Your son is already born and rest by your side in the maternity room. However, you still feel bloated, as if you were still pregnant.
Quiet! It is normal. Your body has been modified to accommodate your little one and now needs time to return to its original appearance.
That is the case of uterus, which has increased so much during pregnancy that it takes between four and six weeks to return to the one before. This natural process it's called uterine involution. We tell you what it is.
What should be the size of the uterus?
During pregnancy, the uterus has grown a lot to accommodate the baby for nine months.
To get an idea, it can grow from 7-8 cm that usually measured in a normal state, up to 32-33 cm, during pregnancy. And if we talk about weight: from 60 grams to one kilo, at the end of pregnancy.
But this female organ not only changes in size due to the action of hormones (chorionic gonadotrophins, estrogens and progesterone), but also in appearance: the muscular layer develops preparing for the moment of expulsion of the fetus during labor and internal (called endometrium) is modified so that the embryo feeds on it at the beginning of pregnancy.
So once the little one is born, he needs time to regain his original shape and size, something he will do gradually.
A few hours after delivery, the bottom of the uterus rises to the level of the navel. On the third or fourth day, two centimeters below and one month after giving birth it is no longer possible to recognize it by abdominal palpation. Descent one centimeter daily.
The day after delivery, the uterus has already been reduced considerably: it is between 18 and 20 centimeters long and weighs about a kilo.
From the fifth day, the uterus decreases between one and two centimeters daily, until weighing, by the end of the puerperium, an average of 60-90 grams.
Toothe cervix gradually recovers, going from 10-12 centimeters of opening (necessary for the child to pass during delivery) to normal 3-4 millimeters, one month after delivery.
Postpartum contractions are essential
Known as entourtos, postpartum uterine contractions can be felt in the lower stomach or in the back.
The wrongs are good and desirable, since they are essential for the uterus to contract. If it did not, the blood vessels would remain open and the bleeding could put the mother's life at risk.
In Babies and more Postpartum contractions or contractionsThe difference in intensity is normal between some women and others. For example:
New mothers notice the little painful troubles, but as they have more children, they are more intense and painful.
When a woman has had several children, your uterus is softer and need more contractions to recover.
The contractions they are accentuated every time the baby is breastfed, since nipple suction determines the release of oxytocin. This hormone acts at the level of uterine muscle fibers, causing strong and sustained contractions.
Avoid infections
One day after delivery, the cervix has been reconstituted, but it has dilated so much that it allows the passage of germs.
At the same time, all the waste that remains in the uterus is being expelled through the lochia.
In Babies and moreLochies in the puerperium: how long does bleeding last after delivery?These vaginal secretions are formed by blood and vernix caseosa the first three days, so their color will be rather red. Then it will change its constitution, abundance and color (brown-off-white tones). It will decrease until it disappears around the third week of the puerperium.
To avoid infections during this period, you must maintain good intimate hygiene from the beginning and use special postpartum or tocological compresses until the lochia disappears.
Time to recover, without hurry
The hormones continue to do theirs and after childbirth it can happen that women feel flabby and fat. It is normal! Do not be fooled by the perfect magazine silhouettes immediately after giving birth.
The body needs time to return to its original form and we should not try to speed up the process. All our energies are going to take care of our baby and gain strength after childbirth, which is already a lot!
As a result of the prolonged distention of the skin of the abdomen due to the size of the uterus and its rapid involution,the abdominal walls are flaccid and soft for some time.
But as soon as we recover physically in the postpartum period, we can exercise the area, strengthening it to return to its previous state. Now, the important thing is your baby.
Photos | iStock
