Fourth Trimester Postpartum Stories

Rachel had her first baby via a forceps delivery. A few days later, the resulting third degree tear became infected. After months of unsuccessful treatment, she finally had surgery, and was medically cleared at 6 months postpartum. That experience left her with postpartum anxiety and PTSD. She discusses how both talk therapy and EMDR helped her process and heal.She talks about breastfeeding a baby with severe lip and tongue ties, as well as how her oversupply affected ...

Brianna’s first baby had jaundice, and she describes her challenges feeding in the hospital while having to keep him under the lights. She and her husband were living with her parents after her first birth, and she describes her postpartum experience as blissful. Her second postpartum experience started similarly with jaundice, but she was prepared for that. However, her son failed the 24 hour cardiac test and needed to come home with an oxygen tank. Going home with a ...

Parvati was diagnosed with placenta previa 20 weeks into her pregnancy. She was put on bedrest at 26 weeks, and then had a C-section at 36 weeks. She describes how her physical recovery was affected by her weeks of bedrest. She also discusses how the judgement she experienced when she stopped pumping contributed to the anxiety she felt about all of her postpartum choices. She talks about an app she’s creating to help women find local resources to help them wherever the...

Lauren found out that she had LFS just days before finding out that she was pregnant with her daughter Josie. After a planned home birth turned hospital induction due to IUGR, she describes her early weeks postpartum, including latch issues with her tiny baby, trying to get fasting blood sugar readings, and her own hospital visits for high blood pressure and retained placenta. At 5 months postpartum, she found out that her daughter also had LFS, as well as Turner Syndrome, and alr...

After a non-medicated birth, Elizabeth had to go to the OR and have a spinal placed to have her “3.75” degree tear repaired. She dealt with low supply, likely due to IGT, and describes her journey of triple feeding and power pumping and trying all the galactagogues before starting to supplement with formula. She also had pain while nursing that ended up being a lymph backup, which was finally diagnosed and treated by her chiropractor. She shares her very different experience...

In part two of her episodes, Miranda shares her fourth postpartum experience. She talks about going through the grieving process of knowing she just had her last baby, only to get pregnant with number 5 around 7 months postpartum (just a month after gallstone surgery).You can find her on instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/randipaige_peace/Join us on the Facebook group to talk more about this episode and all things postpartum: https://www.facebook.com/groups/fourthtrimesterpostpartu...

Miranda has four kids (and is 14 weeks pregnant with her fifth). Having kids close together meant that her early postpartum experiences happened alongside her subsequent pregnancies. She needed surgery 5 months postpartum after her first baby to repair the damage from her 3rd degree episiotomy. After having her second baby, she went to counseling for postpartum anxiety, but the group she saw was not equipped to help her. She got pregnant with her third about 8 months postpar...

Despite feeling a wave of exhaustion when she got home from the hospital, Alaina was unable to sleep. Once she got over the initial hormone crash, she started splitting nights with her husband to care for their baby, who didn’t sleep more than a few minutes if he wasn’t held. She used a lactation consultant to help with the unexpected challenges of breastfeeding, until it became easier a few months in. The physical recovery of (an uncomplicated vaginal) birth surprised her.S...

Amy struggled to produce enough milk for her daughter and ultimately stopped breastfeeding, which she says really helped her to be present in her postpartum experience. She describes some postpartum anxiety, and how she went about finding herself again.Resources and links she mentioned:Bekah Martinez: https://www.instagram.com/bekah/Expecting Better by Emily Oster : https://emilyoster.net/Her own Insta pages:https://www.instagram.com/sweatyesthi/https://www.instagram.com/kindredstudioat...

Morgan had some initial breastfeeding issues with the baby not transferring enough milk, as well as developing mastitis only days after the birth, and went on to have long term supply issues. She was also surprised that her baby only wanted to sleep on her chest for the first 11 weeks. She discusses the evolution of her daughter’s sleep, her return to work, and her dad’s cancer diagnosis just six weeks after her daughter was born.Some resources she mentioned:The Birth Hour Podcast...