Healing and Babymoon

So Amity is 10 days old and I'm still waiting for the pain "down there" to go away completely. It gets a little better every day, but if I over do it even a little I am VERY uncomfortable by evening... I was very bruised and swollen- though the swelling is almost gone the bruised feeling continues. I can't imagine what it would be like if I had torn and would have needed stitches. As it is I'm sure I got a few "skid" marks. Weird illustration but I feel like an old basketball that was left in the sun for a long time and then blown up twice it size and then shrunk again...In other words I feel like I have a lot of cracking that happened down there. My skin is healing...slowly.

I have to say my peri cleansing bottle and solution (some essential oils to promote healing- came in my birth kit) are my best friend. I didn't rinse once or twice (because some child or another was screaming) in the last week and boy did not rinsing make things burn- and I think slowed healing a little.

Yes, all this is TMI...But I wasn't sure what to expect after a vaginal birth...I gotta say, waaaay waaaaay easier than healing from a c/s. I can't imagine trying to even be near Riley with a giant c/s incision across my belly- she is on my lap right now with a book that she asks me to read for a minute and then goes back to her Elmo video...She is not easy on the stomach muscles!

I've gotta say, though I still am pretty watery, and have a good bit of babyweight to lose- I feel SO much better about my body than I did with Riley. I think my left over bump is kind of cute (though I definitely don't wnat it there forever)- I really am not in a huge hurry to get going on excercise- I want to take things VERY slowly. I am enjoying my babymoon. Two weeks of doing nothing but taking care of Amity, which by the way a newborn is a breeze compared to a toddler! Ami is fussy at points during the day and that is tiring- but compared to trying to keep RJ happy - well I gotta say I'm loving the "second time around" every thing is so much less overhwelming! I mean it is still overwhelming some times, especially when both girls are screaming and I have to use the bathroom and in desperate need of a nap... But it helps that I have perepsective, I mean I heard with Riley that "this too shall pass" but now I really SEE that it goes so fast, and that it isn't like with Riley where I was so entrenched in new Mommyness and newborn every thing that I couldn't see past the next day let alone the next year.

I'll have to finish this post later, I have a few more thoughts about babymooning- how much I am loving rest but Ami is starting to stir and I need to change her diaper and feed her, and hopefully get a nap in...Ami had me up for hours last night. Ryan sent me to bed at 9 and I got to sleep untill 10:45...I was up untill 12:30 with a very fussy Ami finally wore her down in the sling... Got some broken sleep untill 4am and then was up with Ami untill 5:30 when she fiiiinally slept. She's "waking up" to the world and isn't liking some aspects of that.

Hmm Ami settled...Babymoon thoughts: I feel kinda weak for being this way, for wanting so much rest and not wanting to go out or do any thing...I know so many Mom's who feel so wonderful after delivery that they dive right back into life full swing after a few days rest. 1) I haven't felt all that wonderful, I mean compared to how I felt with Riley I feel amazing. But I am VERY sore and being on my feet makes the swelling worse which makes the burny feeling worse. IN some ways I am definitely a first time Mom- I've heard the 2nd vaginal birth you don't get as sore...Here's hoping! 2) I just want to soak up all the rest I can, I didn't rest enough after Riley was born partly because my body was sick and wouldn't let me, and partly because I didn't realize how important it was. It took my body 6months to recover from the c/s and I don't want to repeat that. I want to get my body fully healed over the next 6 weeks- I am not doing any thing extra for 6 weeks, I am resting, not running any extra errands that I don't need to and taking as many naps as I can get. I want Amity's babyhood to be with a Mommy who is ready to take on the challenge.

And Ami is stirring again... maybe I'll update this later....

Back but NAK- Something I learned on GCM- that never ever heard about or considered. The kind of pads you use post partum...Always brand pads burnt me so badly! A thread talked about it a few months ago but I forgot about it untill I popped one in and 2 hours later I was hurting so bad I could barely walk...THEN I remembered the thread. I know this is beyond crunchy to some but I was kinda hoping to use cloth pads after the first week, but I never got around to buying material to make some, and we need cloth diapering stuff so much more. Our stash still really needs some filling out We really need 3 more Wonder Wraps and at least 10 more dipes- I'm thinking I'll make some RRP's out of Ryan's old Tshirts- cheap and stretchy! Anyway, Ryan took me to Wegmans on Friday and I got some 100% cotton organic disposable pads- they are expensive. I am thinking that maybe this weekend Ryan can take me to the fabric store and I can pick up a yard of bamboo fleece and make my own mama clothes- cheaper than buying more pads over the next few weeks (I bled 6 weeks with RJ...though not heavily at all it still require a pad). Okay Amity is having a sleepy morning and Riley is really happy with Sesame Street I'm gonna catch some Zzzz's.