This post is not intended to scare moms to be or women who want to be moms in the future. It’s just an honest reflection of my postpartum experience. Everyone is different. The real key is to find the humor in these things when you can!
At some point over the weekend, I had my hair up in a bun (of course!), and I noticed a million baby hairs pointing in every direction. They were literally popping out from the front, the top, the back, etc. As annoying as this is, it made me laugh because personally I’ve found baby hairs to be the least of my postpartum aches and pains.
This also got me thinking about all the strange things that have happened to me physically after having kids.
The strangest experience was getting full body hives. Not once but TWICE! The first time, I went to an allergist, got a full work up, and they found nothing. The doctor was convinced I had cold urticaria (allergic to extremely cold weather). That would’ve made sense given we lived in Chicago at the time, except for that fact that this was my third winter in the Windy City. The second time around was before a a big work trip and a big family trip, so I just started taking the same meds right away.
Fingers crossed I haven’t had hives since October 2019!
Speaking of allergies, I’ve noticed that since having kids, my allergic reaction to whatever is floating around outside is more pronounced. If I forget to take Aller-tec first thing in the morning and spend any amount of time outside, it’s game over. My eyes and face and everything…so itchy!
Never had any kind of allergies before kids…just saying!
Ok, moving away from allergies…and on to literally aches and pains…
This could honestly just be a getting older thing, but man, my lower back pain is nuts on some days. I notice it more when I workout, but again, not something I had to think about before kids. I have zero proof, but I have to believe that carrying around two babies for nine months each did something to my alignment. I’m getting better about using our massage gun and stretching whenever I can, but still…it’s a literal pain!
Also, and I realize I’m sound like a frail lady, after having Kaiden I sometimes (it’s more rare now) get this strange tightness in my sternum area into my abdomen whenever I bend over on the floor to play with the kids. And the only thing that helps is to breathe through it. Thankfully, it hasn’t happened since having Mila, but I’m always cautious about moving too quickly now.
And finally, my inability to sleep through the night + night sweats. I definitely attribute this to becoming a mom. My brain is constantly on, and I have yet to think of a way to turn it off for the night. I wake up at least once if not multiple times. Sometimes I think I hear one of the kids crying (sometimes it is one of the kids crying), other times I wake up and freak out when Vishnu’s not next to me, and sometimes I just wake up for no good reason. Working on establishing a better night time routine with at least 30 minutes of down time before bed.
As far as the night sweats go, it must be some sort of hormonal thing. It’s not as bad as it was immediately postpartum, but man, some nights I wake up drenched in sweat. It’s so gross! And while Vishnu will say it was warm that night, he’s never sweating the way I am.
Obviously, all of these things are a small price to pay for my beautiful children! It’s just part of the process, and I’d do it a million times over to be honest. Just a tiny bit unfair that my husband doesn’t get to partake in this fun even though K + M are 50% his!
