Post-Partum Recovery

6 months for me, and my boys are 23 months apart. It just takes some adjusting to get into a groove, you know what I mean? Plus once the baby was 6 months old he could sit up and entertain himself better. Good luck to you. Having them this close is tough at first. I'll tell ya I just started feeding both kids the same foods for meals, and it was like heaven!

I had 2 girls, 21 months apart. The second had some health problems and it took about a year before I was out and about again.

5 years later, I had 2 boys, 23 months apart. It took much less time to get back to normal, I think because after 4 kids my standards for "normal" had become much lower!

My girls are 15 months apart and are currently 2 1/2 and 1 1/2 years old. It took a good 3 weeks at least to start feeling a bit more physically normal (stitches healed, less bleeding, etc.). By the time I went back to work at 12 weeks post-partum, I was pretty much back to normal all around. (It helped that my girls were good sleepers.)

I can honestly say that my husband stepped in and helped out with more things around the house than he did before and it's kind of stayed that way. At least right now while they are so young he is fine with doing more of the cooking/cleaning while I take care of the girls. Especially since we both work full-time it's really important to share in the duties.

I will also say this - don't expect too much of yourself too soon. Give yourself the time YOU need to heal and recover. Everyone's experience is different. Just enjoy your family and get adequate rest. :)

It's awesome having 2 girls close together. Mine are so cute how they talk to each other, help each other and play together. The older one can sometimes understand something the younger one says that I didn't get, so she is my little translator. Not to mention all the cute clothes....you will have a blast with them!

My 1st just turned 3 and my second will be 4 months next week. 'Normal' for me now requires more planning and accepting the fact that your day usually doesn't go as you planned or that you never leave the house to get things done. And of course, just when you think you can leave, the baby needs to eat again! I go back to work next week, but while I've been out on leave, I planned to do things on certain days - one day for the grocery store, one day for getting together with friends, one day to run other random errands etc. Even with that planning, sometihng always fell through where I couldn't do what I intended...oh well!

-- I actually think the hardest part of recovery '''the second time around'' is dealing with the very real needs of the toddler. Your ''big''' girl is still a baby- and still needs all the things you did for her before- but you JUST might be a bit tired!!!!. My grandmother ( had children in 1915, 1917, 1923 and 1928) gave birth at home with a doctor and a midwife-- nursed all of her babies for a year as a matter of course - and said '''it takes 9 months to make the baby and nine months to get over it''' --- I suspect biologically that she is absolutely correct--- not like you wont feel pretty fine in 3 or 4 months ---you WILL likely feel well-- but your body has a lot of catching up to do-- all while ( perhaps) nursing -. Be patient with mother nature - you can't ''rush'' her - or at least will wish you hadn't tried to---.

Blessings,
J. - aka- old Mom

With my first, it took me about 3-4 weeks to feel like I had my normal energy level back, in the sense that I could take care of all the daily chores again AND fit in care for the baby without being any more run down than pre-baby. It was a good 4-6 weeks though before I felt like my "insides" would stay inside my body (even when I sneezed).

My second baby was 4.5 years later, but physically, I felt back to normal 15 minutes after delivery. If I hadn't been there to witness it, I would never have believed I'd just had a baby. Because my baby was so difficult to care for, I didn't feel my energy back to normal for about 6-9 months. The transition from one kid to two is very hard! With yours being close together, I would imagine it would be even harder.

There really is no getting back to normal after having your first or second baby though. You just find a new routine and a new normal. Every task you take on (dinner, the library, grocery shopping) just got twice as hard to do because you have another person to care for WHILE you are doing that task.

My kids were 22 months apart, after my first baby I stayed in bed (mostly) for about a week. The day I came home with my 2nd I cooked dinner. I did have family come and spend time with us after each birth and took advantage of getting as much rest during the day as I could. I am glad my kids are so close in age but at the time it was a challenge. I went back to cleaning about 2 weeks later, my husband didn't have time and I wouldn't have been happy with how he did it. I would run errands in the evening when my husband was home so I didn't have to bring a newborn and toddler with me. However, I would listen to your own body. We all recover differently, however if it ends up being to long, check with your OB/GYN, I had a 6-week post delivery appt. and got the O.K. at that point to resume sexual activities, I preferred cleaning house and cooking.

my children are 23 months apart and it was a year before things seemed to flow like "normal". give yourself a break and just enjoy your kids. the house will get clean eventually.

With my second child I had a regular vaginal birth and a tubal ligation. This with kids only 15 months a part, so I can relate to what you are going through. For me the hardest part was not picking up my older child and trying to keep the house in one piece. I would say it took about 6-8 weeks for me to feel relatively "normal." I think the more you get moving the easier it gets, though that is easier said than done! Hang in there, it does get easier. Once those hormones balance out, things will fall into place.

I would talk to your dr if you are having a hard time getting back into the swing of things. I suffered PPD after my last two. It is very common, so dont be hard on yourself.

My boys are 20 months apart, and your body will take longer this time, so getting the rest back to "normal" is more a mental game. Just remember, "normal" now will not be the same as before pregnancy. You now have 2 rather then one, at first everything will seem harder, for a good couple of years! Once they get older and start to keep each other occupied and out of your hair when you are trying to clean ect... then you will find you have the time for all the little things around the house or yard or whatnot that may get neglected for a while. Do not stress it, you have your whole life to have a clean house, but a limited amount of time to have those 2 as babys! They grow up so so fast.

Hahaha! My kids are 19 months apart, and I'm still not there. The oldest just turned 4 and the little one is 2.5 years old!

I've written a lot about having "two under two" at my blog - http://prettybabies.blogspot.com - if you're interested.

I think things started to level out for us when the baby (the second baby) was about 4 weeks old. But they've NEVER gotten back to the way they were before I had kids - not yet anyway. For one thing, it's a lot more fun now...

I was on my own, essentially. So day two. Day one home from the hospital, but day two after his birth, I was at the store buying nappies and food for breakfast/lunch/dinner, and stocking up on tylenol.

When I FELT kinda physically normal (like actually wanting to get out of the house and go do stuff, and not just "have to, because it needs to be done", was after my milk quit rushing in and after I stopped bleeding. A few weeks? That whole period is a bit of a blue. The no-sleep thing. I know that fall quarter started 2 months in, and I was racing back and forth between classes and nursing, back to doing HW, etc. So it was before 2 months. <grinning> Although I didn't feel 100% "normal" until after my son turned 2 YEARS old. Sigh.

There's some that could make the argument I haven't ever been 'back to normal'...but that's not the 'normal' you were asking about.

;)

Congratulations!

Well, as far as doing daily activities and chores, I'd say it was probably at LEAST 6 weeks or so, but my second baby was high needs and wouldn't let me set her down, even for a minute, for quite a while, so it was about 3 or 4 months before I felt more back to normal. But emotionally, i was a mess until at least 6 or 8 weeks. with the 2nd, i had really forgotten what it felt like to have a newborn. it's so hard! especially with 2, trying to balance each of their needs and take care of yourself too. my thoughts are with you!!!

After my first pregnancy it took me a good month before I was back to normal. After my second pregnancy, it only took me a couple days. I was up and cleaning my house and all that "fun" stuff seriously 2 days later. My only problem was a little lower back pain because I had ALOT of back labor and she was sitting really far back on my tail bone. So other than that pain, everything felt really normal for me the second time around.
S.

My kids are 2 years 6 weeks apart and within 2 weeks, things were back to our new normal. Once I was healed enough to drive, things went back. My husband was on paternity leave so things weren't quite "normal", but my activities were pretty normal. It was also an uncomplicated vaginal birth.