~ preparing for postpartum ~

hello dear reader :) Just so you know, I am getting closer and closer to the birth of my second child. I plan to continue writing through it, but, fair warning, there will likely be a little slow period come August/September as I regain my newborn sea legs. Thank you in advance for your continued readership here & your patience. If you’d like to support further, please consider becoming a paid subscriber! A subscription is just $5/month—less than a fancy coffee beverage, as they say—or $50/year. In so doing, you’ll gain full access to posts like this one xxx

The big thing I learned in the first go-around of having a baby is that birth is not the big event. Well, it is the big event, but, truthfully, there’s not that much you can really honestly do to prepare yourself for it, in my humble opinion. Birth is beyond the human conception of control. You can certainly learn about it and craft your birth vision, read about positions and practice breathing exercises. But so much of it is truly a mystery in the hands of the universe, not your own. What feels much more important to me, something I didn’t understand at all with my first child, is that it’s really the days and weeks and months after that matter the most and your own well-being to anticipate and prioritize.

Postpartum is an incredibly tender time and often much less highlighted and emphasized than the pregnancy and birth. With my first, having no close friends yet with children, I was so caught off guard by how hard and lonely and involved it was—breastfeeding, sleeping, feeding and hydrating myself, connecting with the information and community I so desperately needed. This time around, I know a little more and a little better and postpartum is where my preparatory energy has been directed in these final weeks of pregnancy.

So, I wanted to share a little about what that has been looking like, how I’m thinking about it and what I’m personally doing, a few little lists, some recipes, etc. etc.

I hope it’s potentially helpful to you or, at the very least, illuminating <3