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How Sex Will (Probably) Be Different Postpartum

For the past few months, you've probably had nothing but your baby on your brain. You've been focused on everything from decorating the nursery to giving birth to a little human, that you've barely had time to think about sex. But once you find your mothering groove, you may feel the urge to be intimate with your partner again. When you're ready to start thinking about reigniting your love life, you may be wondering, is sex better after having a baby?

In the first weeks and months after giving birth, the answer to that question is almost always no. According to Parents, if you have an episiotomy or other lacerations, they will need time to heal. Because of this, most doctors recommend avoiding intercourse for at least six weeks after giving birth. But even if you don't experience tearing, intimacy may still be pretty uncomfortable at first. As Fit Pregnancy pointed out, your estrogen levels drop right after giving birth and cause some vaginal dryness. This is especially true for mothers who breastfeed.

There may also be other factors that are getting in the way of you and your partner getting your groove back. After all, caring for a newborn is more than a full-time job. Days and nights filled with nursing, burping, and diaper changing may leave you tired and turned off, as Parents mentioned. Pregnancy and childbirth will also be responsible for plenty of changes in your hormones. These changes can cause you to feel some anxiety, irritability, and even sadness — aka the "baby blues", according to Everyday Health. In other words, sex will probably be the furthest thing from your mind.

Giving birth could also mean that you get to see your toes for the first time in months after being pregnant. And when you do get to see yourself in all of your postpartum glory, you may not necessarily like what you see. Having a bad body image could put a damper on your sex life by making you less willing to get naked, as Woman's Day mentioned.

But don't let all of that get you down. There are some things that change for the better after baby. Because babies demand so much of your time you may be forced to get creative and sneak in time for sex during one of baby's naps. And, as Fit Pregnancy mentioned, that element of playfulness can make your love life a whole lot more interesting, and leave you feeling even sexier than before. Introducing lubricants and masturbation, which can help deal with vaginal dryness can also add an extra element of sexiness to your relationship.

But if you give yourself some time to heal and forgive yourself for not being at your pre-pregnancy weight, you may find that you and your partner can connect in a way you've never been able to before. You've just experienced the miracle of life together, and that makes your relationship pretty special.