1) How much weight will I lose right after giving birth?
You probably won't return to your pre-pregnancy weight for some time, but you will lose a significant amount of weight immediately after delivery. Subtracting one 7- to 8-pound baby, about a pound or so of placenta, and another few pounds of blood and amniotic fluid leaves most new moms about 12 pounds lighter.
The weight keeps coming off, too. All the extra water your cells retained during pregnancy, along with fluid from the extra blood you had in your pregnant body, will be looking for a way out.
So you'll produce more urine than usual in the days after birth – an astounding 3 quarts a day. You may perspire a lot, too. By the end of the first week, you'll likely lose about 4 to 6 pounds of water weight. (The amount varies depending on how much water you retained during pregnancy.)
2) Will my vagina and perineum ever get back to normal?
If you give birth vaginally, your vagina will probably remain a little larger than it was before. Right after delivery, the vagina will be stretched open and may be swollen and bruised. Over the next few days, any swelling you might have starts to go down, and your vagina begins to regain muscle tone. In the next few weeks, it will gradually get smaller. Doing Kegel exercises regularly helps restore muscle tone.
If you had a small tear in your perineum that did not require stitches, it should heal quickly and cause little discomfort. If you had an episiotomy or a significant tear, your perineum needs time to heal, so wait to start having sex again until you get the okay from your practitioner at your postpartum checkup. If you continue to have tenderness in that area, delay intercourse until you feel ready.
In the meantime, figure out what you want to do for contraception. When you do feel ready (both physically and emotionally) to have sex again, be sure to go slowly.
When you start having intercourse, you'll probably find that you have less vaginal lubrication than you did when you were pregnant, due to lower levels of estrogen. This dryness will be even more pronounced if you're breastfeeding, because nursing tends to keep estrogen levels down. Using a lubricant is a big help. (Be sure to buy a water-based lubricant, particularly if you're using a barrier method of contraception. Oil-based lubricants can weaken latex, which can cause a condom to break or ruin a diaphragm.)
3) What should I expect if I'm breastfeeding?
Hormonal changes after delivery prompt your breasts to start producing milk. When your baby nurses during the first few days after birth, he's getting colostrum, a thick yellowish substance that your breasts produced during pregnancy. His suckling triggers the release of the hormones prolactin, which stimulates milk production, and oxytocin, which causes the milk sacs and ducts to contract, propelling the milk to your nipples. (This is the so-called "letdown" reflex.)
If those first breastfeeding sessions cause some abdominal cramping, it's because oxytocin also triggers uterine contractions. When your milk comes in, usually two to three days after you give birth, your breasts may get swollen, tender, hard, throbbing, and uncomfortably full. This is called engorgement and it should get better in a day or two.
Nursing your baby often is the best thing you can do for relief. (In fact, frequent nursing right from the beginning sometimes prevents engorgement altogether.) For others suggestions, check out our advice on treating engorgement. If these measures don't help and your baby seems to be having trouble latching on correctly, talk to your caregiver or lactation consultant.
Why am I feeling so moody?
Mood swings may be due to a number of factors, including hormonal changes, discomfort you may still be experiencing from labor and birth, sleep deprivation and the other demands of caring for a new baby, as well as the emotional adjustment to motherhood. Whatever the cause, it's common to feel a little blue, usually beginning a few days after giving birth and lasting for a few weeks.
If the feeling doesn't go away on its own in the first few weeks or you find that you're feeling worse rather than better, be sure to call your caregiver and tell her your symptoms. You may be suffering from postpartum depression, a more serious problem that requires treatment, and she can give you a referral for help. If you think you might hurt yourself or your baby, or if you feel incapable of caring for your newborn, seek professional help immediately.
4) Why am I losing my hair?
If your hair got thicker during your pregnancy, it may now start to shed in handfuls. This happens to some new moms in the first few months after having their baby. Don't worry – you won't go bald.
During pregnancy, high estrogen levels may prolong your hair's growing phase, causing less to fall out than usual. After you give birth, your estrogen levels plummet and you begin to shed more. Over time, usually within a year or so, the rate of new growth and shedding will return to what it once was.
On the bright side, if you suffered from excess facial and body hair during pregnancy (the result of a rise in hormones called androgens), you will likely lose most of that hair within six months after having your baby.
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