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My first 2 weeks I was sort of weepy. I wasn't crying 24/7, but I did have to blink back tears and had a lump in my throat fairly often. Why? I was SO happy (still am!), as having a loving DH and a family with him were my biggest wishes in life. Now that I had them, I was terrified I would lose someone (DH, DD, mom, dad, etc.). Basically, I thought it was too good to be true.

That lasted for about 2 weeks, then I think my hormones leveled off and I came to. I was watching for PPD and PPA, but luckily that was not the case.

DH or my mom were here for most of those 2 weeks, so that was helpful. Since then, thinks have been great, but I also have a baby that has slept 5-6 hours during her first stretch of sleep since day 3. I am exhausted, but special mommy powers keep me going...

I'm sure I could identify more stages, but I'm too tired.

Congratulations! @HolisticMama:
I felt like each two week mark got us to a spot that was substantially easier. By 6 weeks I was not back to normal but feeling a bit more human. I had a labial tear and separated pelvis both of those made recovery really hard for me. It was about two weeks before going to the bathroom wasn't an ordeal but longer until bleeding subsided.

At five and a half weeks we went on a trip and the first travel day was hard but the trip was an easy going one and I was glad for the change of scenery.

I was really disheartened that at 3 months when I wasn't back to normal. Again, my pelvis really kept me from feeling like myself. I didn't have to go back to work thankfully but knowing that was the longest I could have had was a really difficult thought.

The transition to motherhood wasn't very hard for me but it was (and still is at 5.5) hard to balance motherhood and being a wife. I feel very all consumed by my baby right now, I know it's a season in life but I am trying to make sure I keep my marriage strong too.

I think the biggest milestones are not needing twenty minutes to pee, being home with baby alone all day, feeding getting easier, going out by yourself with baby, going out without baby, leaving baby with a sitter and finding a rhythm. Kind of arbitrary though!

Self care... This would absolutely not be true for everyone but for me prioritizing breastfeeding was a form of self care. I felt no guilt about hiding away with her when we had company or sending my husband out for supplies etc. I was great at sleep when the baby sleeps- my house was never exactly clean as a result but who cares in the long run? Short term it drive me batty, I admit.

I should have read more, and maybe been better about letting my husband take her while I napped but TV DVD the internet are easy and I hated sleeping without her next to me. I also wish I had kept more notes but again that might just be a me thing. I do think I got pretty lucky in terms of mood and transition. Things hit a rough spot for me later, around 3.5 months which I didn't expect. It didn't last long but it was a hard funk.

Sorry I wrote a novel! I think I am still processing that stage!

I was pretty emotional the first month without realizing it. I cried a few times and felt pretty over whelmed. All I could do was take care of my baby, couldn't manage anything else.

I'm still overly attached to my baby and at 6 months we've never been apart.

Physically I think I expected to be feeling better faster than was realistic. I'd gone on long walks up to the day I'd given birth. Tried to walk 5 days post partum and almost passed out.

My advice: take it easy, ask for and accept help. And know physically and emotionally it gets better. Just not right away.

4th trimester was tough! Nursing troubles in the beginning, and I was super emotional, cried a ton, felt like a bad mom, at a loss of what to do a lot b/c the baby is so new and I still needed to get acquainted... It took me a while to really bond with DD. Physically I recovered sooner than I thought, I was just sore for a long time (from pushing for 2 hrs probably!), and also felt sad whenever I looked at my pp body.

I'm 4 mo pp and life def gets easier! Taking care of DD is still a ton of work, but I WOH, and we do go out on the weekends and I def see things going uphill.

I loved mine. I was on a total high, and I just had a wonderful time. Easy recovery, easy transition out of the nicu to home. Easy everything. I was really lucky.

Congratulations! And hang in there. I had a horrible time physically, emotionally, everything. I had a lot of help and it was still hard. The fog began to clear at about 16 weeks.