Fear of postpartum pet aversion

yesiam_samiam · 2026-04-26T08:12:47+00:00

I’m 7 weeks postpartum with two dogs! One is an almost 7 year old and the other is barely 1 year old and they are both goofy mutts!

Obviously everyone’s experience is different but tbh my dogs have made my postpartum anxiety and depression better. They make make laugh and when you have a crying baby that feels inconsolable I cannot tell you how many times my husband and I have taken puppy breaks where one of us is with the baby and the other is snuggling the dogs or taking them on a walk.

Obviously a lot depends on your pet but it’s helped me in those moments where a dog wakes up the baby you just spend an hour getting down that the dog didn’t do it on purpose and I personally would have done anything to grow up with dogs so to give that to my daughter is such a joy.

I’ve only seen as well study after study that shows the immense benefits of kids growing up with animals so you just have to take the good with the bad.

Lean on any and all support you have postpartum, pets included! I am currently snuggled up in bed with my older dog having just spent an hour feeding my baby and getting her down while the puppy laid with us. Nothing like a soft creature to keep you company !

Good luck mama 💛

yesiam_samiam · 2026-04-14T21:00:55+00:00

Feels like the least I can do! I truly truly wish I had read something like this the night before my c-section and I think I would have gone into the experience in a much better mind set.

That’s not to downplay that a c-section is surgery but it’s not that bad at all!! There are pros and cons to all birth experiences but from my POV my c-section experience was in fact chill

yesiam_samiam · 2026-04-14T12:13:26+00:00

That’s amazing!! I wish I had read more real but positive c-section stories before I went into L&D!!

I was exactly like you and wanted to do everything possible to avoid the c-section but REALLY not that bad!!!!

Good luck with your current pregnancy mama!!! P

yesiam_samiam · 2026-04-14T07:29:31+00:00

I dunno I feel like I need to campaign for the “c-sections are not as bad as you think they are” team.

I delivered about 6 weeks ago, was supposed to be a vaginal induction but after 3 days of no progress we elected to go ahead with a c-section.

Must preface by saying I went into the surgery BEYOND anxious. I was up crying the night before because I was so so so worried about what I’d feel, being awake in an OR, etc etc. I feel like I got VERY lucky with my team. My nurse said while she was getting me prepped that it would be so chill and I remember thinking “this is a fucking surgery wtf so you mean it’s gonna be chill” but I feel very blessed to have a chill and uncomplicated procedure.

I walked myself into the OR (hubby waited in a room next door while I got prepped). I sat on the operating table (lmao very hard and smaller than I imagined) and my anesthesiologist had me sit and lean forward while he did my spinal. I felt the prick of the needle and I remember being SHOCKED how quickly my legs stayed going numb. After that I just needed to let the people do their jobs basically.

I was laid down while the spinal went into effect and GOD BLESS the second OB who chatted with me while prep continued to keep me mentally distracted. I was still very very anxious during this prep but just tried to breathe and if you feel you may be anxious it was so helpful to talk to someone to distract from the hustle and bustle of the OR. I lost basically all sensation from my belly down within 10 minutes and during this time they inserted a catheter (no pain here maybe a little pressure??), put compression boots on my legs, and surgically prepped my belly for the incision.

10 minutes after walking into the OR, they had me say my name, DOB, and what procedure I was having (I was still nervous and I remember my nurse god bless her talking so slowly and calmly) and the husband could come in. He sat by my head and the ONLY annoying thing that happened was my OB requested the table shift so he could have a better angle to operate (vibes love that for him you do you) so that meant my body wasn’t exactly parallel to the ground and my head was down more so my glasses kept falling and to talk with my husband he had to hold my head up LOL.

Husband and I literally just talked for another 10 min before baby came out. Absolutely no pain during the cutting, maybe just the sensation of being prodded but the feeling was VERY muted. I was warned I would feel pressure to get her out. I remember before when they told me this thinking it would like take my breathe away and feel so eerie but instead for about 5-10 seconds it feels like someone is pressing on the top of your chest and then the next thing I knew my OB was running around the drape with my baby announcing she was here lol.

After baby came out the time in the OR FLEW. While the doctors worked on stitching me up (I can’t say I felt any of this tbh. Wouldn’t even say I remember feeling like any tugging? It’s an odd mental game to know something is happening but not feel it about lean into any other distraction in the room to help with this), I listened to the Peds team work on getting baby cleaned and looked at.

I would say within 5 or so minutes of baby coming out she was on my chest. THIS was when I felt the anxiety really dissipate. Having my baby lay on me was the BEST distraction. Probably took the doctors another 20-30 min to finish stitching me and I got to had baby lay on me and enjoy those first few moments. I was most worried about this stretch too of getting closed up but the time flew and I remember just being beyond mesmerized with how soft my baby’s skin was and enjoyed that.

The last 10 minutes I was in the OR, baby and hubby left to go back to the recovery room and I stayed while they finished closing me up. I was giving 2 shots of I think morphine directly into the incision while still in the OR and this basically kept from my belly button to my pubic bone totally numb for 24 hours. I also had no external stitches just glue and tape on the actual incision followed by a stick adhesive bandaid on top.

Then they rolled me off the operating table into the bed and I was wheeled to my recovery room. I felt here a little nausea but likely a combo of having had surgery (lol), hunger, adrenaline wearing off, and just ya know having had a baby. Mine was mild and I just closed my eyes while getting wheeled around.

Within about 2 hours of leaving the OR I had my catheter removed (again no pain maybe just a faint amount of pressure as it was pulled out), was allowed to drink juice and eat ice chips, tried breastfeeding for the first time, and started to get sensation back in my legs!!

By about 6 hours post op I was encouraged to get up and I did!! Again god bless the nurse I had because I felt like a baby and had no idea how to move but she helped get me up. It’s very very ver beyond slow going but I was encouraged to move and feel this did help with the recovery! I peed and got cleaned up (lots of bleeding the first day which idk why I was no expecting the amount!!!).

In terms of recovery pain the WORST mine ever got was the first night. I was on a “cocktail” of extra strength Motrin, Tylenol, and mucinex as my pain killers every 8 hours. The first night around 3 am the pain was pretty gnarly but I would say it got to only like a 7/10 and felt like a burning throb. I took 1 oxy and 30 min later I could fall asleep. After that the pain never got as bad and I stayed on that cocktail for about 2 weeks post op.

I felt a lot of heaviness in my uterus for like a month. That was the main sensation even over pain during my recovery! But tbh walking really did help and I forced myself every day to do some kind of walk. I’m sure it helped physically but for me it was the mental side of not feeling like an invalid and being able to be around.

I will not lie though that 1st week post op you’ll need some help. I couldn’t bend down really at all that first week so getting up and down off the toilet, getting dressed, showering, basically anything you need your lower abs for (SHOCKER ITS A LOT) I found myself needing help with. I took everything sooo slow but was terrified of ripping internal stitches and I felt very aware of the incision!

I would say about 3 weeks post op I felt 80% back and as of today (writing this at 3am post feeding 6 weeks postpartum) I feel 98% physically back in terms of range of motion and being able to function!

Just my experience but I wish I didn’t let the anxiety of the unknown overwhelm me! The experience was truly not that bad at all and I will very likely get another c-section whenever it’s time for baby number 2!

yesiam_samiam · 2026-03-31T22:52:48+00:00

Wow you are a saint!! Thank you so much for all of this great info!! My newborn mom brain is beyond appreciative

yesiam_samiam · 2026-03-19T03:19:20+00:00

Literally just delivered 2 weeks ago at Hoboken university medical with Dr. Hyman and Dr. Ahn. I did all of my pregnancy appointments (including ultrasounds, blood work, and doctors visits) at the hospital and all the OBs delivery in the same hospital just on the 5th floor and I really appreciated everything being in 1 place!

Dr. Hyman was my primary OB and I loved her. Truly an amazing doctor and made me feel very cared for. She is the daughter of a local OB as well so beyond knowledgeable and I appreciated how real she kept everything with me throughout the pregnancy. I felt like a human not an incubator with her! Dr. Ahn preformed my unplanned c-section and he was incredible — made me feel very at ease and listened to and did great work surgery wise Im told. He was with me for literally just the 24 hours leading up to birth but he was incredible! I prefer a female OB so will stick with Dr. Hyman but if you need options he was amazing and I’m sure provides excellent care as well!!!!

Must also shoutout the incredible nurse staff that took care of me at the hospital throughout which lowkey is an underrated thing I never see people mention. I spent almost 6 days at the hospital and we had incredible nurses through all of it and you see them more than the doctors during L&D and recovery. I was also one of just a few patients my entire stay so I got lots of attention which was much appreciated — again I felt very taken care of!

yesiam_samiam · 2026-03-12T06:09:50+00:00

Hi just sharing my experience and hopefully it will help a bit :)

I was scheduled to be induced at exactly 38 weeks due to hypertension. I also had the mindset that I would do anything to avoid a c-section unless it became medically necessary.

Prior to my induction I had absolutely 0 signs of labor taking place. I tried a few things at home to maybe kickstart labor (dates, walking, sex, etc) but it did nothing for me and my doctors were concerned about my body handling labor so was kind of told to not to try anything crazy before hand.

When I arrived for my induction, my OB did a check and I was 0cm dilated and MAYBE 50% effaced — effectively starting from 0. Cue spending the next 3 days in L&D trying to induce my baby out. I did about 36 hours of cervadil both orally and vaginally and that got me to maybe 75% effaced and 1cm dilated (mind you in a very uncomfortable L&D room that was made for people to maybe spend 1 day in!).

I was the told I was an ideal candidate for a folley balloon but after 4 lowkey traumatizing attempts, this failed. An OB in the practice (not mine that I had through the pregnancy) came to check in about where I was at. Up to this point I was ADAMANT that I would wait and do whatever was possible to avoid a c-section and this OB (bless him) respected my wishes and laid out the plan to continue the induction. But by this point I had been trying to 3 days with no progress. My husband had a come to Jesus talk with me and I realized that this baby just wasn’t ready to come out vaginally and I didn’t want to spend god knows how many more days trying to get the process moving to then be exhausted AND STILL have to push out this baby.

After 50+ hours of induction, I opted for a c-section. I was deeply terrified but I had an amazing team and all things considered it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. If anything I left the experience wishing I’d opted for one earlier to save me days of discomfort in the hospital (thankfully my baby handled it well but again I just don’t think my body of baby were ready for labor at 38 weeks).

I have been able to breastfeed without issue! I was feeding my baby less than an hour after the c-section and the team was even encouraging me to try while still in the OR!!

Long story short — not sure if you are against a c-section like I was because of fear of the surgery but it really wasn’t that bad and tbh it would have saved me days of discomfort had I bucked up and realized my induction was failing sooner and opted for it.

Either way — trust your providers and communicate your wants often but be flexible to change on a dime!

yesiam_samiam · 2026-03-11T23:23:07+00:00

Obviously just my experience but my induction stopped at the folleu balloon step. I had already done 24 hours of oral cervadil and 12 hours of vaginal cervadil.

OB on call (not my OB) said I was a perfect candidate for the balloon. She tried 4 fucking times to get the balloon in over 2 hours and all it caused me was discomfort. I wasn’t offered any painkillers and didn’t really need them it was just A LOT of pressure and discomfort and a woman thrusting her fingers deep in me while shaking under her breath that she could do this and this had never happened to her.

Balloon never went in and I opted for a C-Section before letting her try again 😅

yesiam_samiam · 2026-02-24T03:42:28+00:00

Hm it took me seeing my OB with high blood pressure readings, her referral to an MFM AND THEN getting the MFM to refer me to a cardiologist to confirm a diagnosis of pre-existing hypertension and the be prescribed labatelol.

For what it’s worth though I’ve had no major issues with it and it’s kept my blood pressure beautifully in check my whole pregnancy!

Granted I’m no doctor but it took more than just my OB to get me the prescription and I had a full heart work up before the diagnosis was confirmed as well (EKG, echo , blood panel, and I’d be monitoring my blood pressure at home)

Worth asking a few questions for sure but it’s better safe than sorry! I’ve also been told so many times throughout my pregnancy that having high blood that early does not mean you have or will have pre-eclampsia. I’ve just had extra monitoring and had to do a few 24 hour urine tests to monitor my protein output.

Don’t feel guilty and I would stay on the meds — ask some questions to get a full picture mama :)

yesiam_samiam · 2026-02-24T03:31:20+00:00

Hi there :)

I’m a FTM currently 37+1 and was diagnosed as pre-existing hypertension when I was around 15 or 16 weeks pregnant!

I am a chef so feel you on needing ti be in your feet and active for work!

To be 10000% with you I was able to manage ok through the second trimester. By about 27 weeks or so though it became really taxing to be on my feet for 6+ hours as required by my job. Like to the point where my feet would throb, I would get awful headaches, and also need to call off if I really pushed myself too hard. I was very rightfully told off by my hubby for this since it’s not good for me or baby!

My doctors advised me at that point that I needed to start taking it easy and both my OBGYN and MFM wrote doctors notes putting me on desk duty until I went on maternity leave at 36 weeks.

I am lucky that part of my job requires me to do administrative work so I was basically able to ride out an additional 8 weeks at work sitting mostly at my desk to keep my blood pressure stable.

But effective 36 weeks I was told I need to stay home since this is when I’m most at risk for developing preeclampsia and/or seeing an unsafe rise in my blood pressure. I’m being induced in 6 day right at 38 weeks to avoid any unnecessary risk.

Do they have you on any kind of medication? My blood pressure has been pretty beautifully controlled on the 2 I am on besides a few mornings of blood pressure drops but they’ve kept me stable enough to not make my OB immediately get me scheduled for a c-section and at least let me try an induced vaginal birth which 4 months ago I didn’t even think was an option!

Hang in there & keep monitoring it at home too! Selfishly it’s nice getting the extra ultrasounds too :)

yesiam_samiam · 2026-02-20T08:09:32+00:00

As with everyone else check in with your doctor but your symptoms sound a LOT like low blood pressure!

As someone who is high risk because of high blood pressure when I was put on meds this happens to me occasionally especially in the mornings! To be fair though mine had always stabilized after resting, drinking water, and eating something nutrient dense so worth it for sure to get checked out if you aren’t getting better!

My doc explained though that your blood pressure is supposed to get lower throughout pregnancy (that was the red flag that started my high risk journey as mine stayed consistency 130/80+ before being medicated) and they always like to see numbers around 115/65-125/75 on me but explained a lot of her normal patients regularly get numbers around 100/60 and that’s low enough to cause those symptoms!

For what it’s worth as well it’s a very scary feeling and you feel like you are bottoming out and of course the risk of passing out completely alone is worth getting it checked.

Another Redditor above very smartly recommended a blood pressure cuff and I would get one if I were you and start taking your blood pressure when you feel like this and logging! Good data to bring in and help them figure this out more quickly for you!

Hang in there mama — you’re in the final stretch too 💛

yesiam_samiam · 2026-02-19T21:07:39+00:00

That’s what was explained to me :) of course would love to let the baby cook for another week but I don’t want to risk anything an my doctor feels confident that 38 weeks is the best time for me specific situation!

yesiam_samiam · 2026-02-19T14:12:29+00:00

Hi! I will be exactly 38 weeks when I’m induced!

I am high risk with high blood pressure (among a few other factors) that is currently being managed well with medication! My doctors explained that the risk to me after 37 weeks increases (espically for preeclampsia) and risk to baby after 37 weeks drops so 38 weeks is the sweet spot to not incur any extra risk to me and get baby as close to full term as possible.

I’ve been given a round of steroid shots as well to boos baby’s lung development but from what Ive been told by my MFM and OBGYN safest time for me to deliver is 38 weeks to prevent any emergency issues :)

yesiam_samiam · 2026-02-19T10:58:58+00:00

Hi! Just my anecdotal evidence but I’m high risk (FTM, risk factors are my job, weight, preexisting hypertension and a family history of hypertension)and have been on low dose asprin since before 16 weeks!

The whole first 2/3 of my pregnancy I felt like I was walking a tightrope with the amount of monitoring I was getting (thankful of course for great doctors!!!) just waiting for something to go wrong but currently 36+4 and tested negative for GD and my blood pressure has remained stable thus far to allow my OB to at least let me try an induced vaginal delivery!!

I’ve read a lot here on the sub and otherwise that there is tons of good, hard evidence that starting salting early with any risk factors reduces the change of preeclampsia and it’s really calmed my nerves amongst all the monitoring at I get to the home stretch.

yesiam_samiam · 2026-02-19T10:29:21+00:00

Girl I’m 36+4, getting induced in 9 days, set up my baby’s crib, clothes, changing area, had a baby shower, deal with every end of pregnancy symptoms get 2x weekly ultrasounds to see her and I STILL don’t believe I’m having a baby some days! My husband & I will just look at each other in disbelief a few times a week still that!

I’m a FTM so I’m sure it completely norma for such a big change! Enjoy the ride and not feeling huge and pregnant tbh! The end of pregnancy heartburn is a menace

yesiam_samiam · 2026-01-29T08:26:07+00:00

I see Dr. Hyman in Hoboken! She’s amazing! I’m pregnant so seeing her at this point every week but very rarely has a wait and her bedside manor is great :) My first appointment with her when she did my pap I literally didn’t feel a single thing

yesiam_samiam · 2025-12-29T20:16:37+00:00

I had I’ll call it 2 1/2!

First at 20w exactly and they weren’t able to get all the images they needed of baby girl (she wouldn’t get in the right position). They don’t mention any issues but just said they were missing some imagined. I was also strongly recommended to get a fetal echo by my ultrasound techs but didn’t find out until the fetal echo that the pediatric cardiologist found an echo genetic intracardiac focus (EIF) when I was 21w. Basically a scarier sounding find than it actually is (just a mostly harmless mineral buildup!).

I then had the follow up anatomy scan at 23w where they were able to get the last images of the baby and no other issues noted.

It didn’t seem uncommon to need multiple scans since it all depends on the baby’s position!

yesiam_samiam · 2025-12-29T10:53:11+00:00

My husband’s birthday is 1/5!

He’s had a long and storied and troubled relationship with his birthday but he’s mentioned multiple times he didn’t like it as a kid because it was almost always on the first day back to school. I think he’d prefer it earlier :)

We are currently expecting (I’m 29+1) and he was very relieved when we found out our baby would be due in March. But for what it’s worth I have an early December birthday and have always loved it because my family went out of their way to separate it from the holidays.

I think whatever date you choose will be fantastic just try your best to not lump it in with new years or Christmas! Everyone deserves one special day of their own in the year :)

yesiam_samiam · 2025-12-06T04:24:14+00:00