I wrote out this postpartum recovery checklist after my FIRST baby, knowing I’d want to be better prepared the 2nd time around
And yet, the 2nd time around I still showed up at the hospital with a half packed labor bag, and a mostly ignored postpartum recovery checklist.
The birth of a baby is life changing; the sort of event that will always teach us new things. But the birth of my second baby showed me something totally unexpected – it showed me how badly I missed out on ENJOYING the precious moments of the first week at home with me first baby.
The first week with baby (or the first month, even) is a special and unique time… and there’s truly no way to be fully prepared for it.
If you’ve come upon this post in a desperate search (painful urination postpartum perhaps?) well, I’m guessing it’s not all fun and games for you either.
I swore that when I was all recovered and back at blogging, I would write the helpful postpartum stuff I couldn’t find online anywhere while I was healing and googling.
Googling things like how to pee postpartum without crying (or feeling like you’d rather give birth all over again).
Congratulations on your baby! …and sorry that your ‘downstairs’ is a terrible disaster. (Don’t worry – it heals.) But you need to know about sitz baths postpartum. One of the very best things I did postpartum – once I was home from the hospital – was taking a sitz bath twice per day.
I know it’s a miracle, and I am insanely grateful to have been blessed to grow my baby. I really am. But being pregnant sucked. The first trimester sucked, the second trimester sucked, and the third trimester was like something straight out of a horror movie.
I think I was maybe 16 the first time I heard someone describe the “ring of fire” in childbirth. She …
One of the toughest things about having a brand new baby is actually far more difficult than the actual taking …
I am NOT a proponent of the “no regrets” philosophy. (I mean, it’s just stupid.) There are things I regret …
A low breast milk supply.
As a new mother, this has been one of the most frustrating hurdles I’ve faced. (Wondering if your tiny babe is unhappy because he is hungry is a particularly yucky kind of frustrating.)
When the squishy baby was new we had more than a few breastfeeding struggles – including jaundice, lip & tongue tie, and thrush – all working together to create a low milk supply.
Breastfeeding is hard, and anything that can make it easier is essential information. These are the best breastfeeding tips I found from across the internet land when I started on the Great and Scary (but Wonderful) Breastfeeding Journey.