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EP 104: Postpartum Periods
1.8k Plays2 months ago
This week on Mom Group Chat, we’re talking about something no one prepares you for — the return of your period after having a baby. Why is it so intense? Why does it feel like a whole new era of womanhood? And why does no one talk about this? We’re sharing our honest experiences with postpartum periods — from the surprising timing of their return, to how hormones, mood swings, and breastfeeding can all play a role.
We also chat about what’s normal, what caught us totally off guard, and some stories from past periods. If you’ve ever felt blindsided by the comeback of Aunt Flo or just want to feel less alone in the chaos of postpartum symptoms, this episode is for you. As always, it’s real, unfiltered, and full of things we probably shouldn’t say out loud… but do anyway.
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Transcript
Introduction and Post-Holiday Reflections
00:00:07
Speaker
There's no right way to do it. Oh, we're going to get into it. What up, moms? My name is Candice, and I'm here with my best friend, Whitney. And this is the Mom Group Chat Podcast.
00:00:23
Speaker
How are you? I'm just coming off the fourth weekend and, you know, OK, so I saw, you know how we always reference TikTok. It's our Bible.
00:00:36
Speaker
um I saw like the top three worst weekends to come back to work. what And one of them being Fourth of July weekend. Yeah, yeah. That would make sense.
00:00:47
Speaker
Because you've consumed 540 beers, you've had 320 hot dogs, you've had, you know, 19 cookies. And it's expected to be normal after that. you know nineteen cookies and it's like i'm expected to be normal after that 1000% agree. I also, i don't know because if it was because like the fourth was on a Friday, but I was just like coming back on Monday. I was like, what day is it? Like, I have no idea. Like there, no day has a name or a time. i just was like, I'm in another dimension. i don't even know what is happening.
00:01:20
Speaker
Yeah. So that was one of them. And then another one was coming back from New Year's, which I thought was so funny. Yeah. Because you kind of are in that Christmas limbo. It's your birthday. You come back from New Year's and you're like, what was I always say like the new year doesn't start until January 15th like it just doesn't like everyone's getting acclimated and honestly like I kind of feel that way about summer in as a whole like the speed of summertime with work is just like slower and like more chill I don't know if you feel that way maybe not at your job but at my job like
00:02:01
Speaker
People are on vacation.
Summer Slowdown at Work
00:02:02
Speaker
So it's like, yeah all right, you're out for a week. So I'm not going to get a response. So it's going to sit, you know? Yeah. ah And like for me, I work with so many moms and like business owner moms.
00:02:14
Speaker
And I swear to God, every single message from them starts with, I'm so sorry. My kids are out of school. So like life is all over the place. And then like they get into what they need or like a question. But it's like every single message starts like that. It's like,
00:02:27
Speaker
I'm so sorry. i I swear I haven't forgotten about you. my kids are just crazy, buth blah, blah, blah. I don't really have an excuse. I have not taken vacation and my kids are not out of school. It's just, I don't know, like you said, summertime's slower. i actually feel like we've ramped up on at my job, but it's all just like personal stuff and I can do it all myself. So I'm not really like relying on anyone else to slow me down. So I don't know. I'm, I'm busy, but
00:03:04
Speaker
I try to like keep the balance of when my kids come home, I shut my computer.
Bedtime and Routine Adjustments for Kids
00:03:08
Speaker
And if I do need to work on something, I'll open it back up once they go to bed. But yeah that point, God, I mean, have your kids been going to bed later just because it's summer?
00:03:19
Speaker
ah Yes. In fact, this weekend I started to get nervous because last night was our first night. Like Monday night was our first night that we put them to bed at a normal time. and i was like, and Alice fought it hardcore. And I swear to God, Whitney, all weekend, they went to bed at 9.30 or later. Yeah. Great. like goes Wasn't to bed at like 9.30, 10. Yeah.
00:03:42
Speaker
all yeah I was going to say on 4th of July night like Alice was up to almost 11. I swear to God. oh She was up to like 10.30 and oh my God, I was like nervous. i was like, oh no, did we break them? Did we like four days out of bedtime?
00:03:56
Speaker
And it's like every single night was like that. We were doing, you know, we were just out and about hanging with friends and family. And I was just like, meh, bedtime, schmidt time, whatever. but then i got nervous. funny like how easy they adjust though. Like, or like they didn't mind staying up. Like Margo usually goes to bed around 730. And I mean, she was staying up till 830 every night um and she was fine. She's happy. I'm like, could I be doing this more? And then she might wake up later, but
00:04:28
Speaker
I try. I don't know. I have to get out at the door at a certain time. So it's almost like, OK, I don't necessarily want them to sleep in because. Right. Then I'll be late for work. yeah So I don't know.
00:04:40
Speaker
But yeah, we've just been pushing bedtime like crazy. Like it's kind of just lackadaisical over here. But it's nice. I. Yeah. I'm enjoying it. I know. it It has caused us to shift our like evening plans a little. like but We actually did something new last night where – Chris. Oh, my God. I almost called my husband Chris. What the hell?
00:05:06
Speaker
Whitney. Oh, my God. Do I know my husband's name? You're married to me and Chris. Yeah. We're in a throuple. Um, Vinny, Vinny's out.
00:05:17
Speaker
Vinny's out. Um, oh my gosh. Okay. So Vinny and i have not done well with like eating dinner with the kids. Like we usually wait and we have dinner after they go to bed, which like if Alice, when Alice was going to bed at seven 30, like that was fine. I would try and like prep a little bit before, or most of the meals I make are like not super complicated. Like I can have them done in like 20, 30 minutes and And we would eat dinner after they go to bed.
00:05:43
Speaker
But with bedtime pushing later and Alice really going to bed at like 8, 8.30 now, like more consistently, I'm like, okay, we got – like I can't eat dinner at 9 o'clock. I don't want to eat dinner at 9 o'clock.
00:05:55
Speaker
So we've had to like shift some things and that's been a struggle. – I think Alice is just so used to us like playing with her in the evenings. Like that's our time that it's been a real adjustment for her for me to have to be like, mommy is making dinner. Like I'm making dinner.
00:06:16
Speaker
And it's also been an adjustment for Vinny because he usually sometimes can hang back and like, which honestly, this is a good wake up call for him because he shouldn't be hanging back on his phone when he should be engaged with the kids.
00:06:28
Speaker
But it's like, okay, now it's daddy playtime and mommy's going to prep dinner. And that's the way it goes. So it's been an adjustment, honestly. Um, yeah, sometimes I'm like, I'll cook just to like have that time. But man, they like pile under your legs. Like I don't. Oh my God. I know. Enjoy enjoyable at night. Like I try and do the fastest thing possible just because they freak out if I'm cooking.
00:06:59
Speaker
Same with Chris. Like it's either I have to prep. early and just like heat it up or i don't want to do it because it it causes a fight like that. That was my last like mom explosion that I had was me trying to make dinner and their little separate dinner because they won't touch whatever the frick I'm eating. Yeah. Same. And they were all on my ass while Chris was outside, like also grilling like I was making the sides. Oh, my God. I like freaked the fuck out. I was like,
00:07:30
Speaker
help. Well, it's like reality it's really overstimulating. It's like cooking for me is, is that's like, I actually love to cook, but I don't love cooking with my kids. And I don't love cooking when they're awake.
00:07:46
Speaker
And that's my struggle is like, I don't like this. They're at my feet. They're pulling at me. They're still asking me all the questions. Evie wants me to hold her. yeah The stove is sizzling. The fan is going.
00:07:58
Speaker
Like, the microwave is dinging. It's like, yeah and then the dogs are underneath my feet because they they think I'm going to drop food, so they're overstimulating. It's not fun.
00:08:09
Speaker
It's not fun. But it's also like, I don't want to eat dinner at 9 o'clock, so... no It's so hard. And like Chris looked at me like my head spun around three times and I was like, I'm overstimulated. Yeah. Holy shit. It's like. Yeah.
00:08:26
Speaker
And of course, like he's outside grilling, having a good time. He's like, where did that come from? You know? And I'm like, hell, I don't know if they have that same like overstimulation feeling that we get.
00:08:38
Speaker
No, Vinny definitely doesn't. Like he can also just like, if Alice is saying like mommy, mommy, mommy, or daddy, daddy, he can just like ignore it. Like it's like, he doesn't hear it. And I'm just like, like the whining scratches. It's like nails on a chalkboard. It like sends me up a notch.
00:08:54
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Same. I'm the same way. I'm the same way. And the whining from Alice has gotten, it's gotten crazy. It's, it really has. I like, I don't know.
00:09:06
Speaker
and It's, it comes and goes. It's like an everyday flow of what you're going to get, you know, but. I do feel like this has this summer has been like my favorite season with them both so far, just because...
00:09:28
Speaker
We're really enjoying the afternoons with them. And if I do cook ahead and just like able to plate it, like we sit outside, like it's very enjoyable. It's not so whiny.
00:09:39
Speaker
It doesn't get so dark when then we're cooking inside and we're stuck inside. it's just like being outside is so helpful. Yeah. Yeah. Is it not like crazy hot?
00:09:50
Speaker
No, I mean, like, it has not been, it has not been hot because, you know, we had so much rain for so long. Like it wasn't hot. Now it's like maybe 90. And if we are hot, we just stand in the pool, you know, so it's not bad.
00:10:08
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I think next summer will be better, hopefully. Cause like you, I've said on this podcast, like we're in the process of redoing things in our backyard and just all of our landscaping in general. So our back porch right now, like is kind of filled with stuff that we're like holding for when our lawn is done. So it's just like not set up to be like super usable right now.
00:10:32
Speaker
And my hope is that next summer we'll be able to like use the outdoor space a little bit, like just have it be more functional. Because right now it's like not like that, sadly.
00:10:44
Speaker
It takes time, you know? i Y'all just got in there in February and hell. I mean, you have like – that's like the good thing about living in Florida is you have – like kind of all year to figure that out. Like you can use it at any time. That's what Vinny and I said too, is like, cause we contemplated like, oh, do we wait and do this like after the summer?
00:11:04
Speaker
But the truth is the best time to use the outdoor space here is like from October to March or like October to May. You know, that's like when it's beautiful here. and like, that's when I really want to be outside. So I'm like, no, let's we will just have a little bit more of an inside summer so that we can enjoy it even more in the fall and winter when it's like perfect out, you know. um When did you say you are starting on it?
00:11:30
Speaker
It's like already in process. We've already approved the quote for the grader. They're supposed to be coming to do all of the regrading next week. We have to tear up part of our fence to get like a machine back there. Cause yeah.
00:11:44
Speaker
So, um, Yeah, it's starting. I mean, it's like the the it's crazy how long the like quoting process took. And like we had to have a full like outdoor survey done, which they do a survey when you buy a house typically. but And we did have a survey, but there's like a more extensive land survey if you're putting in... like storm drains and things like that. So yeah. um So we had to have that. And then that took like honestly almost four weeks to get back. It was crazy. And then we needed that in order to get the grading quote.
00:12:16
Speaker
And we finally got that and approved it. And so things are moving. Things are moving. That'll be exciting. Yeah. I can come in the fall. Perfect. Can't wait.
00:12:29
Speaker
then we can sneak away to Epcot. Oh my God. Don't tempt me with a good time. Honestly, that sounds so good. a i know. I can't wait to go back one day.
00:12:42
Speaker
Whenever that is. We will for sure. All right. Well, uh, this is the perfect time to do this episode because ladies and gentlemen, I am on my period in case you wanted to know.
00:12:55
Speaker
And today we're going to talk about postpartum periods and how they suck and how they suck. Um, and I feel like this is a topic that we've wanted to talk about for a while.
00:13:11
Speaker
um and I feel like at least once a month in our group chat, we are still complaining about how awful the postpartum period is. Yeah, it is kind of crazy
Postpartum Period Experiences
00:13:23
Speaker
how aware of my body I am now that I've had children. Yes.
00:13:27
Speaker
Right? I feel the same way. like you know everything now. Like it's so intense. I know exactly. Like I feel like I don't even need to do the ovulation sticks now. Like I know when I'm ovulating based on how I feel, which is so crazy. I did not know that or feel that way when like before I had kids. And now it's like I can feel it in my body.
00:13:51
Speaker
Yeah, literally. And I don't know. I just I used to think like in high school, college, like girls that complained about cramps, I was like, OK, y'all are like being dramatic. Yeah. So since it is so dramatic, like i just it was not a big deal. It was, you know, the monthly occurrence like, hey, we've been dealing with this since we were however like middle school years old, like.
00:14:18
Speaker
You should be aware, blah, blah, blah. And now that my periods are like crampy and I don't feel good and I'm hella moody.
00:14:29
Speaker
oh y'all know I'm hella moody. I've totally like sympathize for those girls in middle school. i'm like, oh, my God, I had no idea. Like potentially that's how they felt.
00:14:39
Speaker
Yeah, it's I feel I feel the exact same way. I feel like maybe in school, I always thought there were like girls that maybe use their periods to like get attention, here especially like at an all girl. Like I went to an all girls high school. It was very widely talked about periods and like we would sync up and like, you know, it's periods were open for him because like there were no boys around to like hear it other than like maybe mr slosh burger or whatever but like slosh that was a teacher yes sloshberg slosh yeah slosh um he was the best actually but i'm sure he heard lots of period talk that he did not want to hear but um
00:15:22
Speaker
Anywho, ah I feel like I kind of thought girls were using it like for attention. They would be like dramatic about it. And now I understand on a different level.
00:15:32
Speaker
like get I actually worry. you know And you're like, are you fucking kidding me? Well, something I think about too is my periods were never like crazy bad before i had kids. like They were pretty normal. like Maybe a little bit of cramps, but nothing I would even mention probably. like I would just...
00:15:50
Speaker
you know, go on with my life or like maybe I'd be a little more emotional. um And my postpartum period is so crazy now. I wonder about those girls who had bad periods before. like look is it? Let's pray that it reversed and they don't feel it now.
00:16:04
Speaker
Let's pray. Like if you had bad ones before, you have good ones now. And then flip-flop. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know, man. It is crazy. I mean, y'all know, just hearing me from my postpartum journeys where I had postpartum anxiety, which apparently is also a depression, but like it always circulated around my period of my mood drop.
00:16:32
Speaker
draw Uh, which basically is happens to me the week before I actually start my period. Yeah. so my big mood shift is like the week before. And then it's like, once I'm on my period, my mood is fine, but oh my God, I feel like shit now.
00:16:49
Speaker
like Yeah. Crampy, bloated. i like Sometimes I feel nauseous. and Me too. It's so crazy. i'll never i will never forget after I had Alice and I was probably five, six months postpartum is when I got my for my first period because I breastfed for six, seven months. And I remember it was around that time when I started to wean that I got my period. But I remember texting you and Shannon And being like, oh, I feel like I'm getting sick. Like I feel so shitty, blah, blah, blah. And then literally like 24 hours later, I got my period. And I was like, oh my God, i that's why I felt like shit. It actually was not that I was getting sick. It was that I was getting my first postpartum period. And I think the most shocking thing for me is just how heavy it is. I just...
00:17:41
Speaker
You got to tell them about I know. Well, it's crazy. Last month, I had the heaviest period of my freaking life. It was, ah y'all, I had to send Whitney a picture because it was poor. I had blood.
00:17:58
Speaker
It was fast and furious too. You're like, I think I'm supposed to start my period today. And the next thing I knew, sent me a murder scene. I literally sent it. There was blood on the floor of my bathroom. It was running down my leg. i like was like, what is happening? Like it was, and that's how,
00:18:15
Speaker
A lot of my periods have been postpartum. Like they are crazy heavy. Like the most blood I've ever seen ever. Like I feel like I could sit over a toilet and it would just like fill a whole toilet bowl. Oh God.
00:18:30
Speaker
I'm so sorry for the graphic nature of this episode, but like, and I, and I know I'm not alone in this cause girls in my due date group talk about it too. But like, I mean, I can't help that I'm wide set vagina yeah but a wideside vagina with a heavy oh That's literally how I feel. I say that to myself every postpartum period. I do too. It's like ingrained in my brain that I'm like, yeah oh no. Every time I use like a super tampon, i I think, oh no, I'm that girl from Mean Girls.
00:19:05
Speaker
No, literally every, the first two days of every postpartum period now, like I'm only using super tampons. Like I have to. Dude, yeah. Sometimes the regular slips out.
00:19:16
Speaker
No, literally. Literally. Literally. If it gets too full, slip right out of you. oh oh yeah I cough or sneeze. You can't sit on a toilet with a regular.
00:19:26
Speaker
It's gone. It's gone. Oh my god. Wow, that is funny. Oh, being a mom is so cool glamorous. It's so glamorous. I will say one thing, though, is like I feel like my periods used to be a full like five, six days. And I will say now, like it seems like the first two and a half days are really intense. And the last couple days are like lighter and less intense.
00:19:53
Speaker
But those first two days fighting for your life, they'll ruin my life for a day or two for real. Yeah, it is so insane. I mean, i guess like thinking back when I first started my period, because I didn't breastfeed Margo. I like tried to dry up after a month, I think.
00:20:11
Speaker
Yeah, I got my period pretty quick. I believe it was in November when I got my first period. back and it wrecked me. i mean mean, so intense, so heavy. I'm telling you, my mood swings were so bad. it was like, I think I finally talked to a doctor in January and I was like, it's happening around the same time every month. And they said it was definitely hormonal type of postpartum anxiety, but
00:20:43
Speaker
who And then once you started sleeping through the night, it kind of went away. like Well, I'm pretty sure that like sleep and hormone regulation are like directly related.
00:20:55
Speaker
I'm 99% sure. This is why your body I can't yeah have a third because like my mental health, I'm not well after... Yeah. Having a child.
00:21:08
Speaker
Unfortunately. Like, if you could bring home an 18-month-old, like, maybe. Ooh, that sounds perfect. ah Yeah. not I'm not well, so. But, I mean, it definitely had to do with hormones and no sleep, but...
00:21:25
Speaker
Oh my gosh. And it seems to happen at the same time. It's like, I'm always in the office. I go in the office on Thursdays. I always start my period like on a Wednesday and on Thursday, i feel like shit every time.
00:21:40
Speaker
And I'm always like, huh? Uh, can I go home? Yeah. Yeah. I've, I, there have been times where I've like canceled meetings and cleared my day. I'm like, I, it's just not happening today.
00:21:55
Speaker
It's just not happening today. But I wonder if there's like, we probably could look it up research on like why this happens or makes it worse. oh you Girl, you know, I already did it.
00:22:07
Speaker
You know what else is funny is like, um you know, Chris's sister is living here. And um I started my period like five or six days before I normally do.
00:22:19
Speaker
and I was like texting my due date group. And I'm like, so weird. Like I started my period earlier and they're like, you hanging out with any new girlfriends? And I was like, I synced up to Jenny.
00:22:29
Speaker
Like, cause she's a new like female presence of as house. Yeah. So I was like, yeah. It was so funny. Why does that happen? Well, I always think about the future of this household with me and two girls and Vincent.
00:22:46
Speaker
God bless this man. um Honestly, i mean, I'm going to need to buy stock in tampons, I think. What if you're all on separate weeks? Everyone takes a turn being moody. You get a tampon. You get a tampon.
00:23:02
Speaker
um Yeah, that's going to be crazy. I definitely am. I think something, a big difference I've seen in like pre, I mean, I've, I've always been a little emotional around my period, but this, after like these postpartum periods, like is a whole nother level of like emotion. Like I'm crying at every Tik TOK.
00:23:25
Speaker
And then this week, not to get like deep and dark here for a second, but i got my period on Saturday and that was when everything with Texas and like Camp Mystic and everything was happening.
00:23:37
Speaker
And y'all, I went into a deep, dark spiral on Saturday. I literally cried myself to sleep and was just so, i mean, I think everyone was affected by so everything has happened in Texas.
00:23:51
Speaker
Yeah. Like, I have goosebumps just like thinking about it. I literally cannot. And actually I heard a really good quote on armchair expert this week, which was not related to the, anything that happened in Texas, but they were talking about how, when you lose a spouse, like there's a word for when you lose a spouse, a widow, there's a, um, there's a word for,
00:24:18
Speaker
fucking this up but there's like a word for all these things like when you lose someone but there's literally no word for when you lose a child because like it is so awful and intense like there's no words for it yeah but anyways I just it fucked me up I cried all day and then I could not stop thinking about it on Saturday and that's the day I got my period and I was just like an unwell person I was so anxious I was so emotional I cried all day long I was so anxious. Just like, it makes you feel like how could something so bad happen to like just a little child. And then it's like, you kind of, don't know. It's, it's in a situation like that you've been in. If you've ever gone to a sleep away camp and you're like, hu I cannot imagine just that fricking happening to anyone. like Yeah.
00:25:12
Speaker
It bad, bad, bad. And I, yeah. And I went to sleepaway camp all through middle school and high school in Pennsylvania. And i just like could not imagine being away from my mom and all of that happening. And like, and then my mom, i mean, just the fact that you dropped them off and you like think you're going to pick them up in a couple of weeks. And it's like, ah know it kind of reminds me of when the tornado happened in Tuscaloosa, like in all of our cell phones went out and my God, my mom was freaking
00:25:46
Speaker
Oh, I mean, it's kind of like how my mom was like my mom and my dad say that my mom like immediately started packing her bags and was like, I'm going to Whitney. And my dad was like, you won't be able to get there. Like that town is destroyed. Like the roads are blocked off. And she was like panicking, like not knowing what to do. But I would 100 percent.
00:26:07
Speaker
be there in a second if any like i i would be like tearing the town down but yeah you know yeah so scary Well, our we've been thinking about them, praying for them. I donated some money to some things that people have posted.
00:26:27
Speaker
i purchased a Divi sweatshirt where all the proceeds go to, um I can't remember exactly where, but um i we just are sending our love to Texas. And yes I know that all of...
00:26:41
Speaker
Like if you're a mom, like you are feeling the weight of that, like of this event and tragedy and it's like unimaginable. So yeah. Yeah. Wrapping our arms around you guys.
00:26:57
Speaker
Yeah. Awful. um Yeah. Yeah. Being on your period with that. Goodbye. I was not well. I was not well. and Okay. Goodbye. Okay. So I was going to read some facts about postpartum periods and just like some things to know. If you are pregnant listening to this, like I'm so sorry to like deliver this news to you and like that this is coming for you. I hope it doesn't. I need you to know that. I hope it doesn't end up this way for you, but I feel, I fear that this is more common.
00:27:29
Speaker
Then not. Okay. So the first fact is like, when does your period return postpartum? If you're not breastfeeding, your period can return in as little as six weeks after delivery.
00:27:43
Speaker
If you're exclusively breastfeeding, it may not return for months, sometimes up to a year or longer. um And that's because of prolactin, the hormone responsible for milk production suppresses ovulation.
00:27:55
Speaker
So it kind of halts your, um your cycle. Okay. Are postpartum periods more intense? Yes.
00:28:06
Speaker
At least at first it says, although I have to tell you, I am 17 months postpartum and, uh, they still intense. So I don't know when at least at first ends, but still happening over here. And here is why they are more intense. So your uterus is still returning to its normal size, even months and months after birth.
00:28:29
Speaker
Hormones are regulating and shifting after months of being up and down and in flux through pregnancy. And your uterine liner is probably thicker due to months without shedding.
00:28:40
Speaker
So you've got more you got more to disperse, girl. oh Which is so crazy. I know. It's actually so wild when you think about what a period actually is.
00:28:52
Speaker
um Whenever you gave birth, did you get to see your uterus?
00:28:59
Speaker
You mean your placenta? God, I'm an idiot. Your placenta. um I did not. i they They asked me if I wanted to see it and I said no. Vinny saw it and he said it was horrifying.
00:29:11
Speaker
They left it. like You know how they like leave you to have an hour with your baby and like you do your time? They just left it on like a silver platter. next Not next to my bed, but it was just hanging out in my room and I'd just look over there and I was like,
00:29:30
Speaker
I'm going to throw that You just had golden hour with you graded in your. and margo It was Margo. Oh, with you, Margo and your placenta. Yeah. I was like, can you all like come get that? Like I'm not saving it to eat or nothing. i'm Like y'all take that, bro. um It was just chilling. And I was just, crazy you know, giving it a side eye. Like, wow. Cool.
00:29:58
Speaker
Okay. The other thing is that you have more estrogen after giving birth. um Breastfeeding can sometimes suppress the estrogen release that can make periods heavier.
00:30:12
Speaker
so it So what's crazy is not only does giving birth fuck with this, but like breastfeeding does too. So it's like, that's a whole nother like wrench in it is like Oh, yeah. If you have a baby like but also if you're breastfeeding, you're going to fuck up some things, too.
00:30:28
Speaker
It's so confusing, which is crazy. okay so what's different about postpartum periods? A lot of things we've talked about. Heavier bleeding um and then hello, super tampons and pads.
00:30:39
Speaker
Get super comfortable with those. longer cycles or more irregular cycles can be common, more intense cramps. Um, and this is because your uterus is like, I'm still healing. Like I'm not well, so I'm going to hurt a little more when things are happening and trying to like shed things.
00:30:58
Speaker
Um, okay. And then let's get into hormones and mood swings. Um, That's me. Yeah. and Okay. So estrogen and progesterone crash after birth. So right after delivery, estrogen and progesterone levels plummet, like literally fall off a cliff levels.
00:31:17
Speaker
These are the same hormones that regulate mood during your menstrual cycle. So the sudden drop can trigger weepiness, anxiety, irritability, feeling totally off. That's like those baby blues that everyone talks about. I know I felt them hardcore.
00:31:30
Speaker
um And I cried like every day we were home for the first like week because I was unwell. Not funny, but I'm laughing.
00:31:41
Speaker
I know. I have um PTSD from that. So I'm laughing to make myself feel better. You're like I've blocked it out um out.
00:31:52
Speaker
your period returning causes hormonal shifts. When your period returns, your body starts ovulating again, which means you're back on the hormonal up and down train. Estrogen rises pre-ovulation, can make you feel energized.
00:32:06
Speaker
Or emotional, progesterone spikes post-ovulation. That's the PMS, mood swings, sadness, anxiety. And then both drop right before your period. Cue the tears and chocolate cravings and all of that.
00:32:19
Speaker
So It's crazy. Okay. The other thing I thought that was important to add here is that um your emotional baseline is different after giving birth.
Hormonal Changes and Mood Post-Childbirth
00:32:32
Speaker
And that's because of the brain and body like still recovering from pregnancy and like sleep deprivation. Like all of that stuff matters in the how your body is like feeling in your period.
00:32:45
Speaker
So – Most moms report stronger mood swings, more intense PMS, postpartum, especially in the first year. And a lot of that is not only hormone related, but like lack of sleep and like yeah all those things that we've talked about. So it's...
00:33:01
Speaker
Just crazy. Like you're not making it up. Like it's truly chemical and circumstantial, like low sleep, less time for yourself, changes in identity, physical recovery, hormonal shifts. Like it's a perfect storm for like you feeling like absolute dog shit. Like it's just like that is why – We feel so terrible. Honestly. It makes me feel like I have an old uterus. Like it's been used and like slapped around and it's just like. Used and abused. It's like has a cane and it's like, I'm trying. And it's just hurting, you know? Yeah.
00:33:38
Speaker
Poor thing. i will never forget Mackenzie. Our friend Mackenzie had this like story about periods from college that I remember and I still laugh about it to this day. So she used to talk about like, okay, when we were talking about like what a period is and it's how like your body is like preparing for a baby, right? It's like preparing your uterus to grow an egg or to like implant an egg. And like, so she was like, I just picture a little woman in there, a little red woman, and she is decorating a nursery for three weeks. She's like, hanging the wallpaper. She's setting up everything. She's like, oh my God, is where they're going to sleep. This is where they're gonna like ah they're going to love it. This is all the best days of their lives.
00:34:22
Speaker
And then when like no egg shows up, it's like she throws a temper tantrum. Rips that. Yeah. And she's like, hate it here. And she's ripping down the wallpaper and throwing away everything in the nursery. And like, that's your period.
00:34:36
Speaker
And I still think of that like almost every month. It's like, I think about this little woman- inside of my uterus like throwing a huge freak out temper tantrum that no baby arrived for her to take care of but now it's a grandma in there because she's like she's got a cane she's like oh thank god no one showed up oh that's so funny that ah she is so imaginative like how she come up with that I know. i don't know. but i her mom must have been like a really good storyteller growing up like for her to like think of that kind of thing.
00:35:13
Speaker
That's so funny. Last night in bed with Alice, I laid with her for a second, which I'm trying not to like foster that because I don't want to be... laying with her for like an hour, but I laid with her for like five minutes last night before bed.
00:35:27
Speaker
And she, i told her I would tell her a bedtime story, but like not from a book. And so I just like laid there and like made up a story about a pig named Bobbert or something. I don't know. i just made it up and I was like, and she thought it was so funny. She was like giggling and she like never knew what was coming next. Cause I was like making it up and like being silly.
00:35:49
Speaker
And she loved it so much. I was just looking at her little face as she was like watching me tell the story. And I was like, oh, I think I'm going to do this every night. You're so cute. Oh, my God. And she's probably like, I want the same story tomorrow. and you're like, shit.
00:36:01
Speaker
I'm like, it I don't know it. What did I say? No, literally, I wouldn't I feel like that always happens. um Yeah. Graydon's like kind of doing this thing where he's like, I want to watch one video in bed, which Chris usually puts him to bed. He started that habit. i don't know. But he went out.
00:36:17
Speaker
for Jenny's 21st birthday last night. And so I put him to bed and we watched like one quick video and he was like so easy. he was just like, all right, thank you. Like I'm done. You can put me to bed now. i'm like,
00:36:30
Speaker
Wow. Okay. That was pleasant. He used to fight it. Yeah. Alice did that on 4th of July, but it was like i said, almost 11. So I feel like she was finally like, yo, know I got to go to bed She was like, mom, I'm tired. I just want to go to sleep. I'm like, oh, I know. I think he's exhausted from like the long weekend. And I mean, he slept till 730 today. No, seven.
00:36:54
Speaker
So i was just like, wow, you never sleep this late. That's so nice. Seven's late for me. No, for real. That is late for you. yeah I've been up for hours at that point.
00:37:08
Speaker
So how old are you when you got your first period?
First Period Memories and Education
00:37:12
Speaker
I was, i feel like a little bit later. i was like 14 or maybe that's not that, I don't know. I think I was 12.
00:37:19
Speaker
well It was like, I feel like 12 is the common Yeah. Yeah, it was right after I turned 12 and I was at the movies with my brother. Yeah.
00:37:31
Speaker
And I remember I was wearing a limited two dress and it was velvet. Of course you were. Yeah. I was at school and I went to the classroom bathroom. Like, did your class have but like one single bathroom stall like in the back of the bathroom? No, we had like multiple stalls and like ah Yeah, yeah. are The school I went to was like on the older side. At least half of it was. So like if you were on the old side of the school, some of the classrooms had in-classroom bathrooms. And so I was in the stall and I pulled down my pants to go pee and I saw – I remember thinking though like it was brown. Yeah, yeah.
00:38:15
Speaker
And I remember not – I was like, did I shit myself? Like, what – like, the color shot. I was expecting, like, blood like bright red. Yeah. yeah And I remember it being kind of brownish and being like, wait a second. feel it was like that when we were younger. Like, it kind of had a brown at first, maybe. Yeah.
00:38:34
Speaker
I remember that. You're jogging a memory. Yeah. I mean, i feel like – yeah. I feel like it was, like – new, i don't, I don't know. It was, I remember the color not being what I expected it to be, but I also was so excited because I wanted it so bad. All my friends had it. I was like, ah I was late to the game. I think with that, like, because I was, I remember, yeah I was 14.
00:39:02
Speaker
i think maybe gymnastics like stunted my growth. I was like, that was when I was really quite serious in gymnastics. So I think maybe that's why my period was like a little bit delayed than other people. I don't know.
00:39:17
Speaker
Yeah. Uh, I think I was kind of in the middle. Like my best friend, Hannah started at nine and I didn't believe her. Like she called me to tell me and I said, no, you didn't. She goes, ask my mom. Like we were that little that she was like, oh yeah. Ask my mom.
00:39:30
Speaker
And I will never forget. I'll never forget because it was like the most shocking news I'd ever heard in my life. Yeah. Did you like know what a period was at nine? Like at what age do I have to start talking about this? I believe you so because we were in fifth grade. She's a younger, she was like, she's a June birthday. So she was younger.
00:39:50
Speaker
we were in fifth grade. So, and then I started mine in sixth grade. So I'm like almost a year older than her at this point, but yeah, she just happened to start her period. So yeah, we definitely knew. I'm sure we had a class at that point in fifth grade. Yeah.
00:40:06
Speaker
About it, you know? Yeah, I guess so. I remember my mom took me to like this class at the hospital where we like sat through a class about it.
00:40:18
Speaker
No, I think my school did it.
00:40:22
Speaker
I don't remember learning about it in school. I mean, I remember learning more about female stuff in high school, but I don't think my middle school. i Like I remember being at a hospital class with my mom and I remember they passed around pads and tampons for you to like look at and touch. And I remember being like, the fuck?
00:40:41
Speaker
I don't know. i The only one we ever did, I remember, was sixth grade where they passed around like deodorant and pads and blah, blah, blah. And the girls and guys separated and they got separate stuff and we got separate stuff.
00:40:55
Speaker
That is the only time I like actually remember doing ah class. And we got that book where the three little girls have the towel wraps on their head. Yes, I had that also. So we all got that book and then...
00:41:08
Speaker
I think that book is still to go to. I think. Yeah. It's yeah. Very like Junie B. Jones cover. I don't know. Like it reminds me of summer camp photo or something. Totally. um Yeah. So funny.
00:41:25
Speaker
Good times. Good times. Look at us now. Yeah. I can't believe I'm going to have to have that conversation with my girls one day.
Preparing Daughters for Their First Period
00:41:35
Speaker
The good thing about modern technology is like chat GPT can just write that for me, write my script.
00:41:41
Speaker
It's going to be like what? 10 years from now we got, there's going to be something new. Yeah.
00:41:50
Speaker
Yeah. Not maybe not even 10 years. It could be like six years. She gets started at nine. No, I don't want that. Mine is too young.
00:42:03
Speaker
i know. I felt bad. That's crazy. Yeah. I don't know what happened there. I think that doesn't the age that your mom got it like correlate with how when you get it, I think it's like similar.
00:42:19
Speaker
So I'm praying for, for 10 more years. Yeah. You got 11. Yeah. I got 11 years. yeah That's what I'm praying for. I got 10. Literally.
00:42:32
Speaker
So funny. but Oh my God. Yeah. This talk was, um, needed we literally complain to each other every month if you gals are going through the same thing i'm sorry get a heated blanket oh that always makes me feel better even in the summer heat like i'll just sit in my coldest room in my house with the heated blanket feels so good i love a heated blanket like it is my favorite thing in the winter will pass the fuck out on the couch i know think it's amazing good so amazing
00:43:06
Speaker
All right. Well, we love you guys. We hope your next period is light and bearable and you're not alone if you feel like you're going crazy and bleeding out. So like Candace, we love you.
00:43:18
Speaker
Love you. Thank you so much for being a part of our mom group chat. New episodes drop every Tuesday. And don't forget the group chat is blowing up on our Instagram page. So make sure you're following along over there.
00:43:31
Speaker
All right. Got to go. My toddler just put something in her mouth.