My Postpartum Care Guide
I was not prepared for what was to come post birth…
I was so prepared to give birth and not so prepared for anything afterwards. To be completely honest, I was a little shocked for what postpartum life. There’s so much care given to you when pregnant, and so many resources for what to expect and how to care for yourself, but I didn’t find the same resources for afterwards. I learned a lot in the past 4 weeks since I had my baby so wanted to share so you can all be more prepared than I was.
#1
Hormones Go Wild
I felt overwhelmed and depressed the first week or two after having the baby. I was so happy to have a healthy baby, but the entire process of giving birth and going through labor took me by surprise. I was in such a daze the day I gave birth, I didn’t even realize I was in labor until 15 hours into it. I was mourning my pregnancy and didn’t feel ready to say goodbye to that part of my life. The first few days and weeks after giving birth, I would randomly just start crying without any explanation or logical reason why. My husband would try to console me and ask me what was wrong, and I couldn’t even give him an explanation. I ended up encapsulating my placenta and taking them 3x a day, which I think really helped balance my hormones. I’ve come to learn that losing an organ like the placenta means losing a ton of hormones that were keeping you and the baby healthy during pregnancy. Taking placenta pills has helped me ease the transition and feel more balanced in the early days postpartum.
#2
Have Meals Ready
I had grand plans to make a stew when I started labor that my birth team and I could enjoy post birth, but when I went into labor there was nothing I could focus on besides sleeping and breathing. Our fridge wasn’t stocked and we had no groceries or time to shop or prepare after the birth. Fortunately, we had a lot of friends drop off meals to us, but had I done it again, I would have made sure we had more food in the kitchen for the days after the baby when leaving the house wasn’t going to happen.
#3
It’s Uncomfortable Down There
Everyone’s birth experience is different, but be prepared to take it easy to heal your perineum and let your uterus contract. Making a sitz tea in a peri bottle will be useful for after you use the restroom each time and promote healing. You can also use sitz tea bags to make a shallow bath to sit in. I also used cloth witch hazel wipes and made padiscles by applying witch hazel and aloe to maternity pads then freezing in the freezer to use after. I had only made a couple of these before giving birth then realized I had to make a ton more after. I would suggest making 10-15 or buying pre-made ones.
#4
Belly Binding
I was intrigued by the traditional Malaysian practice of belly binding to promote healing for the mother. After the baby and placenta are no longer in the uterus, the belly can feel empty and mushy. The practice of belly binding or ‘swaddling the mother’, keeps the womb area warm, supported, and encourages the uterus to contract back to pre-pregnancy size while the rest of the organs settle back to their regular positions. I found a great LA based company that does the binding for you called BelliBind. They send a specialist to you that does a full body massage with focus on the womb area before wrapping. I found this especially healing after labor and even cried during the womb massage during my first session. In the first weeks with a baby, it was also especially comforting to have an hour with the specialist that was solely focused on my own healing as well.
#5
Boob Changes
While I knew I wanted to try breastfeeding and had an intro into the mechanics of feeding the baby and latching in my childbirth education class, I had no idea that my boobs would engorge during the first week. Basically the first 2 days after giving birth, you only produce colostrum. Around day 3, breast milk comes in. Around this time, or a couple days after your breasts will engorge as your body tries to figure out your supply. This is extremely uncomfortable and your boobs will be hard and heavy. I would suggest getting a Haakaa manual pump to remove the milk. It’s super easy, you just squeeze it and it suctions around the nipple, slowly releasing a flow of milk. I didn’t have this at the time, so I had to manually express the milk. I also did a hot compress before each feed to relax the milk ducts and a cold compress after each feed to reduce inflammation. When you are feeding the baby every 2 hours and each feed takes an hour, my entire day revolved around doing this. Fortunately, it only lasted a couple days before regulating.
#6
Tea Time
I drank a red raspberry tea infusion throughout my pregnancy to help get important minerals and strengthen the uterus and I’ve taken the same practice through postpartum with a different tea blend. My midwife recommended a tea infusion of red raspberry leaf, blessed thistle, nettle leaf, alfalfa, and fennel seed. Red raspberry leaf will help support a healthy uterus as it contracts back to pre-pregnancy size. Blessed thistle, nettle leaf, alfalfa, and fennel seed are known to support milk production if you are breastfeeding. I buy all the teas organic in bulk from Mountain Rose Herbs then add a pinch of each to hot water and steep for 30 min, then enjoy throughout the day.
#7
Invest in Support
I thought that because my dad was coming to stay with us after the baby was born that I wouldn’t need additional support, but I now realize how helpful it would have been to have a postpartum doula. Many people get night nurses, baby nurses, or nannies if they are financially able to, and that is amazing. I had an amazing resource of friends who were great for lending an ear and offering advice, but it would have been truly invaluable to have a sounding board to ask questions and offer help with the baby and the house in the first few days. There were so many things that Yoni and I were unprepared for when caring for a child. We spent a lot of time on google and texting our pediatrician the first week. I was on bedrest so my husband was frantically running around the house trying to take care of the baby and me. The house was a disaster, we had no groceries, we were confused with how to take care of a newborn, and it was just a lot of chaos. Next time I would definitely schedule to have a postpartum doula the first week or two to help.
