Love Yourself - Day 7 - Post-baby recovery

We're half way through our Love Yourself Valentine's Day campaign in which we're encouraging mums and mums-to-be to cut themselves some slack and give themselves some love.

Day 7 - Recovery after giving birth
Yesterday we covered that topic: giving birth. But what many people don't discuss is what those first 24 hours are like after you've had a baby. Most mums just think about getting that baby out and they'll deal with whatever comes next then. But those first 24 hours are worth considering.

Just after you've given birth, you will be flooded with adrenalin and endorphins. You'll be on a high, despite being absolutely shattered. You might not have slept for 48 hours before but that doesn't mean you're going to nod off once the baby comes out. For a start, you have a baby!! You'll want to stare at him, hold him, stroke his soft skin. Your emotions will be going loop-de-loop and the incredulity of being the proud owner of a small person will start to hit you.

Then there're the practicalities to deal with. Avert your eyes now if you're squeamish. There may be stitching down below that has to happen. You'll be encouraged to try and breastfeed your baby - and you probably won't have a clue how to do it and it's another new thing to learn while you're tired. Your body will ache as though you've just run a marathon. You will bleed and bleed and bleed. You'll be needing some of these for that.

You'll eventually get to have a much needed bath or shower. Finally the exhaustion will start to overcome everything else and you will want to sleep. And luckily, most babies are just as exhausted by the process as you are and will sleep too. But after a few hours, someone will wake you up and tell you that you need to feed your baby. And even though you could still sleep for another 2 days, you get up and start what will become a bleary-eyed 4 hourly ritual.

Do you realise mums just how awesome an achievement all of this is? Do you ever go back and think 'I managed all that'? Never forget how much you did, how your body was able to recover, even if it felt like it never would, and how even though you had to take a crash course in learning a million new skills - you did it! So love yourself.

We think mums deserve a bit of a treat, so if you fancy some chocolates, simply leave us a comment below or Like Us on Facebook to be entered in our draw.