My First Postpartum Experience Rocked Me

Your sacred 4th trimester, stay in your postpartum bubble!

My first postpartum experience rocked me. My second postpartum experience was blissful.

Here’s what I put in place after learning the hard way:

1) set low expectations for yourself. I cannot stress this enough…give yourself 2 weeks of  n o t h i n g. You don’t touch a piece of laundry. Stay in/on/around the bed. I walked WAY too early the first time and all it did was prolong my recovery and weaken my pelvic floor. You can do breathing exercises the first 2 weeks. Resting, letting your organs go back into place & letting your internal wounds heal will actually SPEED up your healing down the road

2) have food and minerals/supplements lined up! Ask for gift cards to Mama Meals, get a meal train from local friends/family, have family come cook for you, or cook and freeze nourishing meals beforehand

- lots of pasture raised red meat & organ meats

- lots of bone broth and soup

- lots of eggs/quiches

- fruits/cooked veggies

- mineral rich foods like fruit, coconut water, high quality dairy, pumpkin seeds, lentils, avocado, seafood

- continue taking a high quality prenatal with *correct* forms of vitamins. Consider an organ supplement if you do not eat them

 Plan your food beforehand!

3) prioritize resting and bonding with your baby over being productive. You only get a newborn for 2 weeks. That’s it! They’ll never be that squishy ever again. And since newborns don’t have sleep schedules, it’s better to take advantage of that daytime nap (if you have the ability to). Sleep deprivation is a slippery slope

4) see the sun I was so tired the first time around I don’t think I went outside for more than a few minutes the entire first week. It’s easy to turn into a vampire and get stuck in the bedroom. You (and baby) would benefit from getting fresh air and sunshine a little in the morning and the late afternoon

5) don’t invite anyone over that would make it uncomfortable for you to do things like breastfeed. Make sure your family or those around you know what your expectations are of them. Have visitors if you want! But tell them before they come over what the deal is

It takes some planning to have a good postpartum experience!