How has your recovery been the first few weeks postpartum?

More than anything else I’ve done postpartum is prioritize lots and lots and lots of sleep and rest. The first 7 days made a huge difference in how my body felt but I was really sore that whole first week and couldn’t stand for very long without my lower back aching and just general fatigue. I will say, I’m naturally a homebody so I haven’t hated being home more, I love taking it easy and just soaking in newborn life. I’d say I noticed a big change about 10 days pp, I started to feel really good!

Things that you did to prep for postpartum that helped?

I’m so happy I had the major things prepped right away, I just didn’t have any motivation or energy to take on any big tasks, or even smaller/everyday tasks like cooking and cleaning. I’d say the prep that helped the most was having the changing table setup and the nightstand essentials because that’s what we needed most! Those middle of the night wake periods came quick and having everything close helped so so much.

I also had a few meals ready to go in the freezer, and other newborn-friendly snacks ready to go. IYKYK – you only get one hand, lol. Check out this post for all my freezer-friendly go-to meals!

How did you decided on the name Hayes? I love it btw.

It made our list pretty early on into brainstorming names but we weren’t serious about it until about 2 weeks before he was born. We had 2 other names for boys ready (boy names were hard for us), and 1 girl name that we loved. As soon as we saw him we knew he was Hayes! He took Bridger’s first name, Michael, as his middle name. BTW, Bridger’s full name is Michael Bridger Floyd Harlington lol.

When did you get out of the house first and what did you do?

We really only got out of the house for doc appointments and running small errands the first few weeks, but I was never out and about for too long. I went on my first walk outside at 16 days postpartum and I’m so glad I prioritized rest, the walk was really nice and I felt totally comfortable. One tip is to wait longer than you think you should to get back to your “life” – my body is already thanking me for giving it so much time and love!

Biggest surprise about having a newborn?

Where to I begin? The amount of time that we’re spending on burping throughout the day, I feel like somehow it’s all we do! Also the amount of diapers and clothing per day is more than we expected. I’ve also been surprised by how little motivation I have to do anything else – I’m very content with the burping, breastfeeding, relaxing, rocking, etc, etc, etc. Time is like a black hole with a new baby.

Did you follow all of the “do not eat” preg rules?

No, I personally didn’t follow the many many rules for pregnancy. I’ve had sushi, I eat pasture-raised runny yolks, grass-fed meat sticks, cheeses, and organic deli turkey meat. My own personal rule to follow is always finding the most high-quality version of anything, and also I’m being very brand loyal to brands who do it right. I’ll say, my pregnancy diet was pretty identical to my regular, every-day diet. I read this book and used it like my bible! I highly recommend it.

What should I know about breastfeeding?

Well, to start, it’s a full-time job. It’s a journey for sure and I’m sure it looks different for everybody. It might take some time to figure out what works for you, but trust the process and trust your body! One major major tip is to use this milk collector on the opposite side when you’re breastfeeding. You guys recommended this to me over the haakaa Ladybug (which I also still use, I just rotate between all of them since we’re always washing them) but for me the Boon Trove version is superior.

We’ve also been using the app Huckleberry to document how often/ how long baby is nursing, wet diapers, logging sleep, wake windows, etc. Having a log to look back on is so so important because the days just all start to blend together, trust me! You’ll want to be able to reference the last time you were breastfeeding etc.

First-time mom over here, any tips/must have for labor and delivery?

All my essentials linked here.