Ways to transition and manage the first week with a Newborn
I spoke to a new mom a few weeks ago who got to the hospital at 8:23 am, gave birth at 10:45 am and was released at 5 pm. The hospital was satisfied with her smooth delivery and sent her on her way. She, too, was thrilled to have had a successful and safe pregnancy–– and to be back in her own home with her new babe so soon. I asked her about her recovery plan, expecting to hear about her thoughts on nutrition, sleep, and her support system, but she looked at me clueless. The hospital she went to simply performed the service they were being paid to do. They delivered the baby. They did not, however, educate her about the help benefit, the long-term well being of both of herself and her new babe.
This isn’t an isolated case. Hospitals don’t prepare you for postpartum. They are in business of caring for you in their presence. Hospitals don’t make any more money off a patient by educating her. In fact, the only reason they would see that patient again, and have the chance to make profit off of her again, is if there were complications later on. You might assume that hospitals educate their patients, but most people that are ready to leave a hospital are lucky to remember their doctor’s name. Hospitals aren’t set up for the successful education of their patients. Most Moms will tell you how lucky they feel to have had a nurse available to explain things to them. You education will be getting handed a pamphlet filled with jargon when you’re on the way out. If you combine this with the present pandemic, imagine how the level of education has dropped for birthing mothers as these healthcare workers help fight Covid-19.
Expectant mothers: you have to educate yourselves for the trials ahead. You go from having lots of help at the hospital to NOTHING. No instructions. It feels like you have all the care, attention, and safety you could ever need, right at your fingertips, but that door gets closed as soon as the billable hours stop. You have to ask questions while you have someone’s ear. You have to advocate for yourself. But we know how difficult that is while you’re in a weakened state. You’re not yourself. You, your partner, even friends and family are all exhausted and focused on one thing: the baby’s immediate health and survival. Plus, whatever you're told while at the hospital, while recovering and on heavy medication, is going to slip your mind. It’s nearly impossible to retain information in that state. So how do you transition home and survive the first week with your newborn? ⠀
You go from having lots of help at the hospital to NOTHING. No instructions!
Here’s how:⠀⠀⠀
You will forget to eat. It just happens. Here’s a tip that will help. Every time someone asks about the baby, tell them what food you’re hungry for. You can’t be shy about this. Food is necessary for both you and your baby. Your support system cares about you and wants to help. Ask them to drop off groceries on their way home from work. Ask for @grubhub gift cards if they can’t pick up food for you. Try to eat something fresh at each meal. You’re not going to want to, but do your best to try. Get someone who is patient but persuasive to help remind you about this. Salads with softer leaves, like butter lettuces for example, are easier on postpartum digestion. Carrot ginger miso dressing is both tasty and good for you ginger warms the womb and miso is high in iron, which you desperately need at this point.
Get someone to cut up fruit for you. Or buy REAL fruit and vegetable juice. Fresh squeezed juices (the greener the better) are crazy refreshing at a time like this. Focus on smoothies and sooooooup!!! Having cold and warm options is like magic during postpartum. Soups are filled with nutrients that you and your baby need right now. They are just as easy to make as a smoothie and don’t require a lot of attention. Which is what you need during postpartum! Easy and healthy. Read more about soups and warm foods here.
Ask your family and friends for their soup recipes. Believe it or not, your beloved aunties and MIL probably have their fair share of old-timey soup recipes. Vegetable or bone stocks that are made very slow on the stove fill the home with warmth and good smells. I love bone broth! There are some companies that will charge eight dollars for some flavored water in a glass jar. This is not the same as crock pot broth that jelly-fies in the fridge! Homemade is the best made. Gotta get that Collagen.
Besides nutrition, you need to ask yourself, who can self-quarantine with you before the baby comes and two weeks after? It’s a big ask, but, if you plan ahead, you’ll probably be able to find someone willing to do it. Nighttime is when the blue loneliness comes, especially as your spouse or partner is sleeping and you are awake, awake, awake! It’s maddening, but predictable. Plan for it! Ask your helper friend to keep you company. In the midst of these twilight hours, drink tea and learn scripts and affirmations for the future. Write things down. Tell people how you’re feeling. You’ll go through phases of postpartum depression no matter how happy a person you were before baby. It’s okay to feel this. You’re not alone. Every mother has felt it after delivering. Those times when you’re alone and the baby blue feels creep in. Know that it’s coming. And normal.
Make sure to schedule deeper rest. True rest helps with postpartum depression. Divide the hours between 12 am and 6 am into two segments. If you have a partner/spouse give them either the 12 am to 3 am shift, or 3 am to 6 am shift. Whoever is “on call” responds to baby’s needs during that time, including cuddling, soothing, diapering, and skin to skin. For shifts when the breast/chestfeeding parent is at rest, the non-feeding parent does EVERYTHING. Let the tears (lochia, and milk, etc) flow. ⠀
Lastly, you’ll need our postpartum recovery box to soothe all your vaginal or c section achiness and soreness. Check out our postpartum recovery products here. This covers vaginal soreness, hemorrhoids, stitches and bleeding. Our products speed up healing and they help you recover faster.