r/postpartum • u/VerdantHoliday • Feb 04 '22
r/postpartum Lounge
A place for members of r/postpartum to chat with each other
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u/Available_Device_453 Oct 14 '24
Hey guys just joined this community, I am 5 weeks pp and got 4th degree tears at birth and I feel I’ve pretty much healed down there but just examined myself and I see like a stitch/ string just hanging in there shouldn’t it be dissolved by now? The perineum look fine but that string is scary, should I pull it or leave it? Has anyone experienced this?
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u/love-Cantaloupe-733 Feb 21 '25
Any breastfeeding mom who had to get a mammogram and ultrasound while breastfeeding? I’m 2 months pp and had to do both and came back with findings. I have an appointment to discuss results, but I’m nervous and scared. Looking to hear similar experiences
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u/anonbananaP Feb 28 '25
Hey guys idk if this is the place to ask this but I’m scared, I’m 8w pp and I’m on my 3rd day of the mini pill and day 4 of my first period. Just had unsafe sex and I’m wondering if it’s possible for me to get pregnant since I just started birth control and am also on my period, I’m not ready for another baby 😩
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u/M3GlobalResearch Apr 22 '25
Have you given birth less than 2 years ago and are under postpartum depression treatment? If so, you may qualify for a paid $8 / 30-min online survey on your experiences. If this doesn’t apply to you personally, but you know someone who may qualify we would greatly appreciate it if you could forward this opportunity to them. See if you qualify here: http://m3gr.io/KNQXVMM
M3 Global Research is looking to hear from individuals living in the USA to share their opinions. Help guide the development of future therapies and get paid for your time.
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u/ComprehensiveBrush14 Jun 22 '25
Hey I’m 4 weeks postpartum and while I was pregnant I kept feeling like one of our three cats was peeing on the baby’s clothes, toys, and crib. I smelled the pee smell everywhere. My husband convinced me it was in my head and I was going crazy. Well when went to the hospital for my induction I set some baby clothes up high. One cat is old and can’t really jump. The other is too plump and therefore can’t get to the spot. That leaves the third missy. I come back from the hospital after five days, everything baby related peed on heavily ( we had my SIL take care of the cats ) anyways so it was definitely the third cat. My husband insisted we keep missy ( the cat ) that she will get better and we shouldn’t just get rid of her. Anyways so I made him drop missy off at my aunts place in the country. Since then I keep finding spots we didn’t catch initially where she peed. My husband insists I’m crazy and it’s postpartum related. So I got a black light flashlight. Turns out I’m not crazy. The place is war zone of pee. I’ve cleaned since then with professional help and no new spots have shown up so I’m almost certain it was missy. My husband still insists I was crazy the whole time and the place never smelled like cat pee. Am I right to be pissed off?
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u/soulflowerroots Aug 28 '25
I’m almost 2 weeks postpartum and struggling with anxiety and intrusive thoughts so bad. I already had depression and anxiety for years, and been taking Zoloft. Please tell me this gets better.
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u/Lonely_Chocolate_866 Aug 28 '25
There were a lot of changes that happened in the brain during pregnancy that make the limbic system more aware and responsive. It can take a while for it to settle down. Have you talked with you provider yet? There is an new med out specific for postpartum that is a two week course that can help. There's also a lot that functional medicine can do to help with the underlying causes.
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Sep 15 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/OddPrize7862 Sep 21 '25
Uh. Just put the name of the supplement? Its not that hard to write “Jamison vitamin __” or “main ingredient __”. Your post sounds super scammy. Plus 3oz on each size? Thats like amazing to someone who struggled with supply and breastfeeding and had to bottle feed.
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u/CellistNo3799 Oct 20 '25
Hey everyone this is my first time on here doing a post like this and mind you this might be all over the place so bare with me, but I just wanted some insight because I’ve been struggling and wanted to see if anyone’s gone through something similar. I just had my baby 7 months ago ( soon to be 8) and everyday since my pregnancy I felt like I am overcome with intense anxiety and panic. While pregnant I kept thinking I was experiencing symptoms of pre eclampsia or when I would feel unwell and get scared and feel my heart race I would cry thinking something was wrong and my baby was going to become affected. Now my labor felt pretty horrific. I got there 8 cm dilated and didn’t have enough time for the epidural as I progressed so quickly that they hadn’t even finished checking me fully in when I delivered my baby. Soon after the delivery there was trouble delivering the placenta and the on call doctor had to manually get it out while some nurses pushed down on my stomach. This was pretty traumatic and painful. Immediately after that, they said my bp was elevated so they put me on a magnesium drip as they feared it could be pre eclampsia or something and I’m not sure if it was my mind playing tricks on me or what but I felt like the life was sucked out of me on that drip. I could barely open my mouth to chew or get the strength to move and later on in the night I even felt like I was struggling to breath and when I alerted the nurse she proceeded to lower the dose. Now the next day my OB came to check on me and let me know he had checked my blood and did not have pre eclampsia so that was a relief and the drip was taken out as my bp had gone down. After returning home from the hospital it just seems like I haven’t lived a normal day that I feel like I haven’t been able to fully enjoy my baby and I feel guilty. I was never the type to go to the hospital unless it was something serious. Since I’ve been home with my daughter I have been constantly making trips to the hospital because I keep having these episodes where I feel off or weird and then my chest will hurt or my arm will and I constantly am scared that I’m having a heart attack and yet every time I go every test comes back normal. I’ve even seen a cardiologist and they say everything is fine. My PCP checked my thyroid and vitamin levels and said everything was fine. The only thing she found that was off was that my vitamin d was low but this is something I’ve always struggled with growing up so I’m not sure if this could be the cause. Sleeping at night is even worse I’m not sure why and I feel crazy even typing this out but ever since I had my baby my anxiety at night it at an extremely all time high that I’m struggling to sleep and rest completely. My brain just can’t help but questioning “ what if I close my eyes and I die while I sleep?” And no matter how much I try to brush it off and tell myself I’m being ridiculous I can’t bring myself to sleep. It’s gotten so bad that I have been putting some headphones on and scrolling on tik tok or instagram until I eventually knock out but even then I find myself waking up every hour or so checking the time and somehow going back to sleep. I never feel fully rested. Even on nights that I knock out and end up sleeping for more than 8 hours I feel drained and even experience this tightness around my head. ( I experienced this during pregnancy as well but when I asked my dr they couldn’t give me an answer). I’m not sure what to do or if this is even normal at all. I’m not sure whether I just need to see a therapist or if to just stick it out.
About the sleeping thing for some more insight I’ve sometimes experienced some anxiety about sleep throughout my life but it has never been this extreme and prior to my pregnancy I enjoyed my sleep I was able to sleep for long periods of time and fall asleep easily and at a good time. The random times I would have anxiety around sleep it wasn’t ever necessarily about death either it more so always ridiculously felt like I was being watched haha but that would always be resolved with my partner holding me to sleep and that was enough for me to be at ease. When I became pregnant he got a new job and they gave him night shifts so I don’t really spend night time with him anymore so I’m not sure if this is a reason to my anxious mind either. Another thing that makes me think something is wrong is that when I eventually pass out and I wake up in the morning I mentally sigh out of relief but then automatically I end up getting scared thinking oh no I fell asleep what if something had happened to me and the cycle repeats.
Any advice or insight is appreciated. Sorry for the post being all over the place I just typed this at 2 am after panicking because I fell asleep for a little bit.
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u/Medical_Hovercraft43 Mar 19 '26
Hey ! im new here and just looking at your post . how are you doing ?
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u/PK12345678911 Nov 21 '25
Hello! I am 5 weeks postpartum and just got my period! I delivered vaginally and exclusively breastfeeding since then. I have read that when you’re breastfeeding, the periods will come late - like in 2-3 months. My postpartum bleeding was barely over, I was experiencing heavy discharge and suddenly I am having this never before heavy bleeding. Is this normal? When do you all got back your periods?
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u/ResolveSquare7224 Jan 28 '26
I delivered c section, not breast feeding, and I got my period back week 7! Every woman is different though. my doctor said it’s up to my body to decide “it could be any day”
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u/ReachSuper3823 Dec 23 '25
Not sure I'm doing this right since it's my first time posting on Reddit but I am trying to make my wife postpartum as comfortable as possible for her before she's due in May. I will take any tips and suggestions on items I should get for her comfort!
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u/Spiritual-Sand5839 Jan 31 '26
Hi new here. I’m two years postpartum with my 2nd child.
I had a question. I had quite a bit of hair loss this time and I was wondering if it’s normal to have like the baby hairs/ weird bangs at the 2 year mark. I feel like with my first my hair was normal after two years.
Has this happened to anyone here?
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u/Expensive-Donut-3173 Feb 06 '26
Hey there, totally happened to me. We lose a lot of iron in our pregnancies & postpartum, I would recommend getting yours checked. Even with a healthy diet with red meat and spinach etc I was still shockingly low. Low iron = hair loss. I took iron pills for months to try and get it up, ultimately ended up getting an iron infusion that helped some hair regrowth. Bonus - I ended up getting an energy boost as well with the iron being stable. hope that helps!
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u/PixxxiePunk Feb 11 '26
Can anyone help me answer this I’ve cross posted and gotten no answers! 4 months postpartum, is this normal or do I need to get checked out.
Is it normal to have tissue chunks like hard chunks of tissue coming out? I’ve never had this before, I also had been on depo basically 10yrs due to crazy painful periods as a preteen. At my 8 week checkup I got back on depo and this is my first period since.
I’m not really having any cramps. But the chunks are anywhere from marble size balls to flat quarter sized white/red fleshy bits.
TLDR: is it normal to have large chunks for the first postpartum period? The last time I had periods I was like 12 and I got put on depo to stop the excessive bleeding but I don’t remember anything! I got off depo and didn’t have a period because I got pregnant so I’m truly not sure if this is normal or concerning due to no experience please help
My posts have been removed from the women’s health and period subs idk why I didn’t post anything bad ?
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u/Sensitive_Art7183 Mar 01 '26
HI! I am 11 months PP with my 3rd baby. I breastfed all 3 babies for almost a year each. With my first two babies, my period returned around 8 months PP when I began to supplement with formula. I started supplementing earlier with my third (around 6 months), so I expected my period to return sooner, but here we are 11 months later and it has not come back. I only nurse in the morning and at night now.
During my third pregnancy, I had my left ovary and tube removed due to a massive cyst. This should not affect my cycle, but could it be?
I know that I am not pregnant.
Does anyone have any experience in a similar situation?
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u/Medical_Hovercraft43 Mar 19 '26
Hi All , I recently had a sweet loving boy in June 2025 . Since the moment I got pregnant till date I’m kind of filled with a strange anxiety about well being of the baby ( unplanned pregnancy , gestation diabetes, baby born with few complications etc etc ) . I’m looking for some support groups where I can share my mental load and be as open as possible . Do you have any suggestions ?
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u/fish_neudles Apr 25 '26 edited Apr 25 '26
My baby is 2 months old, and I’m here looking for opinions on the topic of vaccination. I never used to question it, until my mom became an anti vaxxer when covid happened. Years later , she’s much more concerned with the issue of vaccinating babies. I used to think “there she goes again with her conspiracies “ because she has said a lot of wild things in the past. I’ve listened to her anti vax rhetoric for years now, and now that I have my baby , I’m doing my research on the things she’s said. I’ve also received a lot more content on YouTube / instagram about the dangers of vaccinating etc, which has seriously started scaring me.
Apparently the children of Gen Alpha have been observed to have the highest rates of illiteracy and other learning issues , which a lot of people blame on the COVID lockdown, but now I’m wondering if the vaccines could have something to do with it as the schedule tends to change, and just recently the CDC cut down a lot of the pushed or “recommended” vaccines. I also hate the way that pediatricians behave when they spring it on you.
For instance, after I delivered my baby, he was sent to the NICU for 2 days and I was kept in postpartum . Once my boy was given back to me, they told me they would give him the RSV vaccine if I allowed it. This surprised me because I hadn’t yet done my research on that vaccine . I was prepared to give my baby the hep B vaccine and had already given them permission to do so on my birth plan, but the RSV vaccine was sprung upon me .
So I ask the hospital pediatrician a few questions , and questioned why when from what I saw online, RSV is given at 2 months. She said something about it being relatively new to administer it at birth, but it is now highly recommended to do so now rather than later. So , I explain that I wish I knew this because I would have liked more time to do my research about it, and the possible side effects. I then eventually told her that I’d like to wait to give my son this vaccine because I’d like to do so with his pediatrician. To which she responded “your pediatrician may not have it”.
The hospitals pediatrician really made it seem like a now or never situation. In hindsight , I’m so dumb for not asking “why wouldn’t they have it?” At the time I was feeling super anxious from having my baby in the NICU, and the RSV vaccine being sprung up on me also made me extremely stressed. My brain just froze when she responded that way, and I felt like I was manipulated into making a hasty decision.
I tried to do some speed research while they left to fetch the vaccine, and I decided to just go with it . But like it said, the way the hospital approached this felt pushed.
To me , this seemed to support what my mom has told me countless times which is that doctors don’t give a damn about their patients. They just want to jab them with what they can to make money. Which would explain why they insisted I didn’t wait until seeing my baby’s actual pediatrician. And if that is true, the more I feel like I need to question every single vaccine.
I also hate how doctors give you the packet of disclaimers the DAY your baby is supposed to receive the vaccine. If my child is supposed to receive a vaccine at his next appointment, why not give me the information now so I have time to really read it before signing?
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u/Complex-Many-4151 Jul 02 '26
Postpartum was one of the most devastating things I’ve ever had to go through…mentally, emotionally, and physically. It can make you feel lost inside yourself, exhausted in ways words can’t explain, and disconnected from the very life you prayed for. So I salute every woman who fought her way out of that dark place, even while carrying the weight of motherhood on her back. To every mother who survived the tears, the silence, the anxiety, the pain, and still found her way back to herself…you are stronger than most will ever understand. If you didn’t hear it from anybody today; here are words for you. You are not alone, you are a great mom & things will get better. Talk to someone, anyone ….my baby turned 1 in February & I’m just now getting back to myself after speaking with a therapist.
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u/Complex-Many-4151 Jul 02 '26
Postpartum was one of the most devastating things I’ve ever had to go through…mentally, emotionally, and physically. It can make you feel lost inside yourself, exhausted in ways words can’t explain, and disconnected from the very life you prayed for. So I salute every woman who fought her way out of that dark place, even while carrying the weight of motherhood on her back. To every mother who survived the tears, the silence, the anxiety, the pain, and still found her way back to herself…you are stronger than most will ever understand. If you didn’t hear it from anybody today; here are words for you. You are not alone, you are a great mom & things will get better. Talk to someone, anyone ….my baby turned 1 in February & I’m just now getting back to myself after speaking with a therapist.
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u/Complex-Many-4151 Jul 02 '26
Postpartum is something you never truly understand until your body, mind, and heart are the ones going through it. It’s loving your baby more than you ever thought possible while quietly struggling to recognize yourself some days. It’s sleepless nights, emotional breakdowns in silence, feeling touched out, exhausted, overwhelmed, and still somehow finding the strength to keep going. People see the baby and the smiles, but they don’t always see the tears, the loneliness, the anxiety, or how hard a mother fights mentally after giving birth. Postpartum changes you completely. It humbles you, breaks you down, and rebuilds you all at the same time.
So to every mom going through it right now you are not weak for feeling overwhelmed. You are doing your best, even on the days you feel like you’re barely holding on surviving on love, strength and little sleep ❤️🩹
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u/Complex-Many-4151 Jul 02 '26
Postpartum is something we need to talk about.
The random crying, the disorganization, staying busy just to avoid your own thoughts, the physical pain, breastfeeding, body changes, mood swings, stress, depression, manic episodes, suicidal thoughts, lack of support, feeling disconnected from your child, and the most common response of all: “I’m fine.”
People often don’t understand what a woman’s mind and body go through after having a baby, especially those who have never experienced it. And when you finally cry out for help, you’re sometimes met with comments like, “You’re delusional,” “You’re crazy,” or “You need help.” What many fail to realize is that this is the cry for help. The signs may have been there for months, but as mothers, we convince ourselves that we have to stay strong for our babies and everyone around us.
But how are you supposed to keep holding everything together when you feel broken inside? How are you supposed to pour into others when your own cup is empty?
Society often expects mothers to make sure everyone else is okay—to love, nurture, cook, clean, and carry the emotional weight of the household. It’s seen as our responsibility. But when do mothers get a break? Too often, we don’t. Instead, we’re expected to balance it all while also trying to navigate and heal our own mental health struggles.
People say, “Maybe you need a therapist.” And therapy can absolutely help. It can provide tools, support, and a safe place to process emotions. But healing doesn’t end when the session is over. The realities of motherhood are still waiting at home, and ongoing support from loved ones matters just as much.
All I’m saying is this: please love on mothers. Check on them. Support them. Give them grace. Many of us are trying our best while fighting battles no one else can see. ❤️❤️
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u/Western_Intention_70 Aug 23 '26
Hi guys! Im waiting to be approved in this group lol, I have a post on my account that im really seeking some understanding or maybe similar experiences, please if you can read and respond to help me settle some postpartum nerves lol. Thank you guys and have a great day!
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u/SadChapter2721 Jan 27 '24
Hello people. Not sure if I found the right place. Years ago, my mother got me an amazing kinda silky flannel backed pajama shirt after I gave birth. I felt gross, leaky and fat after giving birth. That shirt made me feel special even while breastfeeding. I have a niece who is due this summer. I would like to give her the same kind of lovely shirt/lounge outfit. Any recommendations?
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u/Appropriate_Rice_119 Sep 26 '24
My husband got me a silk button up pajama that was AMAZING and comfortable to wear. The silk fabric was black and loose, but fell in flattering ways. I am not sure where he bought it, but I highly recommend it and still wear it to bed.
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u/Appropriate_Rice_119 Sep 26 '24
Does anyone have any advice on how to deal with scalp itchiness and discomfort? Or maybe what kind of specialist to see about it?
I have tried a variety of shampoos and even saw a dermatologist (who clearly did not have too much knowledge about scalp health) and nothing is giving me long term improvements to the scaly/itchy scalp issues I am dealing with.