Giving birth to your new bundle of joy is a great experience, but you just aren’t feeling the same as you did before. Body changes after pregnancy are more than just a little bit of stretched skin; childbirth can be both mentally and physically taxing to your body. Luckily there are things all pregnant women can do to refresh both their mind and body after childbirth.
How Body Changes After Pregnancy Can Affect You
Our bodies change over time while they are getting ready to protect the child growing inside you. Body chemistry is altered to accommodate another person, storage of nutrients changed the shape of our body and water is stored in the most interesting of places, but after you’ve given birth, your body has to change again. Having all those extra hormones, extra weight and stretched out body can do a number to a new mother.
Weight gain
During afterbirth recovery, your belly does not return to its standard size immediately. Weight gain is one of the first effects of childbirth. Many women claim they still look like they’re pregnant even after delivery. Part of the healing process after birth is your stomach getting back to normal.
Exercise and a healthy diet are a must after delivery to help this weight loss process. Core exercises focusing on the abdominal muscles are essential, but make a consultation with your doctor about the safety of exercising first, as you can still be sore or sensitive to heavy activities after giving birth.
Swollen feet
During pregnancy, your body goes through many changes in the female body, including feet swelling. Women gain between 25-35 pounds during pregnancy, and this can put a lot of pressure on the feet. Some women even lose the arch of their feet and become flattened. Many women see a change in their shoe size after pregnancy, but this is just a great excuse to go shopping for new shoes!
Cup size
When a woman is pregnant, she may notice her breasts swell, especially when her milk comes in and ready to provide her newborn with nutrition. However, after delivery and after a woman stops breastfeeding, she may notice a drop in her cup size and her breasts even begin sagging. It is just another of the body changes after childbirth women endure. One quick breastfeeding tip to help with swelling is to use hot packs before feeding and cold packs after feeding.
Hair loss
Pregnancy and all the increased hormones cause fuller, shinier hair. However, after delivery, women’s hair goes back to normal, causing them to lose more hair than normal. Hair loss is one of the childbirth changes in the female body sometimes overlooked. Fortunately, your body’s hormones will eventually even out, causing your hair to return to normal after 6-12 months.
Sex drive
With all the changes your body goes through, you may see a decline in your confidence. One of the most significant body changes due to childbirth is a drop in sex drive, and you may often be tired because you’re focusing your energy on your family; you may not have time to prioritize sex. Also, changes in estrogen levels can affect your libido.
Your hormones will eventually even out again after delivery. Luckily, in the meantime, you can get the FemiLift vaginal laser treatment to help improve your postpartum sex life. The painless procedure invigorates the tissue in the vaginal canal and can enhance a woman’s sexual feeling. This five-minute process happens in the comfort of your doctor’s office and doesn’t have any downtime, which means you won’t have to wait to feel the results.
Skin changes
Not only will your face’s chemistry change after pregnancy but you’re also likely to get spider veins, varicose veins and stretch marks on your legs and stomach. A lot of women will go from flawless skin to having acne or from oily skin to dry skin. Another common skin condition is melasma, also known as the ‘mask of pregnancy,’ in which you’ll get spots of different colored pigmentation all over your face.
Using the restroom
It will take awhile post delivery to get used to the signals your body gives you to use the restroom. Because of these changes pregnancy causes to your pelvic floor the signals may never feel the same again, but they normally get easy to read with time
Susceptible to illness
Because of the changes in body chemistry pregnancy causes a new mother will be more susceptible to germs and illness. Going to the dentist is important as your mouth’s biochemistry will be new. Checking up with your OB-GYN is even more important as they can catch issues before they start.
Brain and hormones
After your child has been introduced to the world, the next stages of a mother’s brain composition should be telling her to protect. With all the other chemicals floating around in there from housing your baby for 9 months, mixed with the need to protect them, it’s no wonder new mom’s get mood swings.
This also doesn’t mean you have to be a completely new you.
But it does mean you’ll be experiencing a lot of emotions at once. Including frustration, paranoia, sadness, anger and manic happiness. Try not to get too stressed out about it, it happens to all mothers and effects them all differently.
Boost Your Self Esteem After Giving Birth
Many changes come with motherhood, but you don’t have to lose yourself to be a mom entirely. You can be both strong maternal women while still being the person you were before your baby. Boost your confidence and give yourself some self-care with these easy tips.
Involve your baby in your workouts
Stubborn weight not going away months after your baby arrived? It puts a strain on your confidence when you feel you can’t do your normal exercise routine while watching your baby.
Combine both caring for your baby and a little exercise by involving your baby in your routine. Many mothers have begun doing light cardiovascular exercises involving their baby resting on them so you get some light exercise while seeing your baby’s smiling face.
Create a simple skincare routine
You might not have time now to do your regular beauty routine while changing diapers and feeding. But it doesn’t mean your skin has to take a back seat, you can still maintain healthy skin to maintain your mothership radiance.
Boost your self-esteem after giving birth by looking for a skincare routine easy enough for you to do between naps and burping. BB creams are great to give your skin a light tint and give the effect you are wearing foundation while moisturizing your skin.
If you are stepping out to grab more diapers, add some blush to the apples of your cheeks to look fresh even if you haven’t slept since your baby has arrived.
Don’t forget about your nutrition
Days seem shorter, and you lose track of your nutrition when your attention is all for your bundle of joy. Remember to feed yourself as well to maintain your strength to endure childcare. Your body is the machine keeping you working so keeping it nourished keeps it working for longer.
Try to incorporate fruits and vegetables into your daily diet if you can. If you make all your baby’s food, make some extra for you so you get some food in you to fuel your day.
Femilift treatment
Time with your partner has become limited, but it doesn’t mean it has to diminish completely. Childbirth sometimes causes a loss of tone in your vaginal area, thus giving you a different sensation during intercourse.
The Femilift treatment uses a high precision Alam CO2 laser to apply thermal energy to your vagina to help with vaginal mucosa revitalization, which leaves you with a lubricating and tightening effect. This procedure is done in your doctor’s office and takes about 10 minutes to complete.
Another benefit of the procedure is you only need one treatment to feel the results, and there isn’t any downtime afterward so you can get back to your intimacy and your motherhood.
Treat Yourself after Childbirth with Femilift
Your intimacy doesn’t have to take a nap after your baby has arrived. With a quick laser vaginal tightening procedure, recharge your intimacy to get the boost your self-esteem after giving birth. Dr. Lynn Kowalski is a trailblazer for Femilift in Las Vegas. Schedule a consultation with her today!