Post Partum Recovery

While recovering from labor and delivery will take different lengths of time for each woman (depending on how long it took to push, tearing, etc.) there are definitely things you can do to help speed things along, ease pain, and increase comfort. After I had Cody I didn’t take the time I should have to recover and it took weeks longer than it should have. Not only did I have to take several trips in to the doctors for his jaundice, we were taking him all over town at just a few days old to visit with friends and family while we were already out for his appointments. And when he was just a week old I had enough energy to clean the house, so I did. And that set me back several days!

So after learning my lesson last time, here are a few things I’m doing this time around.

• Orange juice after delivery. It’s something I read about in the Bradley Method book that drinking a good cup of orange juice after delivery helps bring your blood sugar back to where it should be. And they talked about it so much I decided to juice my own oranges, freeze it in a mason jar, and bring it to the hospital with me! Let me tell you, it tasted awesome after wards! Plus it was super healthy being freshly squeezed and not pasteurized.And yes my husband was totally embarrassed when I had him haul it out of my hospital bag. The nurse thought it was pretty great though!
• Ibuprofen is my friend after delivery too. While not natural in any means I do take it when needed. And I normally take it to help ease the pain of contractions while nursing. Yea, cruel joke, huh? You still get contractions after delivery. And last week while nursing some of mine got pretty unbearable, lasting a couple/few minutes each time. And I’d like to enjoy nursing, not dread it, so I took some motrin in the early evening since I knew the contractions would get worse as the evening went on.
• I’m staying home and staying on the couch for 2 weeks! It’s been one week already and I’ve been lucky enough to have Todd home with me until today. I haven’t cooked or cleaned, I’ve barely even picked up my toddler. Todd’s done all the main household chores and been on toddler duty so I can rest on the couch. And while he may not do things the way I would and my floors are kinda messy, I’m gonna look the other way for at least another week! And even though he’s gone back to work today, he still gets to be on dinner, clean up, and laundry duty for a bit longer. Anything even slightly heavy will have to wait for him.

• Post partum herbal sitz baths have also been great in not only helping me relax, they also help in healing! You can use store bought ones (normally from a health food store – I’ve never seen any sold at conventional stores) or you can make your own. I made my own. And you can do it so many ways as well, whatever works best for you! Here’s my basic herbal “recipe”. I froze it in ziploc bags and then take out what I need to put in the bath, but you can also use it in a squirt bottle for after going to the bathroom, and even pour it over panty liners and freeze them for “ice packs” after delivery. Seriously though, a daily nice hot bath does wonders for your sore muscles and nether regions. Shoot for a bath each day for at least the first week, even if it’s as short as 15 minutes, you’ll feel so much better!
• Make sure I take my vitamins! I’m taking my daily multivitamin (prenatal still) as well as a B-Complex and will be taking a fish oil supplement as soon as I get out of the house since I don’t have any right now. (both the b-complex and the fish oil help with energy and post partum hormonal issues as well as post partum depression)
• I’m also taking a probiotic to try and ward off any yeast issues. Since I was positive for Group B Strep I was placed on antibiotiocs during labor. Unfortunately these antibiotics also killed off the good bacteria in my system, so I need to work on replacing it not only for my immune system, but so that neither baby or I suffer from yeast issues. After a round of antibiotics, women can suffer from actual yeast infections, both mom and baby can suffer from thrush, and baby can have rashes that turn to skin yeast infections. (I’ll also be trying to eat yogurt every day, or at least every other day)
• Along with supplements, I’m trying to eat the best foods I can. With nursing I need an extra 500 calories a day so I’ve been trying to make those calories count and stick to protein rich snacks and lots of nutritional smoothies. Granted, I have had some ice cream though!
• And I’m using a belly band this time around! With Cody I didn’t get out to get one till he was a few weeks old and by then it didn’t really do anything other than move the excess flab around and make me uncomfortable. This time I put it on as soon as I got home. And having my tummy pulled in and tightened feels fabulous! Other cultures actually wrap mom tightly in a blanket after birth and have for centuries. I bought one at a maternity store, but you can easily find them online or just use extra wide ace bandages to wrap yourself. Wrapping or binding your belly is also supposed to help it shrink back down to size as well as help with muscle tone. I don’t know about that yet, but it sure feels great being able to walk around without a big loose tummy jiggling everywhere. It seems to help with the leftover muscle pain from labor too.

So those are some of the things I’m doing and they’ve been working great for me! Anything else you’ve done to help recover?