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Snooki Documented Her Physical Postpartum Struggles After Baby #3's Birth

by Michelle Stein

In case you missed the happy news, Jersey Shore reality star Nicole Polizzi recently welcomed her third child. And by recently, I mean like yesterday. Judging by Polizzi's recent social media activity, the new mama is actually still in the hospital with her newborn. Unsurprisingly, she's not holding back when it comes to the realities of recovering from labor and delivery. That's because Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi documented her physical postpartum struggles after baby number three's birth.

As People reported, Polizzi and her husband Jionni LaValle welcomed their third child on Thursday, May 30. Their baby boy — Angelo James LaValle — arrived at 2:30 a.m., and was 7 pounds, 8 ounces. “So thrilled to welcome baby Angelo into our little family! He is so sweet and a spitting image of Lorenzo as a baby,” Polizzi told the publication. “Jionni and I can’t wait to see how being outnumbered turns out!” The couple already has a 6-year-son son, Lorenzo, and a 4-year-old daughter, Giovanna.

Clearly, Polizzi and her family are over the moon about welcoming baby Angelo. In the meantime, though, the recovering mama is coping with the physical aftermath of just having given birth. And if you've ever delivered a baby, I'm willing to bet her Instagram Story will give you some serious flashbacks. "My feet are swollen, I'm wearing a diaper, my son just peed and sh*t on me twice & my sciatica is acting up," Polizzi shared on her Instagram Story on Thursday. "Hello postpartum."

The newly-postpartum mama also shared a video showing her Instagram followers the tools she'll be using while recovering from childbirth, Us Weekly reported. “The aftermath of birth,” Polizzi can be heard saying in the clip posted on her Instagram Story.

“You definitely need these guys. Hazel pads for your butthole," she continued. "Here’s my underwears, my pads, my squirt bottle. Pray for me.”

Yass! By my fourth baby, I had a postpartum "kit" ready to go in our upstairs and downstairs bathrooms for when we came home from the hospital. It consisted of witch hazel pads, a peri-bottle, Dermoplast, and large pads. Because postpartum care "down there" is serious business.

Another reality of postpartum recovery? Afterpains — which are actually a woman's uterus contracting after childbirth, on its way back to its normal size, according to BabyCenter. Except, these afterpains tend to be worse after a woman's second delivery. And they continue to worsen after each baby she has. "No one warned me about the third pregnancy postpartum cramping," she wrote. "Like am I still in active labor? Sh*t!" (Poor mama; I remember the intense cramping well.)

Polizzi also shared a shot of her (nicely manicured) hand, writing, "My hand is shrek. #swollen."

I love that Polizzi is offering an honest glimpse into her postpartum experience. Because newsflash: Having a baby it isn't all bliss and baby cuddles, folks. Unlike what most stars' Instagram posts might suggest following labor and delivery, childbirth is messy. There's swelling, cramping, bleeding, tenderness, leakage, itching. And that's okay; it's completely normal.

Hopefully, Polizzi is able to get the rest she needs to allow her body to heal. In the meantime, thanks for keeping it real, mama.