I just got home from a group play date and a few of us moms were talking about a fellow friend who just had her baby. “I’m so happy for her," a friend said. "Not because she has a new baby but because she doesn’t have to be pregnant anymore!” I couldn’t be more on board with what she said! It’s no secret that I’m not one who adores being pregnant, so when I hear other people say things similar to this, it makes me so happy that I’m not alone!!
I’m not trying to discredit recovery here. Because it takes a lot of time and patience and can be really tricky depending on the situation. But I personally feel amazing during recovery compared to being pregnant. A few reasons why:
I can move!
Bending over, getting in and out of a car, walking instead of waddling, and so on.
I can breathe!
It’s amazing the relief felt when our lungs aren’t sharing their typical space with a watermelon-sized babe! Walking up the stairs was never so easy!!
I can eat anything I want
There’s room again! No more half-eaten meals because baby was taking up all of my abdominal room, aka squishing my stomach into an odd-shaped smashed organ.
I can sleep…sorta
I slept juuuust fine during my second pregnancy (maybe it’s a girl thing?), but with my first (a boy), sleeping was rough. I couldn’t fall asleep, I couldn’t stay asleep, and I was grumpy from sundown to sunup because of it. Falling asleep is definitely not an issue when there’s a newborn in the house. The staying asleep, however, isn’t quite in our control!
I am not nauseous
When I was in the hospital after just having my first, I ordered some dinner from the cafeteria. It was mediocre tasting, but the smell was absolutely horrible! But I had a conscious moment when the food was brought in to me that I was zero percent nauseous. It was AMAZING! It’s like the second my babies come out, all nausea is automatically gone!
I have energy
I don’t care how long my baby is up or how often I’m feeding throughout the night, it’s an entirely different exhaustion than pregnancy. When I’m pregnant, I legit can’t keep my eyes open and have zero energy to get anything at all done. Even during my healthiest days, I was still somewhat debilitated from exhaustion. So the energy surge during recovery and from there on out is money.