the story is that healing and recovery happen gradually and slowly, often at a snail's pace. We often do not see progress until way after the improvement has happened, and we have no way of predicting how much better it will get, or how long it will take. The best we can possibly do is:-

* to enact all possible positive strategies actions,
* be kind to our body,
* get on with our lives,
* measure our progress *infrequently* so results are measurable,
* be realistic about how long recovery takes; be patient,
* trust our body to heal itself, and not second guess the options for if healing is not satisfactory. You will be able to deal with that later.

In a world where we can jump on a plane and be on the other side of the planet in 24 yours, it can take infinite patience, but nothing will hurry healing.

Louise