New Moms Need to Know the Truth: 8 Postpartum Realities No One Shares

They all tell you about how you won’t sleep and the cluster feeding. But I’m about to drop some truth bombs about some postpartum realities no one told me about. 

Fair warning ahead: This post can be a little negative. So, if you are in the dumps, don’t read this post. Instead, read my post on how I had a successful, tear-free natural birth with no intervention. 

1. Uterine cramping while breastfeeding

You thought labor pains were over once you gave birth? WRONG. I was unpleasantly surprised to find out you get uterine cramps every time you breastfeed your new baby for 2-3 days postpartum.

Even better news? They apparently get worse with every consecutive birth. As someone who would love to have five babies, that news isn’t too exciting. 

get tylenol for the pain & ask your partner to remind you to take it

My nurses supplied me with plenty of tylenol, which really helped. However I often forgot to take it often enough. Set a timer every few hours (however often it states on the bottle) or ask your partner to remind you to take it.

2. Breastfeeding does not come naturally, and it hurts

I have to say, my least favorite part about the whole process of having a child was learning how to breastfeed. She’s crying, you’re crying, your mom is trying to help, she falls asleep, and you call the Lactation Consultant ten times. Breastfeeding took me WEEKS to figure out. 

try different nursing positions and find the one that works for you

My baby would not latch, and it was so frustrating. I thought it would be the most natural thing in the world. Turns out it took weeks of practice. I tried SO many different nursing positions. The one that worked best for me was the “football hold”. After a couple of months, though, it was a breeze (ish).

breastfeeding hurt so bad at first

The first few days of nursing were so painful. Even when they tell you it shouldn’t be. Although my lactation consultant watched my positioning and approved it, it STILL hurt like heck. 

3. The night sweats…

NO ONE WARNED ME! I learned the hard way to lay a towel under me every night. I was sweating buckets every night; it was so uncomfortable. 

plan on sleeping on a towel the first month postpartum

Due to the intense drop in hormones right after you give birth, you’ll be sweating like crazy for up to six weeks postpartum. It sucks because just think about it– you’re sweating a ton, you’re bleeding, and you’re leaking milk (we are keeping it VERY real here). It’s a fun time.

4. Milk leaking everywhere

Be prepared for not going braless for at least a couple of months!! Night and day, you’ll need to wear nursing bras. Otherwise, my girl, you’ll be leaking your breastmilk all over your shirt, carpet, bed, anywhere. 

get reusable nursing pads, nursing bras and nursing tanks

Do yourself a favor and buy those reusable nursing pads (not the disposable ones– those aren’t any good). I 100% regret not looking into this before giving birth. It can be a little awkward if you start visibly leaking through your shirt in public. Kudos to you if you don’t care, but as a first-time mom, I was super self-conscious. 

5. Your baby will not sleep anywhere else but you

We had this nice bedside bassinet, and I would lay her there as she fell asleep after nursing, but no. She would cry and cry and cry. I browsed Reddit to figure out what the heck to do to get at least 30 minutes of sleep (yes it was that bad). 

For the first 2 or 3 days, I definitely woke up with my baby on my chest and terrified I was going to suffocate her! 

How I got her to sleep on her own

The solution? A combo of rocking for at least 20 minutes to sleep, laying a heating pad on the bassinet for a few minutes before setting her down, and laying her down bum-to-head ever so gently.

get a baby wrap for naps

I also highly recommend getting some kind of a baby wrap. She would not fall and stay asleep if she wasn’t on my chest, so I learned very quickly the only way I could get any light chores done was by babywearing her. 

7. The intense thirst when breastfeeding

Within milliseconds of starting to breastfeed, I got SO THIRSTY it was insane. And then I would forget to have grabbed my water bottle, which was awful. Just don’t forget to bring your water bottle with you everywhere, all the time. 

Get a nice water bottle and body armor drinks

I loved keeping the fridge stocked with Body Armor. Not only are they super hydrating, but they also supposedly promote higher milk production. 

7. Avoiding physical activity for 5 weeks is hard

Staying inside watching TV all day sounds nice in theory, but it gets old fast. Newborns sleep 90% of the time, most of which is spent on your chest. My husband worked long hours, so I was alone a lot of the time. Not being able to go out for a while to go on a walk, or even walk around the grocery store is so frustrating. 

I regret doing too much postpartum

It got to be so tedious that I ended up being a little too active during my postpartum period. I went grocery shopping, visited my parent’s house, and even went on short walks. 

I didn’t realize how crucial it is to limit physical activity to zero. Your organs are literally moving back into place in your body. The last thing you want to experience is a prolapse. 

8. The hospital expects a pediatrician visit within days of birth

This to be is absolute insanity. I remember one day after coming home from the hospital, we were instructed to go to our pediatrician to have our daughter checked out. My husband was working, so I was so blessed to have my parents help me out. They drove me to the office and carried the (very heavy) baby car seat. 

The system is not built for new mothers

I just think it is crazy that we are expected to take our babies to the doctor one or two days after giving birth. I could barely walk, am operating on no sleep, and they expect us to bring our newborn baby to the pediatrician that soon? Is it just me, or is that wack? 

I’m pretty sure I remembered the most shocking and surprising parts about the postpartum period. I just want to be as realistic as possible, and I wish someone would have told me all of these harsh realities.

There are also so many things that I was afraid of postpartum that actually didn’t happen at all, to my surprise. Keep an eye out for a post on that soon.💗