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Preparing for Postpartum
The postpartum period is the period beginning immediately after the birth of a child and extending for about six weeks. It is the time in which the mother's body, including hormone levels, return to prepregnancy conditions, and the new mom goes through adjustments upon returning home with a new baby. Interrupted sleep, physical pains, visitors, on top of the general demands of taking care of a new baby and a household, can make the early postpartum period somewhat stressful.
There are many things that you can do to help prevent some of the stress of the postpartum period, the key is planning ahead. With some planning and organization this time will be one of very special memories. Here are some suggestions for planning a less stressful postpartum period.
- Make a list of things that need to be done. When friends or family call and ask "Is there anything I can do?" Get your list and give them some options. Some examples: do a load of laundry, watch the baby while you take a shower, take out the garbage, dust the living room, run to the grocery store.
- Stock up! Get commonly used products in bulk, like toothpaste, toilet paper, canned goods, breakfast cereal, etc. If you have the freezer space, some dinner dishes made ahead of time and frozen would be very helpful. If you have family or friends willing to cook a meal or two, take them up on the offer.
- If you have other children, write a list of their schedules. Make a calendar, for the first week at least, so you'll know who has dance class or ball practice and when so can make appropriate arrangements.
- Visitors can be a lot of fun, although they can also be very draining in the early days. Prepare an answering machine message with information you wish to make known, or a message about when you'll be taking visitors. How about a sign on the door?
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