Here it is, my Pregnancy Guide: Tips Tricks Oils and Must Haves for Postpartum.
This post has all the pregnancy things. TIPS, TRICKS, ESSENTIAL OILS, and all the must haves. Plus I talk high risk pregnancy info and incompetent cervix stuff too. So this Pregnancy Guide has everything and I hope it blesses you in any way you need!
You can also find the links to all the blog posts connected to this Series. Guides 1-5, some newborn essentials, hospital bag packing.
My Pregnancy Guide: Tips Tricks Oils and Must Haves for Postpartum. I am finally getting around to writing this. If that doesn’t help give you a sense of my postpartum journey then I don’t know what will. 😛
It was so much easier than it was with Mal, but that is because I didn’t ‘bounce back fast’ like society makes you believe you have to. I spent the first 3 weeks going from the bed to the couch. There was tons of TV watched for both me and Mal. Snacks were our main meals, and I asked for home cooked or take out from friends and family. My parents came and spent some time with us – then Jesse’s mom came for a few days. I just totally took my time getting back. Not only getting back into a routine with a baby and a toddler, but with myself. Healing and taking the time to just be. It made all the difference this time around.
General Postpartum stuff
This might be TMI, but what they heck!
So with Mal I had a second degree tear. With J there was a small tear – but the location made it a little more painful. I totally just rested for the first few weeks. I used Claraderm spray with each bathroom break – and guys I healed up like 3-4x faster than with Mal. And had hardly any residual pain. Which I had a lot of with Mal.
Other than that – this postpartum experience was much different. Lots of eating take out or food prepared for us. We didn’t do much visitors just with C-vid and everything. Mal spent the first week in bed with me and J. It really was so different.
I cried during hockey games once those baby blues hit. The worst thing though, was actually the guilt I had when it came to Mal. Anytime he would cry I would too. If he got in trouble, I just couldn’t handle how bad I felt and would ultimately just let him get away with whatever. That did stop once my hormones balanced back out, but it was really awful. I just felt like he was feeling replaced or ignored. He’s really great about knowing when J needs me and what I can be totally his.
Postpartum
Tips and Tricks
I don’t have much for tricks – each experience is so different. But I’ve got a few tips and absolute must haves!
- Rest. I know it is hard if you don’t have family around to help with your older ones. In our case, when our family wasn’t around, I just kept Mal in bed with me! He watched a lot of TV and ate a lot of prepackaged snacks. A friend actually said to make a little activity box by my nursing spot for him when J was nursing.
- Silverette Silver Nursing Cups – you guys. These things are magical. Anytime I would start to get sore or red, I’d put them on right away and within a few hours they’d be all better!! I like 100% recommend these!
- Claraderm like I mentioned before!
- Also the Fridamom disposables for bedtime, super comfy and are even a little high waisted which is nice for c-section support too.
- Also a good peri-bottle, the hospital ones are great – but anyone else just make a huge mess every time? There is this awesome postpartum kit by Fridamom that has all these great things!
- Sitz baths – with Mal these were a must! With J, I had one, but didn’t really find the time or the need this time. You can always add oils or herbs to help with healing too. This mix I had a friend recommend to me.
High Risk + Incompetent Cervix (IC)
My high risk didn’t really have any underlining concerns for postpartum. If we do have more kids, it’ll be the same. A cerclage, high risk pregnancy.
Oils
As you may know – if you’ve been here a while. I love essential oils, and during my pregnancies especially! I first started using oils with my first pregnancy so I can’t say what the difference would be without it. A week or so after my surgery I started using them again. Honestly, I don’t know how I’d manage without it!
You can join my oily team HERE. We’ve got tons of resources and I’ll be with you the whole way! Have questions? Please reach out! These little plant juice bottles are not only amazing for pregnancy but for postpartum and for motherhood in general! Both my babes are oily babes! You can read more HERE too! Stuff like why we use oils, and the starter kit!
*Obviously there are a lot of questions around it and whether it’s safe. I found the best resource has been this Betsy Bosom Book. And google – always do your research, google makes it super easy! But i’ll share my routine/some of the favorite ones I used.
Some oily things Prepped Before:
- Padsicles – made them before, you can watch the video HERE.
- Claraderm Spray – comes from YoungLiving. You can sign up with my link HERE to start with oils today. You can also shoot me an email, contact form HERE, or head over to my Instagram and message me there!
Favorite Single Oils
Gentle Baby: Again – everyday I used this oil!! A complete must for postpartum – for both mom and baby. Just a little on my neck to help keep baby calm in those figuring out feeding days.
Valor: sore neck from looking down at that precious baby while nursing – we all know that sore pain.
Lavender: Calming, relaxing and overall best for anything.
En-er-gee: for getting back into the lack of sleep life
Favorite Roller Blend
Favorite Diffuser Blend
Oils to Avoid or be Cautious of
*diffusing also doesn’t pose as big of risk as applying the oil topically
*now there is a baby to be cautious of as well. Their lungs can not handle strong oils – like a lot of tree or mint oils.
Best to avoid:
- Peppermint (can mess with your milk supply)
Do some research and be cautious of the oils you do apply. Again the Betsy Bosom book was a great resource. These oils can be found in some blends too – which also means their concentrations are different. And then once diluted, even more so. Use caution. I don’t apply any of these oils neat (no carrier) or by themselves. But I do have rollers that have these oils in small concentrations.
Favorite Maternity Clothes
You can shop my maternity clothes at HERE and HERE. And you can shop what’s in my hospital bag HERE.
I liked that a lot of my maternity clothes were comfy for after babe was here, but also even now (~6 months later).
There you go, my Pregnancy Guide: Tips Tricks Oils and Must Haves for Postpartum.
This is part 5. The rest of the Series, “My Pregnancy Guide” can be found below.
A few other blogs that are apart of this story.
High Risk Pregnancy, Pregnancy After Loss, Ezra’s Story
Part 1 – HERE
Part 2 – HERE
Part 3 – HERE
Hospital Bag Packing – HERE
Part 4 – HERE
Newborn – Coming Soon
There is still newborn stuff and postpartum coming. They are still works in progress; along with our birth story. You can come back to this page and they’ll be linked as they are finished. Subscribe to our email and I can send you a FREE Hospital Bag Checklist for Mom, Dad and Babe.
Essentials and Favorites for a Newborn – you can read that HERE, eventually.
- Favorite products that aren’t essential but nice
- The essentials – in my mind.
- And some overall different stuff I had for J vs what I had for M.
Hospital Bag for Mom, Dad and babe – you can read that HERE.
My goal with all these guides, written and to come, is to hopefully help any mama in her journey through pregnancy. I hope this helps and share it with all your mama friends!
Love Crystal
