A Smoother Postpartum Recovery: Six Essential Steps For Postnatal Self-Care

Six years ago after the birth of our daughter I found the postpartum recovery to be rather ass-kicking. (Talk about the one thing that no one adequately prepares you for when you’re pregnant!) Last year when I gave birth to our son, we resolved to do things differently. Here are some things we incorporated right away after giving birth. I’m happy to report that it made a HUGE difference.

A Smoother Postpartum Recovery: Six Essential Steps For Postnatal Self-Care

1. Apply Lanolin — for the first few weeks after each time we breastfed, I covered my nipples and areola in lanolin. Even having breastfed previously for two and a half years didn’t prepare me for having sore nipples this time around. People say that breastfeeding shouldn’t hurt initially. That may be true for some women, but for me I found breastfeeding to be extremely uncomfortable for the first two weeks or so (at times being excruciating since I had a cracked nipple due to a poor latch one night). After each and every session I put lanolin on my nipples and suddenly one day breastfeeding stopped hurting. My nipples got used to it, my son mastered latching, and ta-da! Breastfeeding success. He put on six pounds in the first six weeks and after three months weighed more than his sister did at one year. Phew!

2. Dry Off With a Hair Dryer — who would imagine a hair dryer to be essential after giving birth?! Well, it is. During the first few weeks when you’re using your peri bottle to rinse your you-know-what after each time you pee, dry your bottom with a hair dryer set on the lowest setting. It’s even more fun if you leave the door open to the bathroom and do a little dance while you’re drying to crack up your five year old and husband. True story. (Don’t judge me.)

A Smoother Postpartum Recovery: Six Essential Steps For Postnatal Self-Care

3. Use Comfrey Salve — our midwife made this so I don’t know the exact recipe, but a quick Google search turned up a number of diy recipes. I slathered this on my you-know-what after drying off with the hair dryer after peeing. Magical healing herbs moisturizing that area works wonders. (You can also purchase comfrey tea to drink or add to sitz baths.)

4. Get Sunlight/Adequate Vitamin D — after giving birth, get yourself outside. Even if you haven’t showered in days and are wearing pajamas, you’ll feel better with the sun on your face and taking a breath of fresh air.

5. Use Ultra Soft Toilet Paper — when you’re done using your peri bottle, you’ll want to be gentle down there. We forego our usual recycled toilet paper in favor of the softest toilet paper available for a few weeks. (Bonus: your visitors and house guests will love it too.)

6. Take Pain Medications – No, really. I may have given birth without medication (twice), but recovery is not the time to be stoic! Taking ibuprofen afterwards made a freaking huge difference. After labor I was sore, swollen, and cramping (as my stitches healed and uterus shrunk). Taking away even some of that discomfort is essential. It’s so much easier to focus on and enjoy your new baby when you’re not hurting so badly. So talk to your doctor or midwife about what dose they’d recommended and medicate away.

A Smoother Postpartum Recovery: Six Essential Steps For Postnatal Self-Care

Taking these steps dramatically reduced my postpartum recovery time between my first and second births. Instead of taking around six weeks to feel like myself (as it did with my first baby), this time the recovery took a matter of days. What an incredible difference!

(By the way, I wrote this post last spring and am finally publishing it now, eleven months later. I’m just a tad bit behind with my to-do list. Welcome to life with kids!)

Those of you who have given birth, what else would you recommend? I’d love more tips for the next time. ;)

Solar System Birthday Party

In the past our daughter has insisted her birthday party be about dress-up and princesses and tea parties, which is all well and good, but frankly it’s not really my thing. Each year I’d hope for a literary or science theme (cause that’s how I roll), then gracefully support our daughter’s desire for pink and pouf and finery, with tricycles.

Solar System Birthday Party

Imagine my surprise and delight when our kid announced that this year she wanted a “solar system tea party” theme. It quickly became just a solar system party when I pointed out, gently, that our little girl doesn’t particularly like drinking tea. Ahem.

Now a space, galaxy, astronomy, planet, solar system themed birthday party sounds like a whole lot of fun to me! Throw 20 kids, plus their mamas, in the mix and we’re talking about a whole lot of crazy fun (in our little house!)…

We made solar system lollipops (using these stickers) to go with glow-in-the-dark sun, moon, and stars temporary tattoos, glow sticks, and chocolate earth balls for the goody bags:

Solar System Birthday Party
Solar System Birthday Party
Solar System Birthday Party

Our homemade cake featured our daughter’s favorite constellations Orion, Sirius, and the Little Dipper (with Polaris):

Solar System Birthday Party
Solar System Birthday Party

Our banner, made using NASA photographs of moons, planets, stars, and nebulae, hung proudly above historical photos of the birthday girl:

Solar System Birthday Party
Solar System Birthday Party

We displayed some of our homeschooling projects, which I’ll blog about in more depth soon:

Solar System Birthday Party
Solar System Birthday Party

The kids colored constellations of the night sky (photocopied from this coloring book) and made spiral galaxy mobiles:

Solar System Birthday Party
Solar System Birthday Party

The sunny, warm weather allowed for outdoor scooter and bike fun for this sweet group of kids:

Solar System Birthday Party

The most perfect day!

Solar System Birthday Party

Six, Say What?!

Our little girl young lady turns six years old today!

Happy birthday to our daughter

She’s full of sass and fire, keeps us on our toes, and brings such tremendous joy and love to our lives.

She’s a passionate reader…

Happy birthday to our daughter
Happy birthday to our daughter
Happy birthday to our daughter

Kind, loving big sister and friend…

Happy birthday to our daughter
Happy birthday to our daughter

Brilliant, endlessly curious, and dedicated student…

Happy birthday to our daughter

Talented cook and able helper…

Happy birthday to our daughter
Happy birthday to our daughter

And fun, strong girl…

Happy birthday to our daughter
Happy birthday to our daughter

We love you, sweetheart.

Happy birthday to our daughter
Happy birthday to our daughter
Three cheers for the birthday girl!

xoxo,
Mama

Yep, I’m Still (Reluctantly) Eating Meat, Plus 4 Yummy Vegetarian Salad Recipes to Try

After ten long months of mama torture (ha!), our breastfeeding boy appears to finally tolerate my eating dairy! Hooray!

Hip Hip Hooray! Well, Maybe. / Snuggling Siblings

Here’s what I learned though: I feel soooo much better NOT eating dairy. Except for during several ass-kicking colds this fall, I didn’t blow my nose once over the past ten months, and I was a blow-my-nose-every-half-hour kind of gal before.

Sigh.

So right now I am basically a meat-eating vegan. Oh, the irony.

Hip Hip Hooray! Well, Maybe. / Happy boy

It’s been two years since I said goodbye to twenty five years of vegetarianism in an attempt to stay pregnant. I still eat meat every day. I continue to feel so much more energized now than when I was a vegetarian, despite getting so much less sleep. I’ve had to completely rewire my idea of what constitutes healthy eating and how I personally need to eat to feel my best. At this point in my life, breastfeeding a rapidly growing toddler 24-7, I basically eat hearty, gluten-free vegetarian meals with a side of meat.

Here are four dairy-free, vegetarian, and gluten-free salad recipes that recently caught my eye:
4 Healthy Salads Recipes to Try
1. Orange, Avocado & Arugula Salad (pin) / 2. Kale and Brussels Sprouts Salad (pin) / 3. Kale Citrus Salad with Orange Tahini Dressing (pin) / 4. Shredded Brussels Sprouts Salad with Garlicky Orange Tahini Dressing (pin)

For other simple, healthy, gluten-free meal ideas check out my Recipes & Kitchen Tips To Try / Whole30 boards on Pinterest.

What sorts of yummy dishes have you enjoyed recently?