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The baby’s nursery is probably one of the most exciting things to plan for while pregnant. The cute bedding, sweet onesies, and adorable decor items make everyone swoon and excited for the arrival of this little bundle. However, what many moms forget to do is prepare for postpartum while pregnant. Instead, they wait until they are in the postpartum phase when everything is already happening.
As a mom of three and a postpartum advocate, it is my passion to help moms in the postpartum phase. This is one of the most vulnerable times in a woman’s life and it feels lonely. The best way to combat this is by taking the time while pregnant to make a plan for yourself when the baby is born. Read on to learn how to do that.
Related: Postpartum Resources: How to Help Yourself Heal
How to Prepare for Postpartum While Pregnant
Use the following tips to help you prepare for postpartum while pregnant. Your future postpartum self will thank you for taking the time to do this.
Meal Planning and/or Meal Train
After having a baby, the last thing you need to worry about is getting up to cook for yourself. Before your baby arrives, take time to meal plan for those early weeks. This could look like making a bunch of freezer meals that you can just heat up for dinner. Remember to think about all meals for the day in addition to dinner.
You can also ask your friends and family to support you with a meal train. When the baby arrives, your friends and family can be the ones to drop off meals to you. This is such a gift! Each person who wants to contribute signs up for a specific day and time to drop off the meal or they can donate a gift card for food delivery services.
In addition to meals, you will need to keep nutritious snacks and water available to consume throughout the day. Your postpartum body will need nutrients often to help you heal. If you are breastfeeding, you will be burning calories quickly. Therefore, you need to increase your calorie intake to keep up with the demand.
Talk to Your Spouse/Partner
Have those hard conversations with your spouse or partner before the baby arrives. This could look like establishing who will get up in the night to change the baby, who will help clean bottles, establishing boundaries for eager family and friends, etc.
If you both can get on the same page now, it will help avoid arguments when you’re both sleep-deprived and overwhelmed. Write these agreements down and put them on your fridge, or pin them to a board in your home where you both can see them and reference them when needed.
Related: Postpartum Relationship Problems: How to Overcome the Heartache
Stock up on Essentials
Prepare for postpartum while pregnant by grabbing essentials now. There will be a significant amount of healing that you will go through during those early weeks postpartum. Making sure you are stocked up will help prevent any unplanned trips to the store.
This is especially important for any middle-of-the-night needs, like postpartum pads. Remember to stock up on toilet paper, Epsom salt, witch hazel, and postpartum underwear.
Make a Plan
The last thing you will want to do is try to figure out a plan when you are in the thick of it. The best thing you can do is plan ahead. Yes, plans can change along the way. However, you need to have a structure to add/edit along the way.
Make a plan for when you will get some time to yourself and when your spouse/partner will have time to themselves, if you will sleep train and at what age, who will help take you and baby to and from appointments, etc. There are many pieces to this postpartum puzzle; planning for some of them ahead of time will be beneficial.
Related: Postpartum Nutrition: What Mothers Need After Giving Birth
Educate Yourself
Prepare for postpartum while pregnant by educating yourself about postpartum. It’s important to know the signs of when something is wrong instead of wasting time on Google trying to sift through the information to determine if you need to take action.
Your body will go through an extreme healing process after giving birth. The most critical time will be during those first six weeks postpartum. However, other parts of your body can take months to heal after birth. It’s important to educate yourself on postpartum body changes.
Learn About Postpartum Depression
In addition to educating yourself about the postpartum journey, consider learning about postpartum depression. There is no guarantee that you will struggle with PPD. However, knowing the signs and symptoms of postpartum depression can help with early detection and intervention.
Discover the signs and symptoms of postpartum depression and share those with your spouse/partner so that they know how to help you. Learning about postpartum depression is also important to understand what makes it different compared to postpartum baby blues. Grab your guide to postpartum depression.
How You Prepare for Postpartum While Pregnant Can Make a Difference
Bringing a child into this world is a beautiful and amazing experience! As much time as you spend preparing for that sweet baby’s arrival, you should take the same amount of time to prepare for your postpartum experience. It can take at least a full year to adjust to this new life. Spend time now to best prepare for postpartum while pregnant.
Remember that you are not the only one who is on this journey with you; your baby, spouse/partner, and the other members of your family are going through this with you as well. Taking care of yourself is the best way you can show up for your family.
Related: Things that Happen Postpartum that Aren’t Talked About Enough
