Wondering what you should do to prepare for those first weeks and months after you give birth? I’ve done it once before and I’ve got lots and tips and advice that I am implementing myself this second time around.
I don’t know about of the rest of you moms, but I did not prepare super well for the postpartum period when I had my first baby. I wasn’t given a ton of advice, and so trying to care for myself and for a newborn was tricky! This time, I am doing much more prep work to make the transition to two kids and my own healing much easier and low maintenance.
PREP #1: PLANNED ALL OF OUR MEALS AND GROCERIES IN ADVANCE
This was one of the most labor and time intensive things that I did to prepare for baby’s arrival. When I was about six months along, I sat down and planned out all of our dinners for the months of November and December. The goal was to eliminate having to think about our family meals at all during my final weeks of pregnancy and the first month or so postpartum.
First, I created a document and wrote out each date I was planning for. Then, I wrote two headings under each week’s worth of days: Meals and Groceries. First I planned the meals.
I decided which two days each week would be “YOYO” nights (stands for You’re On Your Own). On these nights we eat leftovers or frozen nuggets or cold cereal or we just munch until we are satisfied. I don’t have to think about dinner that night and our leftovers get eaten. For us, Sundays and Wednesdays work best for YOYO nights.
Next, I picked two days a week that we would eat premade Crockpot freezer meals (more on these below). These nights are easy and low effort. I chose to plan these freezer meals on Mondays and Fridays. I also set a recurring alarm on my phone to remind me to start these meals in the slow cooker in the morning each Monday and Friday.
Finally, I was left with three days a week to fill in with meals. I made sure to plan super quick and easy meals the week the baby is due and tried to make all of the meals fairly simple and familiar. The postpartum period is not the time to be trying new recipes or trying to learn new cooking techniques.
Boom. All of the dinner meals planned for two months.
Now it was time to plan out the grocery list. First I made an “essentials” list. This list includes everything I could think of that I always try to have available. My essentials list includes things like milk, yogurt, frozen fruit, bread, grapes, berries, bananas, pretzels, string cheese, peanut butter, cereal, jelly, spinach, canned cinnamon rolls, veggie straws, dried blueberries, etc. I wrote this list up, then copy and pasted it under the Grocery heading for every single week. Then I just looked at the meals I had planned for that week, pulled up the recipes, and added every single ingredient I would need to the grocery list.
Before you go worrying about me buying a jar of peanut butter or a shaker of dried basil every single week, let me explain how the system works. Each Saturday, Colter or I will look at the meal plan for the coming week. We will take the grocery list for that week and put a check mark next to all of the items that we already have in our fridge and pantry, and therefore do not need to purchase. Then, all of the unchecked items will be ordered for Colter to pick up from Walmart on his commute home from work on Monday evening. This routine ensures we have all the ingredients we need, we don’t run out of our essentials, and we purchase all of our necessities before adding any sweets and treats to our cart and accidentally going over budget.
Here is an example of what a page from my eight week meal plan looks like:
My meal plan only accounts for dinners. Breakfast and lunch are very similar from day-to-day and are easy to make when I have my refrigerator and pantry stocked with my essentials. We also live on a lot of snack food around here.
PREP #2: PURCHASED PREMADE FREEZER MEALS AND BULK PAPER PRODUCTS
One thing that I tried to do when I was pregnant the first time was to make my own freezer crockpot meals in advance. My meals didn’t turn out that great and it took a lot of time and effort to do when I was in late pregnancy. I don’t have that much time or effort to spare, so I decided to invest in twenty premade, pre-frozen crockpot meals from a local Utah company. The meals were delivered straight to my door, they are tried and tested recipes, and they take all of my work out of the process.
I also made a Costco run and stocked up on paper plates/bowls and bought a big box of assorted plastic cutlery. We don’t have a dishwasher in our apartment (we do all our dishes by hand) so eating all our meals off of disposable dishes for the first few weeks is going to save us a lot of time and effort. I hope it will also help me to not procrastinate feeding myself, if I know that I will have minimal clean up after the fact.
I think you may notice a theme throughout this preparation post: I put a lot of time, effort, and thought into preparing for postpartum in order to minimize the amount of time, effort, and thought required of me during postpartum.
PREP #3: MADE AND FROZE MUFFINS AND ENERGY BARS
Grab and go foods are a must for me during most of my days, but especially in the days immediately following giving birth. Two of my favorite homemade goodies to keep in my freezer are banana muffins and energy balls or bars (if you want the recipe for the energy balls, check out this post).
About a month before I was due, I baked a double batch of bananas muffins (about two dozen) stuck them in my freezer on a baking sheet. Once they were completely frozen, I transferred them to zippered plastic bags with the bake date on them. To serve, you can either let them thaw on the counter for a few hours or pop them into the microwave for 20-30 seconds.
I also made a batch of protein energy bars. Normally I would mold these into 1.5″ balls and freeze, but they are easier for Calvin to munch on in bar form. So instead, I poured the mix into a baking sheet lined with wax paper, smooshed it out to the edges and froze. Once it was frozen solid, I cut it into bars and transferred them to a zippered plastic bag.
I was able to knock both of these out in one afternoon, and they will be so helpful in those first weeks after baby comes.
PREP #4: BUILT SIMPLE BEDTIME HABITS
The time right after putting Calvin to bed is my time to prepare for the next day. I do like getting up before him in the morning, but during pregnancy and with a newborn, I just don’t see that happening regularly. It’s much easier for me to be consistent with 30 minutes of after-bed prep than to do it in the morning.
Some of my routines I’ve begun, in order to simplify postpartum, are:
- Making lunch for Colter, Calvin, and myself the night before and stashing it in the fridge.
- Making sure all bottles are washed.
- Plugging in all devices to charge (iPhone, watch, Kindle, iPad, laptop, breast pump, white noise machine)
- Repacking and refreshing the diaper bag
- Filling my 77 oz. Hydrojug with water and putting it in the fridge to chill overnight.
- Checking the menu for the next day and getting out items to thaw
All of these things help my days to run infinitely smoother when I get them all done the night before. And if I just jump right into them as soon as Calvin goes down at 8:00, I can usually get them done by 8:30. When baby comes, I will likely hand him/her off to Colter for a while, get my stuff done, and then we’ll all go to bed to try and get some precious sleep.
The one item on this list that may require some explanation is packing lunch for Calvin and myself, in addition to Colter’s lunch to take to work with him. I have found that it is much easier for me to serve balanced meals with variety, if I’m not trying to put them together with a hungry Calvin hanging on my leg. If I prepare our lunches the night before and stow them in the fridge, then when lunchtime rolls around the next day, I can just grab both of our lunchboxes and we can eat much sooner. It also means that I don’t have to prep Cal’s lunch, feed him, and clean him up all before I get some food for myself. This will be especially helpful when I have a newborn and am trying to do things with one-hand. On the days when I don’t prep lunch the night before, I’ll typically serve leftovers or microwave mac and cheese for simplicity’s sake.
PREP #5: PURCHASED ALL CHRISTMAS GIFTS BY THE END OF OCTOBER
This prep tip is very specific for a baby coming around the holiday season,. However, if I hadn’t made sure that I had purchased or ordered every single Christmas and birthday gift we would need until New Year’s, I certainly would have missed some. I wrap and tag every present within a few days of it arriving and I plan to spend the month of December enjoying my toddler and new baby instead of stressing about the holidays.
PREP #6: STARTED CHIROPRACTIC CARE IN PREGNANCY
I was evaluated for prenatal chiropractic care at a family chiro office during my second trimester of Calvin’s pregnancy, but the care wasn’t covered by my insurance and we couldn’t afford the cash pay option with our income and budget at the time. I started putting money away shortly after Cal was born to be able to pay for chiro care the next time I got pregnant.
I started seeing the same chiropractor that first evaluated me when I was about 26 weeks along in my second pregnancy and I noticed a huge improvement almost immediately. My sleep started to get better, my lower back and tailbone pain (residual from first pregnancy and aggravated in second) got much better, my round ligament pain lessened, my lower limb edema improved, and I hopeful that the good side effects translate into my labor, delivery, and postpartum recovery as well.
PREP #7: ORDERED A HAIR CATCHER FOR THE SHOWER DRAIN
I lost a lot of hair postpartum with Calvin. It started around month four and went on for several months. I had some very thing patches of hair, but the other most annoying thing was that I had to unclog our shower drain every other day to keep it draining properly. I have a hair catcher for our shower drain this time so I don’t have to deal with a nasty clogged drain ever again.
PREP #8: MADE A LIST OF STRICT RULES FOR L&D AND THE FIRST WEEKS AFTER BIRTH
With Calvin, I had a list of rules for my labor and delivery about visitors, but I never communicated it to anyone and so I didn’t end up sticking to it. That is one of my biggest regrets about Calvin’s birth and first couple of days. I knew that I would want and need boundaries, but I didn’t set those boundaries for us.
For example, I didn’t want everyone showing up when I was in labor with Calvin, but we didn’t clarify that with anyone. So when I finally went into labor, everyone showed up at the hospital and waited all night long for him to be born. This led into my second rule being thrown out. I originally wanted the first hour after birth to be just me, Colter, the baby, and any necessary hospital staff, with no visitors until we were moved and settled on the postpartum floor. However, I felt so bad asking everyone who had been there all night to wait for two more hours, so I let everyone come see the baby while I was still in the L&D room. I was barely covered, Cal was screaming and covering in goo, and I was not ready for people, but I put other people’s comfort ahead of my own.
Anyway, this time I wrote up a very specific and detailed set of guidelines for visitation this time and I intend to send the rulebook to all of our family and stick to it religiously. I know that I may ruffle some feathers in the process, but my little family is more important to me than my extended family and friends’ comfort or preferences.
PREP #9: PREPARED FOR BREASTFEEDING
During my first pregnancy, my approach to breastfeeding preparation was to try and relax to avoid overthinking about it and stressing myself out. This lead to me being vastly underprepared to nurse Calvin. When the pandemic hit, he was about a month old and our feeding journey just got more complicated from there.
This time, I read the book Making More Milk: Second Edition, I have invested in herbal supplements from Legendairy Milk, as well as taken the breastfeeding courses from Milkology and on the Thompson Method. I also purchased formula to have on hand in the case that we need to combo feed this coming baby as well. I found a local IBCLC that I will make an evaluation appointment with as soon as the baby is born.
Honestly, as far as prenatal education goes, I found the book and the Thompson Method courses the most helpful. The Milkology course was cheap and fast, but it felt a bit preachy and propaganda-like. It also felt pretty anti-formula, which didn’t sit very well with me (read more about Calvin’s feeding journey).
PREP #10: INVESTED IN A COMFY ROBE, HOUSE DRESS, AND NURSING BRA
Last time I prepared for postpartum, I didn’t think at all about what I would wear after I had my baby. I think I just assumed I would wear my maternity clothes until I returned to my pre-pregnancy weight and then I would go back to my old clothes. This naive way of thinking lead to me having nothing that fit correctly postpartum and nothing that was nursing friendly. I went to the thrift store when I was two weeks postpartum, but it was still a struggle.
This time, I made sure to invest in a couple of pieces that I know I will be able to wear (and to wear comfortably) after the baby is born. I purchased a Nesting Olive Robe in Ribbed Spice, a Nesting Olive Classic House Dress in Black, and a Larken X Nursing and Pumping Bra. The robe will be worn around the house only, but the house dress and the nursing bra are both pieces that I will be able to wear at home and while out while being comfortable and able to nurse.
Honestly, the postpartum period is far from my favorite part of motherhood, but the newborn phase is in my top three favorite things ever. So finding ways to lessen the damper of postpartum so I can more fully enjoy my newborn is so important to me. Hope you found this helpful!
BARREL OF MERRELL'S 
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