Hey everyone! Thanks for being patient with me and my lack of blog posts lately! I can’t promise that it’s going to get better anytime soon because I start work next week and will have even less time, but once things calm down I’ll go back to my 3X/week posting.
I’m having the hardest time believing that we’ve been a family of four for a month already! It seems like we’ve barely had any time with little Elliott but being pregnant seems like a decade ago. I’m planning on doing a post all about how Elliott has been adjusting to life in this world, but I want to focus this post on all things postpartum – what’s been going on, what’s working/not working, how I’m feeling, products I’m using, etc. I really should have broken this down by week because this is a lot of information, but what new mom has time for that?!
Recovery
This recovery has been a breeze. I owe it to having a really difficult pregnancy and karma coming back to give me something good 🙂
I was overly prepared with postpartum goods this time – I made padsicles, made my own Tucks pads, was stocked up on ice packs, Ibuprofen, and Depends – and I used almost nothing. When I left the hospital I asked for more of their postpartum goods and those lasted me for as long as I needed them! The one thing I almost ran out of was normal sized pads, but everything else I either threw away or stashed for potential later use.
I didn’t have a ton of bleeding or pain from stitches (I had a few 1st degree tears) but I had some seriously painful contractions. Several days I couldn’t move for hours because I was in so much pain and trying to be upright was impossible. I was religious about taking my Tylenol/Ibuprofen every 4-8 hours, but I also made a makeshift heat pack and that was the only thing that gave some relief while waiting for the pain meds to kick in. I took one of Jared’s tall socks and filled it with 2 cups of rice, then microwaved it for 1 minute on high and used that to alleviate the cramps. Luckily these stopped after about a week or two!
Breastfeeding
This time around was so much easier than with my first baby! Elliott latched on in the hospital and has been golden ever since. The only real problem we’ve encountered is getting her to stay awake long enough to get a full feeding in, especially during the night. Sometimes she passes out after feeding on one side and consequently wakes up sooner because she’s hungry again.
We supplemented with formula for about two weeks before I had enough milk. I credit boosting my milk supply to two things: these Boob Food Cookies and this Premama Lactation Drink mix. I used both of these every day for three weeks and now I drink the Premama every other day. My supply was low with Reagan for almost two months so these definitely made a difference and worked in getting my supply where it needed to be!
Weight loss
I gained 35 pounds while pregnant and have lost about 20 of that. I don’t feel any pressure to lose the last 15 quickly, I know that breastfeeding and eating well with light exercise will do the trick over the next few months!
Sleep
Elliott is actually a very good sleeper! Starting from day one she pretty much put herself into the routine of sleeping at night and being more awake during the day. We aren’t following any sort of sleep schedule, we just keep her up more during the day and put her down for naps and bed when Reagan goes down. This seems to be working really well so far, she actually slept through the night once already!
I think because this is my second baby, I have a way easier time falling asleep after midnight feedings. I’m much more efficient at feeding and changing Elliott, and getting water/going to the bathroom and then getting back to bed ASAP. I’m also less worried about if she’s breathing because she sleeps right next to me and I wake up at every little stir she makes 🙂 There have been two or three bad nights, and even those haven’t been SO bad so I’m feeling pretty lucky!
Exercise
I haven’t started doing any activity yet, but I’m excited to start this postpartum program! I’m going to start in about a week and would love for anyone to join me, if I get enough traction I’m going to start a group FB page where we can all be accountable to each other, ask questions, and share our successes! It’ll be super fun, and you can use code caseyeanderson15 to get the 12 week plan for $48.
When our families were here, I went on a couple longer walks and was tired/sore from that, so I plan on really easing into things and taking it easy for the first couple of weeks. I’m excited to get moving though because it feels like it’s been forever since I’ve been any sort of active!
Products
Gosh there are so many of these I want to highlight for y’all! I’ve tried a lot of different goodies for postpartum women this time around and let me tell you they are all amazing.
Bellefit
The thing I’ve been using the most and am the most pleased with is the Bellefit corset. This thing is a gamechanger! I got two different corsets in a larger and smaller size and started wearing the large one three days postpartum. It was such a struggle getting it on, I had to have Jared help me because there was no way I was getting it on myself. I probably wore it for 3-4 hours the first couple days because it wasn’t super comfortable and I’m kind of a wimp. By the third day, I could get it on by myself. By the fourth day, I no longer broke into a sweat trying to get it on haha. By the end of the first week, I was still wearing the larger size but I had moved down from the farthest buckle to the closest one. For me, seeing results within the first week of having a baby was enough to sell me on this thing! I’m now wearing the smaller size on the smallest setting and it’s actually comfortable. It really helps keep everything together and does a great job sucking things in so I can feel confident wearing my pre-pregnancy tops. I’m hosting a giveaway soon on my Instagram for a similar corset bundle, so keep an eye out for that! And if you’ve been considering a postpartum corset, this is definitely the one to get!! BONUS: use code CASEY20 for 20% off your purchase!
Lalabubaby
This is a really cool company that I learned about shortly after Reagan was too big for it. They make shirts and tanks with built in nursing bras and kangaroo pouches so you can easily wear your newborn! I have the soothe shirt, it’s supposed to fit very snugly so I just barely started wearing mine but I really like it. It’s perfect for wearing around the house when I need two hands but don’t want to have to use a wrap carrier!
Tuck and Bundle
When I want to babywear or when we all go to the park, this is my favorite wrap to wear Elliott in. It’s incredibly lightweight and breathable, and the material is super stretchy and easy to wrap. The colors are great too, and the company is local to San Antonio and veteran owned! So much to love about this company!
Star Sacks Swaddle
Elliott is one of those babies that loves being swaddled, but is a freakin Houdini who can escape from literally every swaddle! We’ve been using this one for a couple weeks and LOVE it! It allows for her to move her arms and legs when she startles, but also keeps her wrapped up so she feels secure. Such an innovative design and the mama who makes them is so sweet!
Evenflo Bottles
We started giving these bottles to Elliott when we were supplementing with formula, and have kept using them to feed her when I pump. She took to them right away, and still has no problem even if we skip giving one for a couple of days. It was so important for us to find a good bottle that mimics breastfeeding because I go back to work in a week and Elliott will need to bottle feed at least once while I’m gone!
Nursing Bra
I’ve talked about my favorite nursing bras a couple of times now but I can’t help it because they are AMAZING. I received one as part of a collaboration and went and bought more because they are that good. A 2-pack is less than $40 and believe me when I say you won’t want to take them off. The other day I was doing laundry and all of mine were dirty so I had to wear a normal nursing bra–I was SO uncomfortable I complained the whole time and took it off as soon as the other ones were clean!
Okay I think that’s about it! I’ll try to keep up with these and do one every month or so to keep y’all updated on how things are going. Thanks for reading this incredibly long blog post, I’ll do one all about the girls so you can find out what’s going on with them too! 🙂
Wow, I’m glad everything works out for you. My little one is two months old and it’s my first child. We had some troubles in the beginning, like she didn’t have a good latch and so on. We’re still combi-feeding, but with less and less formula everyday. My husband and I decided to feed European formula from this onlineshop, because it’s more regulated than in the US. I would’ve never imagined that breastfeeding would be so hard, but it finally starts to work out for the two of us.