by Shannon Caldwell

Created on: August 29, 2007

The moment has finally arrived. After nine long months and many hours of hard work giving birth, nothing and no one could have prepared you for the way you would feel upon seeing your new baby for the first time. The flood of emotions that pours over you may help you to forget about the pain of labour and birth for the time being, however, soon the recovery period begins.

Naturally, your focus now and the concern of those around you is the wellbeing of your little one, however, this can sometimes be difficult following a complicated or difficult delivery. Perhaps you suffered a serious tear or had an assisted delivery requiring stitches. If this is the case, it is likely that you are in for some tough recovery time which may or may not pose limits on your ability to care for your new baby as you would like to. This is not often discussed by doctors or in social circles, therefore many new mothers may find themselves unprepared for the situation they face in the first few weeks at home. Such difficulties may include; inability to sit comfortably so that feeding and comforting your baby may be painful; difficulty getting up from sitting; difficulty walking; difficulty passing urine or controlling one's bowels; painful swollen breasts and cracked bleeding nipples, despite proper latch!

Hopefully, you will have the support of caring medical staff, family and friends to help you as needed and to care for your needs as well as those of the baby. Although asking for help or sharing your situation may at times feel awkward, it is the only way to let others know you are hurting. So go ahead, send someone out for the absolute must haves: a bottle of extra strength Advil, some super absorbent maxipads, a squeeze bottle (for a warm soothing cleanse of the tender perineum) and the biggest bottle of nipple cream they can find! As much as it seems recovery will take forever, the pain does eventually fade and soon you will be free to move about and enjoy your precious little bundle of joy!

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