Postpartum Prep

Written By Lilyanna Eide

We spend 9 months getting ready for the baby and birth, but too often forget about those first few weeks postpartum. We really should spend many of those 9 months preparing & planning for postpartum and the care and rest we will need/deserve. Postpartum can be so many things. But what it should be is restful, healing, slow, warm, nourished, and safe. My goal with this blog is to give you as many tools as possible to help you achieve that. 

Things to focus on:

  • Warmth, keep your body warm as it heals

  • Rest, this is the time to go slow, lay down and sleep a lot

  • Nourishing, easy-to-digest foods, lots of healthy fats

  • Warm food & drinks

  • Emotional space to heal 

  • Retreat, it’s okay to hide away for a time, protect your peace

  • Support, make sure you are cared for well

  • Quiet, get rid of outside voices so you can get to know yourself & child

After you have your baby you will have a dinner plate size wound in your uterus from where your placenta was attached. You also just lost a lot of blood that your body has to remake, your hormones are all wacky, and you’re now creating milk for a baby. Your body has been through a lot (you just GREW A HUMAN for the last 9 months) and you equally need and deserve rest. If you don’t take this time to rest and bound and heal, you’ll feel the effects of it for years to come. Go slow and let others care for you. 

I hear people way too often say “well I don’t have community or someone to help me postpartum” I hear you! I moved to a new state 10 weeks before I gave birth. But I knew how important my postpartum time was so I worked HARD to set up the care that I knew I would need. I set expectations with my husband, I made new friends, I found a community to support us, I worked overtime to save money, etc. I fought & worked hard to make sure I got the postpartum I needed- you can do that too. You simply have to decide it matters.

You’re gonna want my Holistic Pregnancy, Birth & Postpartum Guide!

This is your step-by-step guide to use ancestral & modern wisdom to make informed decisions to peacefully experience a beautiful, natural pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.

No overwhelming information overload.❤️ Just the basic, easy-to-understand education you need to make holistic, wise, and informed decisions! This is everything I wish I knew as a first-time mama!

Things to find someone to do/help with: *for at least the first 2-6 weeks*

  • Emotional support 

  • Set boundaries with people for when they can see baby

  • Postpartum doula

  • Nursing/lactation support

  • People to bring meals

  • Closing of the bones ceremony

  • Some kind of new mother ritual or ceremony

  • Belly binding

  • Massages & snuggles 

    “In one fierce exhale, your child crossed from within to without. You have both landed in a radically new place. She's navigating a starting universe of lights, sounds and gazing faces. You’re settling into a body that has stretched beyond comprehension, a heart space that is expanding, and a family that has forever been reconfigured. As you take your first faltering, tender steps as mother and child, you are equally raw and vulnerable.
    The gateway allows you 40 days to find your footing… It’s a time and place away from the outside world and life as you once knew it. It holds you as you recover from pregnancy and birth and as you begin to learn about your new baby. It is a pause before your long parenting journey begins.” -The First 40 Days by Heng Ou

Things you should know:

  • Your stomach will feel weird to touch 

  • Your lady parts will be very open and tender

  • Your body may feel very weak 

  • Your milk will come in around 3 days and your boobs may hurt & leak- it will regulate after a few weeks

  • Breastfeeding can be hard, but it’s so dang worth it. Don’t give up if it’s hard, try a lactation consultant & check for ties in the baby’s mouth

  • Don’t rush back to sex, wait till you're emotionally ready too

  • Your core strength will be very minimal

  • You may have after-birth cramps while you nurse, it’s okay to take Advil to help with them. Copaiba oil & After Ease tinctures also help

  • Cosleeping is a safe way to sleep- it’s also not the only way if that doesn't work for you

  • You are now a mother & you’ve got a whole new person to get to know (yourself)

My Postpartum Must-Haves

Mastitis Protocol:

*Start as soon as you feel a LITTLE breast pain or lump*

  • Phytolacca Decandra homeopathic every 15 min for the first hour, then every hour till better

  • Copiaba, Frankincense & Thieves essential oils on the breast every 2 hours

  • Sunflower letchin 3 capsules, Inner Defense 1 capsule, whole food vitamin C 2 capsules (all 3 every 1.5 hrs as soon as it starts)

  • Lots of water with electrolytes & Ningxia Red

  • *if the baby hasn’t nursed the clog out* hot as you can handle, hot washcloth compress on breast while you nurse or use the Hakka to pull the clog out

Shop here:

Have you checked out my Holistic 1st Aid Guide? Everything you need to know to confidently & naturally treat common ailments at home!

Lilyanna Eide
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