Why is nobody talking about post birth cramps?
My first labour with my oldest son was your typical text book labour, you know the drill: waters break, contractions follow, dilation and then BOOM (well not exactly, more like a WAAHH), I had a baby!
But nothing, absolutely nothing prepared me for the horror show I was going to experience after the birth of my second, two years later.
I had heard chatter about “period cramps” that came along after having a second child, but these were NOT period cramps.
It was a quick labour, within a few hours I was fortunate enough to have two big, black beautiful eyes staring at me. I held my beautiful girl and instantly began to feed her, the most intimate and beautiful experience as if to confirm that she was mine.
As I fed her for the fourth time that night I felt my stomach explode, in so much pain without even realising I curled into a foetal position and began moaning quietly.
Rocking back and forth with tears streaming down my face, I found myself rolling off the hospital bed and onto the ground, with my baby still attached and one hand pulling at my pants the other cradling her tiny, hungry body.
I cried for what felt like forever as I stared at the buzzer hanging above my bed that I could no longer reach. The pain was excruciating as if with every suckle she made there were a hundred knives tearing apart my insides.
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Each baby you have, the cramps get worse. When you feed your baby, the uterus is contracting and it happens faster and more painfully after each subsequent birth ... the only plus being that it is over quicker. I found it worse than labour for babies 3 and 4, panadol does nothing, but before I fed, I got an iceback for my back and a heatpack on my tummy, to help. Best wishes for anyone going through it.
Hmmm I knew about this when I had my children?!
Lovely that the nurse was compassionate.