My Postpartum Tips for Natural-Minded Moms

This is more of a rambling of my thoughts. Certain things in postpartum life struck me as harder than I thought they would be or else completely surprised me. I don’t want to overwhelm you with information. There are a lot of words here, but are things I was told to prepare for or else I wish I could pass on to other new moms. That’s the great thing about a blog, I guess. I can post this and send it to anyone who feels it would be helpful!

Before I overwhelm you with words (eek), I want you to know this. God knows and He has you in the postpartum time with you and your newborn! Your baby is yours, given to you by God. He knows no other mom is better equipped to care for your baby than you. Always remember that. Even as your baby grows up and more voices tell you things you should be doing, remember you’re the best mom for your unique baby!

You have to “Get to Know” Your Baby

You have to “get to know” your baby. It sounds so weird, but when you meet you have this instant bond and deep love, yet you don’t know them. How do they like to nap, what makes them fussy, what’s the best way to soothe them. It’s weird, but each day you get to know your little one more and more. You get a degree in what makes them tick and how they are their happiest.

Get your Baby Adjusted

I think the one way you can make your life easier and rest easier about how well your newborn is doing is getting them adjusted. The birth process is stressful on babies no matter how they were born. Chiropractic care helps their bodies work better and many chiropractors who adjust infants also work on their cranials and soft tissue. I believe one of the reasons Ottava is so healthy and didn’t get a cold until she was 8 months old. She’s been adjusted almost every week since she was born.

Here are some reasons to get your baby adjusted:

• Infants who are adjusted suffer from less colic and gas problems
• Breastfeeding is easier in adjusted babies because they are able to turn their heads comfortably to both sides
• Reduces the likelihood of torticollis or irregular head shape. Adjustments and stretches at home can prevent this by catching any issues early on and correcting them
• Babies tend to sleep better. They are more comfortable and

I have also seen improvement in ear infections, reflux, overall contentment, and constipation.

Bind your Belly for Recovery

I read a lot about this prior to birth. I was planning on belly binding whether or not I had a cesarean, but I think it’s especially helpful with a c-section. Wear it as close to 24/7 as you can for the first 3-6 weeks. Yes, even when sleeping! I stopped as much after 3 weeks because I was feeling stronger and to be honest, it was a bit annoying. The belly bands are great for feeling stronger and helps support the recovery of your uterus. Other countries do it and have done it for years, we are very behind the trend in the United States. It’s nothing new, but may be new to you.

Don’t spend money on the expensive binder, I don’t think they are worth it. Mine was super uncomfortable and I loved the one the hospital gave me (like this one). If your’e at a hospital, ask them for one… might as well. Your’e paying a lot anyways! Otherwise bring one with you. And our midwives didn’t let me do stairs for 1 week (I didn’t leave the upstairs for a week) and then 1x/day until 2 weeks PP. And I couldn’t lift anything heavier than baby for 6 weeks… no carseat until 6 weeks. It helps your pelvic floor recovery, they were sticklers on that! Let your body heal and rest!

Breastfeeding is Natural, But is Hard Work

Breastfeeding is the most natural thing, yet it comes with lots of questions. And sometimes it can be downright hard for some moms. Thankfully breastfeeding came fairly easy for us, but I still had a lot of questions. I texted our midwives, asked my friend (who had a baby 2 days after me), or looked up questions daily for the first 2 months.

A lot of my questions were to make sure Tava was getting enough food, getting full feedings, and gaining weight. I researched the heck out of everything. I would reach out to friends when you need to. Also, Tava had a tongue tie (which is quite common nowadays, but I have a post for a later date about this). She was a good nurser, but not a great nurser because of it. I watched it very closely and once we started having some symptoms, we got it laser revised, by a trained and highly recommended pediatric dentist, at 3 months. Everything changed for the better… and I relaxed a lot more and she was a better eater and a less fussy baby overall (because she could get more milk, get it faster, and was more content I guess).

It Gets Easier, but Enjoy the Newborn Phase

There are many hard moments at first when you’re getting to know your baby and everything is so different. (and you’re not getting a lot of sleep) It feels like it takes 3 days to plan a trip to Target. And you’re tired on top of it. But in the midst of it, nothing is more worth doing and stretching yourself so thin for. And… it’s just a season. At around 8-10 weeks I remember that being a changing point for being able to leave the house quicker and feeling more rested and like myself. Enjoy staying home, snuggling baby, feeling like nothing gets done outside of baby things. There will be days when you wish your to-do list only contained care for baby on it  . They change so fast, I still wonder where my little newborn went.

Limit Visitors if You Want

We only had family see Ottava until 1 week. Well, we had one of our dear friends too because she was due 3 days before me and I wanted her to meet Ottava before she had her baby (which was 2 days after Ottava). I knew I wouldn’t see her for weeks because ewe were both planning to stay home and rest after birth.

We decided early on we wanted to wait awhile before scheduling visitor to see Ottava. Mostly because I didn’t know what to expect and didn’t want a full house of people when I wasn’t feeling my best. It worked well because it took me a lot longer to recover from a c-section It was our choice because I was recovering from a C-section (well, we were going to do this even if we had our homebirth). I was still figuring things out, it was nice to not have people stopping over so much. That was fun later.