Preparing For Postpartum

Following my birth story blog post I’ve had several of you reach out with questions on how to prepare for postpartum and what practices have worked well for me and my family. Everyone does this differently but in this post I’ll share the key preparation practices that I feel set us up for a successful transition into parenthood. Throughout the process of preparing for postpartum I spoke with my mom friends, family members, as well as looking into outside resources from books, blog posts, and even videos on the internet. Currently, I am a couple months postpartum and here I’m compiling my favorite tips and tricks in hopes that it will help you feel prepared and supported as you step into your postpartum season.

Preparing Your Home

Everyone talks about the nesting phase of pregnancy and how intense it feels and to be honest I don’t know if I really felt this too much. However, I think our situation was unique as we had just moved into our home at the beginning of the third trimester so I think it was a combination of nesting and simply moving that lead me to deep cleaning the house. In order to prepare the home for baby’s arrival we did a full deep clean of the house, made sure our yard was in livable condition, stocked up on necessities and set up some stations around the house. Below is a breakdown for each category.

Deep Cleaning:

• Wash windows and window sills

• Dust all surfaces

• Vacuum & mop the floors

• Clean bathrooms & restock with plenty of TP

• Clean kitchen including drains, appliances, drawers, cabinets, and trash can

• Wipe down all baseboards and trim

• Freshen each room - I used my Room & Linen Spray after cleaning each room as the final touch and the fresh scent made it feel like our home was sparkly clean!

Outside Prep:

• Organize and clean garage - sweep and clear out accumulated trash & recycling

• Clean chicken coop & refresh bedding

• Clean outdoor lawn furniture - this was essential for us as we love to spend time outside and wanted to have a nice space to be able to rest and relax postpartum that was outside (we also ended up purchasing new cushions for the patio furniture that was left by the previous owners).

Stock up on Household Necessities:

• TP

• Paper towels

• Cleaning supplies - we use Thieves so I made sure we had a brand new large bottle

• Laundry detergent - we use Molly Suds Unscented formula

• Toiletry backups (shampoo, conditioner, face wash, body wash, and hand soap)

• Air purifier filters

Station Set Ups:

• Diaper changing station upstairs (we have a split level home so we wanted to have stations on both levels)

• Diaper changing station downstairs

• Perineal care stations (my sister-in-law gifted me a full set up at my baby shower and then I duplicated it for our second bathroom)

• Snack stations on each level of the house - focused on minimally processed, high protein snacks

Food/Meal Preparation

Since nutrient dense meals are essential for healing postpartum we focused on this area HEAVILY! Not only did my best friend come over and help me prep tons of breakfasts, but we also prepared a bunch of crockpot meals, stocked up on pantry essentials, and were blessed by friends who set up a Meal Train for us that started the week that my husband went back to work to take the pressure and mental load off of having to figure out dinner twice a week. If you have a friend or family member that is willing to set this up for you I highly recommend this! I’ve found that a lot of people reach out wanting to help in some way as well as meet your baby and this has been a great way to space out visits as well as accept help from others without really having to ask. (I personally have a hard time asking for help so this has completely taken the pressure off.) Below I’ve broken down the meals and foods that we prepped for postpartum.

Pantry Essentials:

• Meat: chicken breasts, whole chickens, ground beef, chicken sausage, salmon, and bacon

• Pantry: rice, pastas, baking supplies, chicken stock, garlic, and onions

• Other: frozen veggies, (I also cut up a bunch of potatoes, onions, carrots, peppers, and mushrooms and divided them into various mixtures to pop in the freezer), & butter, coffee, olive oil,

Breakfasts Prepped:

• Breakfast sandwiches

• Breakfast burritos

• Protein balls

• Breakfast casseroles

• French toast

• Bone broth

Meals Prepped:

• Lasagna

• Chicken pot pies

• Healing chicken soup with ginger and turmeric

• Teriyaki chicken

• Beef and broccoli

• Tortilla soup

• Chicken enchilada soup

• White chicken chili

• Thai peanut chicken

• Pulled pork

Mental Preparation

Not only was it super helpful to have stations set up and a stocked freezer and pantry we also found that being mentally prepared was an essential part of setting us up for success. For us this looked like talking through plans for how we would communicate with loved ones when labor started, when we felt like we would be ready for visitors, and how to balance baby and household up keep. Below are a few topics of conversation I would highly recommend having with your partner prior to birth.

Conversations to have before baby:

• Who and how will you communicate with once labor starts?

• Who do we want to meet baby first? What order?

• What boundaries do you have with guests and how will you support each other in enforcing these?

• Who will takeover household chores?

• What do you need in order to feel supported?

• How can you communicate your needs in times of stress or sleep deprivation?

• What are you most looking forward to when welcoming baby?

We are now nearly three months postpartum and honestly feeling really great! We’ve settled into a routine with our baby and are feeling super supported (huge thanks to our community!). Looking back I am really proud of the way we set ourselves up for success and feel like the conversations leading up to labor were essential for making our transition to parenthood feel as seamless as it has. I am grateful to have an outstanding partner who took on a lot so that I could focus on recovery and bonding with our baby but I also know that the conversations that we had prior have been a huge help in ensuring we are both feeling supported and cared for during this time. Not only do I think having these conversations are essential for postpartum preparation, but getting your home ready to welcome your newest member can make all the difference. I hope this summary helps you prepare for this lifestyle shift and helps you feel supported and prepared as you welcome your little one home! I would love to hear if you found these tips helpful or if you have others here that made your experience even better so leave a comment below. As always, thanks for being here.