The truth about the postpartum poo

Ask a 4 year old about postpartum poo and they'll begin laughing hysterically and making farting sounds. (P.S. They don't know what "postpartum poo" is and they don't care. You said "poo".)

Ask a woman who's given birth about postpartum poo and her response will let you know that this shit ain't funny.

Your body has just experienced a majorly traumatic experience. Labour is traumatic. Delivery is traumatic. Hemorrhoids are traumatic. Breastfeeding is traumatic. Parenting is traumatic.

Having a kid is just one big trauma fest, really.

I mean, don't get me wrong; there's a lot of joy and happiness in having a baby, too, but holy Toledo can it be a massive pain in the ass.

Literally.

Okay, so I'm about to get nice and graphic for you here. If you don't like talking about poo or you're still recovering from your own postpartum poo and the thought alone triggers you to clench up so tight you have near buns of steel, then perhaps this blog post isn't for you.

However, if you're like the SO MANY women out there who are about to bring a child into the world and haven't been informed of the truth about the postpartum poo you most definitely need to read on.

If you're like so many women who have no idea what to expect with their postpartum poo then this article is a must read for you!

Ok, so you've delivered your beautiful little baby. Chances are your bowels were evacuated when you were splayed on the table in front of a team of doctors and nurses while your partner caught the whole thing on camera, so you may not feel the need to have a poo for a few days. This is a good thing. You need a few days to load up on soluble fiber, stool softeners, and so much water.

Understandably, when you do feel the urge to push you get a little anxious. After all, the last thing to come out of your body was a baby. While that's not likely to happen again so immediately, you probably still feel a bit uneasy about the whole thing. However, holding it in WILL NOT do you any service. That shit will just build up, compacting as it does. You'll be taking "shitting bricks" to a whole new level if you don't take care of business as soon as the opportunity arises.

Just as birth is different for everybody, so is the postpartum poo. Some poor souls have a 40 hour labour, spend hours pushing, and wind up with first-degree tearing while others deliver their babies after a mild cramp and a sneeze. The same ridiculously unfair comparison applies to the postpartum poo. You may be spending a great deal of uncomfortable time on the toilet, or you may be simply pretending to do so behind a locked door while yelling "I'm almost done. *grunt*" and catching up on your Facebook gossip.

Once you're finished not pooping out a baby (I mention this fact because I'm sure you considered that was a possibility at least once during this process) you need to give yourself a good, relieving cleaning. Remember that peri-bottle your beautiful midwife or doctor gave you? Yep-that thing will offer as a wonderful substitute for the toilet paper that will feel like sandpaper on your poor bits. It will also make you wonder why you don't live in France, or at the very least, own a bidet.

You may experience a bit of residual discomfort once you're all finished. Have you heard of a padsicle? Wet down maxi pad in witch hazel and throw it in the freezer for a bit. Once it's nice and cooled down slap that baby into your super sexy mesh hospital panties or your super sexy granny panties. This will give some relief to your stretched out vagina (don't look yet-I'm warning you), those hemorrhoids that are lurking, and your poor anus that truly doesn't know what just hit it.

Rest assured that any poops subsequent to this first postpartum poo won't be nearly as traumatizing. Well, not any of yours, anyway...

#newbornpoo #ewww #pooface #uptheback #poosplosion