postpartum health tips

What’s best for healing and adjusting to a new family member? Take care of your body, rest, relax as much as you can, and snuggle with your baby. A midwife friend of mine calls the first few weeks a period of “lying in” wherein you do as little as you can around the house, leave the scurrying and worrying to your family and friends who come to help, and just bond with your new family member. Be as present as you can! Here are a few things that have helped me acclimate to a new child, and recover faster. 1) Soak in the tub. Sitz bath, tub, whatever you’ve got. Just soaking for 8-15 minutes in a warm water tub will greatly aid in postpartum healing. After my first birth I posted about bath salts here. It’s a great little recipe for bath salts, but even just plain old warm water has healing properties. Try to get in the tub every day for a few minutes for the first few weeks, or as necessary. Yes, if you have any tearing, it is going to hurt to go to the bathroom. Use the peri bottle that the hospital or your provider gives you. Have it filled with warm water so it’s ready to go when you are. You may experience the funny thing that when you need to use the toilet, you need to use it NOW. If you have any bruising, it is going to hurt to sit down, sit…