Postpartum Essentials
There’s always so much baby baby baby talk that sometimes we forget to think about ourselves and our own postpartum experience, so this is a video all about postpartum essentials.
Now, as I’m sure you’ve gotten the vibe from me, I am not a huge product person and I do not believe that buying products solves problems. I think even sometimes they can give us such a false sense of security that we actually don’t prepare properly at all because our stuff makes us feel ‘ready’. So although I will touch on certain ~ things ~ this will be a bigger video than that. Surprise surprise haha
Okay, so since I already mentioned items, let’s talk physical postpartum essentials. The only thing for sure every single birther will need is some sort of pad, so this is actually my one and only essential thing to buy on the list. I personally like a mixed pack of pads since heavy bleeding isn’t usually longer than 3 days and wearing the huge pads doesn’t feel so cute so smaller ones are nice, and I also really like a small pack of diapers too. I find that placing the pad in the diaper is a great way to feel secure against leaks and then you can change the pads versus the diapers but anyway. Pads. One and only essential. Pick your poison.
The reason why I have no other essentials on my list is because I don’t like buying things that I don’t need, and the needs are different whether it’s a vaginal or cesarean birth. For example, the Frida Mom super pack. Foam, peribottle, ice pads, cooling liners. All of that is not useful at all post-Cesarean birth, and arguable whether or not they’re essential even after a vaginal birth in my opinion. And they’re not cheap. So my personal recommendation is to wait to buy all the extra things to see how you’re feeling. However, if you’re curious, this is my ranking of things that I would buy for a vaginal birth recovery (1. sitz bath, 2. epsom salts, 3. Tucks pads, 4. All the Frida stuff) and for a cesarean birth recovery there aren’t really any things so that’s easy. And that’s it.
And now for the real postpartum essentials.
Actually taking care of yourself in the postpartum. Not the physical parts that you can see, but YOU. Yes, you. Insert your name here. (_______, the person).
YOU are the most essential part of the postpartum.
So let’s chat real postpartum essentials.
What is supporting your physiological wellbeing?
What is supporting your emotional wellbeing?
What is supporting your mental wellbeing?
What is supporting your spiritual wellbeing?
You and your well-being is essential. And everyone’s needs and ways to take care of themselves is different but prioritizing yourself is the number one most important thing.
I’m going to give you some ideas, but just like a birth plan, it’s not about saying what we want. It’s about really understanding and believing in what it is that we want, having plans in place and people to support us to make those things happen.
For example, we know good quality food and eating enough is essential.
So what nourishing food are you going to have prepared for you? What delicious food are you going to allow others to bring for you? How will you and the people you love be able to sit down for a meal all together, at least once a day?
Another example, physically caring for ourselves.
How will you make sure you have time for a long, luxurious shower every day? Is there a way you can set a timer for 30 minutes for physical self-care time – and even if you sit on the toilet for 30 minutes, it’s your 30-minute. Are we prioritizing our breathing exercises? Are they handy so our brains don’t need to go searching through emails, through webpages, through resources? Can we put a reminder 2 weeks past our EDD to book our 6-week pelvic floor appointment?
Another example, feeling ourselves. Feeling cute. Do we have comfy pajamas? Do we have comfy, cute, functional sets of clothes for when we go out in public. If you love getting your nails done, can someone come to the home? Or can you set some non-negotiable appointments where someone you love can watch the baby and push you out of the house to go and do it?
So down below will be a non-exhaustive list of postpartum essentials divided into categories. Choose a few, choose some, choose all, and then work in the other document to make a sort of postpartum plan.
Let me know what you think, let me know if you have any questions and let me know where and how I fit into your postpartum plan – because I’m here for you and I care about you and I want to make all of this as amazing as I can.
There’s always so much baby baby baby talk that sometimes we forget to think about ourselves and our own postpartum experience, so this is a video all about postpartum essentials.
Now, as I’m sure you’ve gotten the vibe from me, I am not a huge product person and I do not believe that buying products solves problems. I think even sometimes they can give us such a false sense of security that we actually don’t prepare properly at all because our stuff makes us feel ‘ready’. So although I will touch on certain ~ things ~ this will be a bigger video than that. Surprise surprise haha
Okay, so since I already mentioned items, let’s talk physical postpartum essentials. The only thing for sure every single birther will need is some sort of pad, so this is actually my one and only essential thing to buy on the list. I personally like a mixed pack of pads since heavy bleeding isn’t usually longer than 3 days and wearing the huge pads doesn’t feel so cute so smaller ones are nice, and I also really like a small pack of diapers too. I find that placing the pad in the diaper is a great way to feel secure against leaks and then you can change the pads versus the diapers but anyway. Pads. One and only essential. Pick your poison.
The reason why I have no other essentials on my list is because I don’t like buying things that I don’t need, and the needs are different whether it’s a vaginal or cesarean birth. For example, the Frida Mom super pack. Foam, peribottle, ice pads, cooling liners. All of that is not useful at all post-Cesarean birth, and arguable whether or not they’re essential even after a vaginal birth in my opinion. And they’re not cheap. So my personal recommendation is to wait to buy all the extra things to see how you’re feeling. However, if you’re curious, this is my ranking of things that I would buy for a vaginal birth recovery (1. sitz bath, 2. epsom salts, 3. Tucks pads, 4. All the Frida stuff) and for a cesarean birth recovery there aren’t really any things so that’s easy. And that’s it.
And now for the real postpartum essentials.
Actually taking care of yourself in the postpartum. Not the physical parts that you can see, but YOU. Yes, you. Insert your name here. (_______, the person).
YOU are the most essential part of the postpartum.
So let’s chat real postpartum essentials.
What is supporting your physiological wellbeing?
What is supporting your emotional wellbeing?
What is supporting your mental wellbeing?
What is supporting your spiritual wellbeing?
You and your well-being is essential. And everyone’s needs and ways to take care of themselves is different but prioritizing yourself is the number one most important thing.
I’m going to give you some ideas, but just like a birth plan, it’s not about saying what we want. It’s about really understanding and believing in what it is that we want, having plans in place and people to support us to make those things happen.
For example, we know good quality food and eating enough is essential.
So what nourishing food are you going to have prepared for you? What delicious food are you going to allow others to bring for you? How will you and the people you love be able to sit down for a meal all together, at least once a day?
Another example, physically caring for ourselves.
How will you make sure you have time for a long, luxurious shower every day? Is there a way you can set a timer for 30 minutes for physical self-care time – and even if you sit on the toilet for 30 minutes, it’s your 30-minute. Are we prioritizing our breathing exercises? Are they handy so our brains don’t need to go searching through emails, through webpages, through resources? Can we put a reminder 2 weeks past our EDD to book our 6-week pelvic floor appointment?
Another example, feeling ourselves. Feeling cute. Do we have comfy pajamas? Do we have comfy, cute, functional sets of clothes for when we go out in public. If you love getting your nails done, can someone come to the home? Or can you set some non-negotiable appointments where someone you love can watch the baby and push you out of the house to go and do it?
So down below will be a non-exhaustive list of postpartum essentials divided into categories. Choose a few, choose some, choose all, and then work in the other document to make a sort of postpartum plan.
Let me know what you think, let me know if you have any questions and let me know where and how I fit into your postpartum plan – because I’m here for you and I care about you and I want to make all of this as amazing as I can.