Wednesday, September 19, 2018

How to Prepare for Lying In - A Postpartum Must


The rush of having a new baby is truly euphoric. The transformation of pregnancy, the pure magic in the experience of birth and the incredible emotion that takes over when you hold that sweet baby for the first time. A whole new life for you and baby is beginning.

That new life needs to begin with rest, healing and nourishing your miraculous body for all she has accomplished. Not getting home and throwing in a quick load of laundry before heading to Costco because you are out of milk *ahem, yes, I am talking to you...well myself that is*

Sadly, my last time around looked more like me getting home with a newborn, leaving him with his Daddy and big brothers while I quickly rinsed off the hospital cooties and freshened up my lady parts. and racing to unpack After a nurse session with my sweet baby, I hopped up, cleaned up the house a bit from my two day absence and started making dinner. BIG MISTAKE. Newsflash, you JUST HAD A BABY LIKE 48 HOURS AGO!! YOU NEED TO CHILL THE F OUT.


Thankfully this time around I am ready to apply what I've learned and the use the incredible struggles I faced previously to approach this postpartum recovery differently. I am going to put myself and baby first. The house will be fine if it is not maintained to my OCD/anal standards. The kids will continue to thrive with their Daddy and Maj taking care of their daily needs. The laundry will still get done, the dishes will be washed and everyone, yes everyone will survive. (This is my new mantra. I say it on repeat to calm my anxieties).

When I entered my third trimester, the time came to really develop my postpartum plan of attack. I was so grateful to have been given an amazing resource to help me achieve my new goals. I was also flabbergasted to realize that this "mommy bedroom vacation" I was dreaming up was in fact a legit thing that had been celebrated throughout cultures ,across the world for centuries. How had I missed that?!

CLICK & BUY!

My MBV (Mommy Bedroom Vacation) was actually referred to as Lying-In. A time to rest, heal and bond with your newborn. When The First Forty Days was sent to me as a part of my trimesterly Mama's Bump Squad package, it felt like the sky had opened and Earth Mama sent me a gift from Heaven.

Well, that was that! I was ready to start sharing my new found knowledge and preparing for my Lying-In period. I was going to force myself to slow down and was actually looking forward to being able to accept that this needed to happen and I was the one who needed to make it happen.

So, now, how to prepare for this amazing experience...

1. CREATE A PLAN. To make this even easier, Earth Mama provides not only excellent information on the process as a whole, but also has a FREE and easy fillable document that prints into a lovely PDF for you and your support team to reference. Now you have an outline to discuss with your support team and have your goals ready to share!



2. GET YOUR SUPPORT TEAM UP TO DATE ON SAID PLAN. Obviously I knew my husband and Thriving Mommy were going to be the key players, so that was easy to establish. Having a plan for everyone to reference with what I saw for my week of bed rest and slow re-entrance into full mommy-ness made it easy for us to get on the same page. Since my main concern is my three little guys, it was good for me to be able to delegate responsibilities and discuss how I saw each person fulfilling the role I hoped they wouldn't mind assuming for a bit.

3. HOUSE/KID PREP. Channel all that pregnancy nesting into lists, tasks and getting organized for you to be out of commission. My goal is one week, which to me will feel like one year. I can barely handle sitting still for one hour let alone one week, but again, this is about healing...which considering I was up at about only two days after my C-section screams that I have a problem and need to rest. Get the house cleaned, the laundry done, sheets changed, kids foods/snacks restocked, menus made and any and all notes prepared for your team. The last thing you want is to be disrupted 300 times a day asking where the extra goldfish crackers are. Make sure everyone has access to your kid's schedule and that they know what they need/have to do. For example, Tuesday, sports camp. Kids need to be ready to go with athletic attire at 8:50am, snacks and water packed for after. Dude needs his own ball so he doesn't disrupt the activity... You can never be too prepared, trust.


4. PREPARE YOUR RECOVERY SUITE. Remember that time my husband got a vasectomy and had an amazing, calm, healing recovery suite all to himself for the weekend? Well take that times 1,000 and that is what you should get mommy! I will be staying in our bedroom which is slightly more tricky as the boys will have easy access to me and I will get to hear all their squeals/daily squabbles a they yell throughout the house, but everything is here where I need it. I am not packing bags to move downstairs, way too much.


I did vamp it up a bit, adding an extra bedside table with all my baby/mommy necessities (nipple butter, single manual pump, diapers, booby tubes, iPad, kleenex...the list goes on). I also have my "eating in bed tray" for constant calorie consumption of healing, nourishing foods (my mommy is all over that). I moved the changing table and little baby chair in my room for when I need to stand up for a second and/or take a quick shower. My linens are changed, my room is clean and I am ready to seclude myself into a sanctuary of healing and connecting with my last baby boy.


5. ALLOW IT TO HAPPEN. Now you are ready. You have your plan, you have done the leg work to prepare, you are set up and ready for action. Here comes the hardest part (especially for me), allowing it to happen. Allow yourself to let go of all those constant tugs at your mommy brain and let chaos ensue. Remember, it can and will all be put back again. So what if your kids eat In N Out for a week straight, worse things have happened. You will soon emerge from your recovery suite with a well adjusted, breast feeding champion baby and a stronger, healthier body ready to get your kids back on Spinach and Kale and into clean clothes. It will be alright.

Truly savor this time as it is so important and so necessary. You can do this mommy!

Are you ready to help yourself or a loved one with their lying-in period? What an incredible way for women to support one another through the greatest miracle of all...motherhood!

Don't miss my IGTV episode on the topic too!!

Stive to Thrive, 
Em

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