X
theAsianparent Logo
theAsianparent Logo
Product GuideSign in
  • Awards
    • Parents' Choice Awards 2023
  • Pregnancy
    • Due date calculator
    • I'm pregnant
    • Trying To Conceive
    • Labour
    • After birth
    • Baby loss
  • Parenting
    • Parent's Guide
    • Relationship & Sex
  • Child
    • Newborn
    • Baby
    • Toddler
    • Pre-Schooler
    • Kid
    • Pre-Teen & Teen
  • Feeding & Nutrition
    • Diseases-Injuries
    • Breastfeeding & Formula
    • Meal Planner
    • Health
    • Allergies & Conditions
    • Vaccinations
  • Education
    • Pre-School
    • Primary School
    • Secondary School
    • Primary School Directory
  • Lifestyle
    • Money
    • Travel & Leisure
    • Fashion
    • Home
    • Fitness
    • Contests & promotions
  • News
    • International
    • Health
    • Celebrity
    • Singapore
  • TAP Recommends
  • Shopping
  • Press Releases
  • Project Sidekicks
  • Community
  • Advertise With Us
  • Contact Us
  • Become A Contributor
  • VIP

6 Things New Mums Aren't Prepared for After Birth

4 min read
6 Things New Mums Aren't Prepared for After Birth

For someone who’d read at least eight books on gestation and childbirth during her pregnancy, I was severely underprepared for the delirium that would follow my child’s arrival.

No part of the birth experience can sit neatly on the shelf of typical ‘tired parents’ stories one hears. It was equally horrifying as it was heartwarming, but looking back, all of it was pretty darn hilarious.

Midwives handling my breasts like grocery shopping bags

what to expect after birth

Image source: iStock

‘Pick em up and shove em in the boot,’ was the attitude most midwives approached my breasts with. Except the boot was my baby’s mouth.

It was no different to being approached by a stranger in the car park, asking if I needed help with my bags. Unless the stranger wore a ‘Midwife’ badge, in which case, no asking was necessary. I appreciated the can-do, must-do attitude, but only one midwife politely asked before trying to help me get the latch right. And she made me feel more like a new mum than a cow being milked.

Becoming best mates with nipple shields and sterile gloves

what to expect after birth

Image source: iStock

A short, new mother with proportionately small arms and disproportionately sized 16DD boobs does not look dissimilar to a Tyrannosaurus Rex trying to breastfeed.

It wasn’t going down well, especially due to the limited ways I could position my body comfortably after my emergency C-section. Determined to learn how to breastfeed, I employed nipple shields to help dull the pain of cracked nipples. And when we really struggled, we moved between formula feeding, expressing and slapping on a sterile glove before sticking my finger in my baby’s mouth as a makeshift dummy. It worked.

Using those few extra tools enabled me to breastfeed over the long-term where I know I would have given up from disheartenment otherwise. And to think, I was preparing myself for a drug-free, formula-free, all-natural, unicorns-playing-violins-in-the-background birth and breastfeeding experience.

Balling my eyes out to the Physiotherapist on day three

what to expect after birth

Image source: iStock

I am a brown-skinned Indian-Australian woman. Dominant genes right? Wrong. My daughter somehow inherited all of her Caucasian Australian father’s features: white skin, blue eyes, light brown hair, etc. Of course I didn’t mind. She’d have been beautiful either way.

Unfortunately, when the Baby Blues Army invaded during my physio session, they convinced me that because she looked nothing like me and I didn’t feel her ‘pass through’ my birth canal, I wasn’t really her mum. Ah dear.

The need for laxatives on day three (it was a big day)

They say that becoming a mother reveals a strength you never knew. But it’s not until you take laxatives three days later that you shock yourself with what you’re truly capable of.

Having to press the emergency button when I thought my husband had died

what to expect after birth

I had fallen asleep from exhaustion. I woke up about fifty minutes later, not knowing at the time how many hours or days had gone by.

My eyes located our baby sleeping in her crib. How did she get there?

Then I noticed my husband lying face-down on the bed next to me. When and how did he get there? What were we even doing before I fell asleep? Why was it dark?

I tried to wake him, hoping he’d have some answers. No response. I couldn’t hear his breath or locate a pulse either. No amount of shaking would rouse him. I started calling out his name at the risk of waking our baby. Nothing. Shaking turned into violent pushing.

For a few moments, I knew I had become the widow of a corpse, who dropped dead in a hospital, surrounded by people who could have helped him. I fell over him to reach the emergency button and pushed it over and over until a midwife ran in. She saw me melting into a humid puddle of despair, crying, “I think my husband is dead!”

Just as she entered, the zombie next to me rose and started asking the same questions I awoke with. The midwife glared at me and said, “This is what happens when you don’t get enough sleep.” Bloody hell.

My baby daddy outshining every single staff member with his bedside manner

This guy came prepared. Especially when he had to hold our baby girl for two hours while I was stitched up and sent to recovery. He took his shirt off to give her skin-on-skin comfort. He studied every part of her and realised that she did in fact inherit two things from me: a small point at the top of one ear and the shape of her feet. I love that he’d paid that much attention to the little quirks of my body. And his attention to detail carries through to the way he loves us both. I am deeply grateful for him. Let’s just hope he doesn’t die on me again.

 

This article was first published on KidSpot and was republished on theAsianparent with permission. 

Partner Stories
Facing Parenting Challenges? Help is at Hand. Just Reach Out.
Facing Parenting Challenges? Help is at Hand. Just Reach Out.
Parenting Lesson from a New Mum - Don’t Try to Do it All on Your Own!
Parenting Lesson from a New Mum - Don’t Try to Do it All on Your Own!
Celebrity Dad Mark Lee Shares the 3 P's of Raising School Going Children - Parenting Tips, PSLE Preparation & Protecting Your Child’s Eyesight!
Celebrity Dad Mark Lee Shares the 3 P's of Raising School Going Children - Parenting Tips, PSLE Preparation & Protecting Your Child’s Eyesight!
Bathroom Cleaning 101: A Complete Clean in Just 5 Minute Featuring Tips from Zoe Raymond
Bathroom Cleaning 101: A Complete Clean in Just 5 Minute Featuring Tips from Zoe Raymond

Got a parenting concern? Read articles or ask away and get instant answers on our app. Download theAsianparent Community on iOS or Android now!

img
Written by

kidspot

  • Home
  • /
  • Parenting
  • /
  • 6 Things New Mums Aren't Prepared for After Birth
Share:
  • 6 Surprising things new mums might experience soon after giving birth

    6 Surprising things new mums might experience soon after giving birth

  • Is This Mum's Cleaning Schedule the Hardest You've Ever Seen?

    Is This Mum's Cleaning Schedule the Hardest You've Ever Seen?

  • ‘I’m Still Waiting for Him to Call Me Mum’: Woman Who Left Job to Take Care of 9-Year-Old Son With Rare Angelman Syndrome

    ‘I’m Still Waiting for Him to Call Me Mum’: Woman Who Left Job to Take Care of 9-Year-Old Son With Rare Angelman Syndrome

  • Neighbour Complains Of Crying Baby, Mum Hits Back With A Witty Letter

    Neighbour Complains Of Crying Baby, Mum Hits Back With A Witty Letter

  • 6 Surprising things new mums might experience soon after giving birth

    6 Surprising things new mums might experience soon after giving birth

  • Is This Mum's Cleaning Schedule the Hardest You've Ever Seen?

    Is This Mum's Cleaning Schedule the Hardest You've Ever Seen?

  • ‘I’m Still Waiting for Him to Call Me Mum’: Woman Who Left Job to Take Care of 9-Year-Old Son With Rare Angelman Syndrome

    ‘I’m Still Waiting for Him to Call Me Mum’: Woman Who Left Job to Take Care of 9-Year-Old Son With Rare Angelman Syndrome

  • Neighbour Complains Of Crying Baby, Mum Hits Back With A Witty Letter

    Neighbour Complains Of Crying Baby, Mum Hits Back With A Witty Letter

Get advice on your pregnancy and growing baby. Sign up for our newsletter
  • Pregnancy
    • Baby
    • Education
    • Events
    • Allergies & Conditions
  • Family Occasions
    • Breastfeeding & Formula
    • Child Safety
    • Health
    • Diseases-Injuries
  • Lifestyle
    • Home
    • Money
    • Feeding & Nutrition
    • Diet & Weightloss
  • Normal Delivery
    • Cesarean Delivery
    • Behaviour
    • Secondary School
    • Formula Feeding
  • Ages & Stages
    • Latching & Concerns
    • Festivals & Holidays
    • Education
    • Pre-teen & Teen
  • More
    • TAP Community
    • Advertise With Us
    • Contact Us
    • Become a Contributor


  • Singapore flag Singapore
  • Thailand flag Thailand
  • Indonesia flag Indonesia
  • Philippines flag Philippines
  • Malaysia flag Malaysia
  • Sri-Lanka flag Sri Lanka
  • India flag India
  • Vietnam flag Vietnam
  • Australia flag Australia
  • Japan flag Japan
  • Nigeria flag Nigeria
  • Kenya flag Kenya
© Copyright theAsianparent 2023. All rights reserved
About Us|Team|Privacy Policy|Terms of Use |Sitemap HTML
  • Tools
  • Articles
  • Feed
  • Poll

We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience. Learn MoreOk, Got it

We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience. Learn MoreOk, Got it

theAsianparent heart icon
We’d like to send you notifications for the latest news and lifestyle updates.