I’m going to go straight to the point with this one. I have been thinking for months and months what I could’ve done differently during my pregnancy that would’ve (maybe) made the experience and the postpartum recovery easier. We’re all different but there are things, hands down, that I wish I had known during pregnancy for how to handle postpartum.
1. AVOIDING POSTNATAL DEPLETION
What’s postnatal depletion? Postnatal depletion basically means that you have depleted your minerals and vitamins. When you’re depleted, your body can’t function properly. It can cause hormone imbalances, unhealthy cortisol levels, exhausted adrenal glands, weight loss/gain, plateauing and more….What happens is that when you get pregnant you need all the good stuff for YOU and for BABY…not only for the pregnancy but also if you’re breastfeeding.
I had no idea…..I thought, ‘pop a prenatal vitamin and you’re good.’ The thing is that I WAS already deficient during pregnancy, which caused havoc on my body postpartum. It was impossible to lose weight for a year in a half. Estrogen was as high as a pregnant woman, even a year after having Oliver = depression, exhausted adrenals glands and no production of cortisol levels. It took me a while to find answers, and it also made me realize how very little information we have about this is the US. Meanwhile when in Europe, UK, Australia, it’s properly monitored during pregnancy and afterwards, without you having to ask!
—> Here’s what I would do differently: Take a blood test and make sure all my levels for vitamins, minerals, hormones are in order before (if I can), during pregnancy, and after to see what needs work.
2. NOT EATING FOR TWO
I listened and loved the #1 advice tons of people had given me: eat for two! I mean, yes, I was hungry! But if I hadn’t been told countless times about how it just melts off (which for some women it does, bless their hearts) for me it didn’t at all……AT ALL! And this is also another aspect of us being different: 20 percent of women hold on to the weight because their body wants to make sure they can provide for the baby. It was back then a survival instinct.
—-> Here’s what I would do differently: Manage my cravings, make better choices, curb my hunger with healthier food and find a balance instead of thinking it’s the biggest party time of my life.
3. POSTNATAL VITAMIN
I think that my vitamin, now looking back, was perhaps too strong and 40% of my throwing up was because of it. I had tried two different ones and just thought that it was my morning sickness that wouldn’t stop (almost my entire pregnancy…you can read up about my pregnancy under “Pregnancy” menu.) I’ve started hearing about women going through the same thing and finding vitamins that worked for them and then stopped throwing up!
—> Here’s what I would do differently: I would do my research and try different postnatal vitamins and hopefully find one that doesn’t upset my stomach so much…
4. BREASTFEEDING
I really thought that breastfeeding was easy……pop a boob, call it a day…if you have breastfed too, you’re probably smirking the same way I am right now and thinking.. “yeah……no.” I was very much woken up when it was a little more complicated than that (you can read up about my breastfeeding experience here)
—-> Here’s what I would do differently: I was so focused on my pregnancy, what every little movement, pain, food meant and did….that I forgot to read up & learn about what’s after, like breastfeeding. So I would read up and ask questions about experiences but also the technical side of it.
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