Postpartum - Take 2

Can I just say, my recovery from Henry's birth has been so, so much better than it was with Ollie. I have felt great from day one. Obviously I had some discomfort. I mean, I did just push a nearly 10 pound baby out of my nether-regions, but whose counting. With Ollie I could barely sit comfortably for a week. I literally hobbled around the house with my "butt pillow" in tow.

I attribute much of the difference to the significantly shorter labor, only 10 minutes of pushing, delivering in the afternoon rather than the early morning hours. Plus, I have already pushed out one kid, so the path out of the womb had a little less resistance than the first time around, if you know what I mean. I also didn't tear as much this time. I had a small tear with Ollie and had to have a few stitches. This time I had a tiny, tiny tear that didn't require any stitches and hasn't bothered me at all. So much better than last time, which took a long time to heal.

As for nursing, my discomfort was nothing in comparison to the first time around. No bloody, raw nipples. No being reduced to tears upon latching on. Although I had some soreness, it only lasted a couple days. Again, so much better than last time.

The hard part about this time around is ironically, feeling so good. It is easy to forget that I just gave birth a little over 2 weeks ago. I have to keep reminding myself that I need to take it easy, when all I want to do it go out for a walk. Okay, honestly I am counting down the weeks until I can start running again. My street is a big running street and I have been feeling supremely jealous as I watch the runners bound by. When I do go for a walk or run too many errands I feel it later - I get so tired.

Cuddling with Henry and feeling so good almost makes me think I could do this whole thing again, almost. Then I snap back to the reality of dealing with a toddler and an infant and I think I am 99% sure I am done making babies. Honestly, I don't think I could do the whole pregnancy thing again - I have more stretch marks and more pounds to lose this time. Can someone explain why I get stretch marks on my inner thighs when I am pregnant? I know I gain weight there, but not that much. So irritating.

This time I came home looking about 25 weeks preggers and the baby belly slowly melted down to belly jelly. I feel so out of shape. I think getting back in shape this time around is going to be more difficult. I have about 17 pounds to lose before I get back to my target weight of 140 pounds. I was somewhere between 130 and 135 before I got pregnant with Henry, but I had dropped quite a bit of weight post Ollie and was actually lighter than I was before I got pregnant with Ollie. So I am trying to be realistic and set a reasonable goal and 140 it is. I am not in any rush to drop the weight, I just want to get back in shape and feel good again. I know it won't happen overnight, but I am looking forward to being more physical again.