postpartum care sucks

There I said it. Postpartum care sucks. It has taken me so long to regain my bodily functions. People told me it would take a year or longer but I was like, nah that can't be right. Why is it the doctor tells you at 6 weeks pp whether or not you are cleared for exercise. By the way due to COVID, I only emailed pictures of my scar and she replied back, "you're good." Is that the standard of care? I was never offered a mental health questionnaire. I didn't have a village. There was no LLL. No First 5 LA home visits. No Mommy & Me. No storytime. No Zoo. No botanical gardens. My maternity leave after baby was born was totally screwed. My sister is planning to visit for the first time when my baby is 14 months old. I mean I'm happy but I feel like new moms can use so much help. I needed it and it wasn't there. 

This post is being triggered by my participation in a Facebook group called Milky Fitness. A new mom (10 days pp) asked for suggestions of back exercises because she is suffering. I sent her a suggestion and the mods deleted my comment as an unsafe recommendation. Now, I know on paper you're not supposed to exercise until 6 weeks pp. But I started light exercise at 3 weeks pp. That's a fact. What is the point of timelines if nobody really checks you out? I know my body and what this new mom wanted is some help on a specific thing. Everyone else told her to just walk. For me, walking was really hard. A half-mile seemed like an impossible distance. So if someone had told me to just walk, I would have cried. But standing in my house, near my baby, and doing some arm raises... that for me was do-able. So screw those mods. Screw the healthcare industry. Screw COVID.

https://flic.kr/p/2kB3dUP

I did these for 12 weeks (5-7 months pp) and I did not do any crunches until 10 months. How does that fit with the "no workouts until 6 weeks" model? My chiropractor, who I saw 4 and 5 weeks after my son was born because I was having terrible back pain, recommended no crunches for a year pp. But I knew when I felt ready.

After reading this article

https://www.foxnews.com/health/exercise-after-baby-do-you-really-have-to-wait-6-weeks

I remembered something my OBGYN said at the 6 week follow up call. She said I could start running immediately. She didn't even ask about diastasis recti, or whether breastfeeding was contributing to joint pain. At that time, yes I had DR and I had serious pain in my wrists and feet. I am just now feeling like my feet are strong enough to shuffle. I still don't jump, hop or jog. WTF?