Sitti Describes Postpartum Recovery: 'It's A Sweaty, Leaking, Bleeding Mess'

Four weeks postpartum, the Philippines' Bossa Nova Queen is telling it raw and real on what one should expect after giving birth via cesarean section (CS).

Sitti Navarro Ramirez recently shared that she, with daughter Issiah Dañelle, a.k.a. Lilibubs, was admitted to the hospital over the weekend due to mastitis. Thankfully, both mom and daughter have already been discharged from the hospital.

"May konting blockage pa rin sa ducts ko, and I'm still not feeling my best," the new mom wrote on her Instagram Stories. "Lessons learned are priceless," she added. 

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Speaking of learnings, Sitti shared on her blog what moms who delivered via CS should expect from what is often referred to as the "fourth trimester".

The post-CS surgery is painful.

She admitted that having the surgery was a "no-biggie" for her during pregnancy because she had convinced herself that it wouldn't hurt *that* bad.

"I’m just being real here—those first 24 hours after the anesthesia wears off will have you questioning how many more children you’d like to have, and will make you want to give every CS momma a standing ovation, a life-sized trophy and maybe one hundred thousand pesos, if you can afford it," Sitti wrote. She couldn't emphasize it enough: It hurts.

Sitti did her best to move through the pain so she would recover quickly. It didn't take long before she could sit up, roll to her sides, and stand up. "Day after day after day, your strength will return," she said. "But also, listen to your body and do not be pressured by anyone when you feel that you are not yet ready," Sitti added.

There will be numbness, swelling, and blood!

Your CS incision wound to be numb at first, and though that feeling had passed for her, Sitti admitted that touching the area still feels weird. Also, she warns new moms that there will be a lot of bleeding (Read more about postpartum vaginal discharge called lochia here).

Sitti wrote that she also experienced edema on top of the still-looking-pregnant look after delivering her baby. So in case you're wondering why new moms often look bloated when they get home from the hospital, she explains, "It’s all those IV fluids, that’s why," she said, adding that drinking lots of fluids and moving around helped her swelling go down.

Breastfeeding really hurts, at first.

"If you’re committed to breastfeeding your baby, you’d just have to suck it up and endure the pain. Those first few days of getting to know and adjusting to your feeding relationship can be really painful," Sitti said. Her Lilibubs practically owned her boobies, sucking almost every hour.

"The minute a problem arises, like a milk blister or cracked nipples, it’ll be toe-curling pain at every single feed," she said. But Sitti isn't throwing in the towel. She's still nursing even after being diagnosed with mastitis, and she's got perspective: Being thankful for milk letdown even if it sometimes leaks.

You will still look pregnant.

"I don’t know why we all have the notion that magically all that pregnancy weight and extra fluids would immediately disappear," Sitti wrote. "Every time a self-deprecating thought would come, look at your baby and congratulate yourself for a job well done," she added.

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Sitti adds, "Being the actual mode of transport in that hilly, bumpy, winding road of pregnancy and childbirth reminds me that my body truly does need ample time to rest and recover," the new mom wrote. Sitti has been on a bedroom-only house arrest for a month and doesn't care if her situation remains that way from a few more weeks.

"Trust me when I say that there is much to keep you occupied when you’re with a newborn, and though it is unable to talk to you, your body is thanking you for letting it get some time off," Sitti stressed. 

Oh, and Sitti has a postscript for the husbands of new moms: "Expect your wives to be in their most unglamorous state," she wrote. The new mom is thankful for her husband Joey for his full support during the fourth trimester. "I was a sweaty, leaking, bleeding mess and yet he never said anything unflattering," Sitti shared. (Take note, daddies!)

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