What should you expect after 6 months of postpartum hormones? Know about the changes and postpartum hormones.
Carrying a baby for 9 months is really challenging yet memorable in a woman’s life. But after birth its the time you’ll experience some challenges in taking care of your baby and also the changes in your body.
In this article, we will tackle about the changes in your body during postpartum at 6 months.
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Even after experiencing hormonal changes during pregnancy, you will still experience hormonal changes after giving birth. Postpartum will come on the way. Here’s what you need to know 6 months after giving birth.
What to expect after 6 months of giving birth?
Experts say that postpartum recovery would last for 6 months after giving birth. You will experience hormonal mood swings, healing physically, and more. Adding to that is the added stress that you will face in breastfeeding your baby, sleep deprivation, and adjusting to motherhood if you’re a first-time mom.
The recovery period may vary for every woman because not everyone is the same. Every woman has a different recovery period. Whether you gave birth vaginally or by C-section, or labored for 1 hour to 30 hours.
But here are some of the things you need to expect after 6 months of giving birth.
Post-vaginal delivery
- Your period might be back this time
- Breastmilk might be drying up
- Hair fall should stop at this time
- You should have full bladder control if it was an issue before
- Your mental health status is more positive at this point
- Persisting postpartum depression should be discussed with your doctor
Post-C-section recovery
- You might be more tired at this point
- Breastmilk might be drying up
- Your period might be back this time
- Your mental health status is more positive at this point
- Persisting postpartum depression should be discussed with your doctor
Postpartum hormones at 6 months
This time you are probably adjusted to motherhood and getting the groove of it. Lack of sleep may be usual for you and taking care of your baby became more comfortable for you. After months of experiencing a lot of different emotions and stress due to adjusting to motherhood, Ashley Margeson said that you should already surpass negative feelings and become more positive.
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She added that post-birth hormones and postpartum hormones continue to fade after 6 months. She also added that “The changes you should look for closely are not wanting to shower or focus on hygiene, being afraid of leaving your baby with someone else, not being able to sleep fully due to continually checking on baby, and lack of desire for common tasks like eating, drinking, being around people, and leaving the house.”
Breastfeeding exclusively might change your postpartum hormones this time around. According to Susan Loeb-Zeitlin, M.D., an OB-GYN at Cornell Medicine, “For women who are breastfeeding, hormone levels are suppressed longer (the more intense the breastfeeding, the longer the suppression).”
She also added, “And if you’re exclusively breastfeeding, they don’t return until after 6 months postpartum in about 40 percent of women.”
Expect that after 6 months your hormones will go back to normal. Your period as said earlier might be back at this time.
What should you expect physically 6 months after giving birth?
If you think that breastfeeding might help you lose weight, well you’re wrong. A study said that you can only lose weight if you gain 26 pounds during pregnancy.
This time you can achieve your pre-pregnancy weight. But remember your stretch marks, fat redistribution, or maybe loose skin is not measured in the study.
You should also expect that all wounds should already heal at this time, especially for those who had C-section delivery and episiotomy during vaginal delivery. If not yet healed it might be a concern so you talk to your doctor about this because you might have an infection and it’s better to ask your doctor about the best way to cure them.
The linea nigra that you had during your pregnancy might also start to fade this time and your dark underarms, inner thighs, and neck might lighten during this period. Of course, you can always use products to fasten the lightening process of your underarms and inner thighs.
You might still see some of your stretchmarks during this time, and you can reduce them by using a good stretchmark cream. All in all, some of the things that appeared during your pregnancy might go away now.
6 months postpartum hormones: Postpartum depression
If you still feel depressed until this moment and have many negative thoughts, you might be experiencing postpartum depression.
Postpartum depression is not a character flaw or a weakness. Sometimes it’s simply a complication of giving birth. If you have postpartum depression, prompt treatment can help you manage your symptoms and help you bond with your baby.
What is postpartum depression?
Postpartum depression is a condition in which a new mom or a woman who has just given birth experiences extreme depression. It is mainly because of the birthing process itself. Here are some symptoms of postpartum depression:
- Severe mood swings
- Crying too much or crying in the simplest of things
- Have difficulty connecting to your baby
- Distancing yourself from your family and friends
- Eating too much
- Have a loss of appetite
- Trouble in sleeping
- Feeling tired all the time
- Easily irritated
- Doesn’t have hope
- Experiencing anxiety and panic attacks
- Thoughts of harming yourself or your baby
If you experience these symptoms, don’t be shy to talk to your family and friends. You can also seek help from a medical professional to deal with this. Remember that you are not alone, and sometimes it is normal to feel sad and hopeless but too much sadness and hopelessness might be a cause of postpartum depression.
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Recovery at 6 months after birth: Things you need to remember
- Tell your doctor about the wounds that you got from an episiotomy or C-section delivery. So, that if there are complications they will be resolved.
- Talk to your partner about how you feel if you still feel a lot of negative thoughts.
- Make sure you have a support system (family and friends).
- Eat healthy so it can help you have the nutrients you should have and help your hormones to be back on track.
- Exercise! The question is how? You can do a 30-minute run or watch some workout videos you can follow online. It will help you sweat a lot and sweating help you to have better circulation to your organs, muscles, and tissues. It also helps to release toxins in our body and it will make you feel better.
- Try to do the things that make you happy, like doing again your hobbies.
- Ask for help from your husband or family if you feel tired of taking care of your baby. Remember that you are human and you need to rest. There’s no harm in asking for help.
Giving birth is always a milestone. You mommas, can back on track and enjoy parenthood at the same time. You can do this!
Here at theAsianparent Philippines, it’s important for us to give information that is correct, significant, and timely. But this doesn’t serve as an alternative for medical advise or medical treatment. theAsianparent Philippines is not responsible to those that would choose to drink medicines based on information from our website. If you have any doubts, we recommend to consult your doctor for clearer information.
