I love this so much, Jan. And it makes me think that I could make something similar for the work here. A practical gift guide for anyone who is hungry for any reason! Your full hear accompanies Ashlee and I as we move through our days here, and I feel so grateful for that.
What a beautiful idea, Adam, and in your hands especially! I imagine that once released into the world, such a guide would grow legs and set out to walk a wide terrain.
All great suggestions Jan! I concur entirely on the need for bodywork postpartum, we paid for me to go for several osteopath sessions after my second daughter was born and it was so restorative even though her birth was “easy” and not traumatic in any way.
Becca, thank you for sharing this experience! Therapeutic bodywork/movement often seems to be brought up as symptom management, but I really have grown to love it (both self-work and working with a practitioner) as a pathway to sustaining health and avoiding those symptoms in the first place. So much better to have a few restorative visits instead of years of physical therapy a decade or two down the line.
In addition to meals, postpartum tea, snacks, recommendations for my favorite local body workers, and recommendations for the online Body Ready Method and Restore Your Core PT programs, I also like to give postpartum mothers books that helped me feel less alone in my wonderment and cherishing of motherhood:
What Mothers Do, Especially When It Looks Like Nothing by Naomi Stadlen
Great with Child by Debra Rienstra
Brave New Mama (poetry) by Vicki Rivard
New Mama Affirmations (cards) by Fourth Trimester Mama
The Fourth Trimester Cards (cards) by Kimberly Ann Johnson
I have those in a list here along with a few other items like perineal cold packs, a Baby on Board car magnet, a fertility goddess necklace, and a soft rope basket I put it all in that they often end up reusing for baby items down the years:
Julia, this idea of a soft rope basket holding books and affirmation cards (along with other care items) is beautiful, and so thoughtful. I like Kimberly Ann Johnson's work, but hadn't heard of the other authors. Thank you for the suggested titles; I'm adding them to my reading list for the year!
Love the cake idea. I never got around to making one during labor lol. Fun things that boosted my mood postpartum were the random texts offering a coffee drop off (even if I didn’t need or want one), random snack or breakfast baskets (granola, yogurts, stewed fruits, coffee, flowers, pastries). Felt so luxurious and celebratory as opposed to only the lifeline of postpartum dinners. Also would add, a cleaner, mainly for dad, but also bc no one else can clean a house like mom lol
A friend is a postnatal doula and she told me once about going to a new mum's house, in which there was a living room full of flowers and no food in the fridge.
I committed then to always bringing a food gift to new parents I know. Love this article!
I love this so much, Jan. And it makes me think that I could make something similar for the work here. A practical gift guide for anyone who is hungry for any reason! Your full hear accompanies Ashlee and I as we move through our days here, and I feel so grateful for that.
What a beautiful idea, Adam, and in your hands especially! I imagine that once released into the world, such a guide would grow legs and set out to walk a wide terrain.
All great suggestions Jan! I concur entirely on the need for bodywork postpartum, we paid for me to go for several osteopath sessions after my second daughter was born and it was so restorative even though her birth was “easy” and not traumatic in any way.
Becca, thank you for sharing this experience! Therapeutic bodywork/movement often seems to be brought up as symptom management, but I really have grown to love it (both self-work and working with a practitioner) as a pathway to sustaining health and avoiding those symptoms in the first place. So much better to have a few restorative visits instead of years of physical therapy a decade or two down the line.
In addition to meals, postpartum tea, snacks, recommendations for my favorite local body workers, and recommendations for the online Body Ready Method and Restore Your Core PT programs, I also like to give postpartum mothers books that helped me feel less alone in my wonderment and cherishing of motherhood:
What Mothers Do, Especially When It Looks Like Nothing by Naomi Stadlen
Great with Child by Debra Rienstra
Brave New Mama (poetry) by Vicki Rivard
New Mama Affirmations (cards) by Fourth Trimester Mama
The Fourth Trimester Cards (cards) by Kimberly Ann Johnson
I have those in a list here along with a few other items like perineal cold packs, a Baby on Board car magnet, a fertility goddess necklace, and a soft rope basket I put it all in that they often end up reusing for baby items down the years:
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/33HMHVWUVZ6IT?ref_=wl_share
Julia, this idea of a soft rope basket holding books and affirmation cards (along with other care items) is beautiful, and so thoughtful. I like Kimberly Ann Johnson's work, but hadn't heard of the other authors. Thank you for the suggested titles; I'm adding them to my reading list for the year!
Love the cake idea. I never got around to making one during labor lol. Fun things that boosted my mood postpartum were the random texts offering a coffee drop off (even if I didn’t need or want one), random snack or breakfast baskets (granola, yogurts, stewed fruits, coffee, flowers, pastries). Felt so luxurious and celebratory as opposed to only the lifeline of postpartum dinners. Also would add, a cleaner, mainly for dad, but also bc no one else can clean a house like mom lol
A friend is a postnatal doula and she told me once about going to a new mum's house, in which there was a living room full of flowers and no food in the fridge.
I committed then to always bringing a food gift to new parents I know. Love this article!
What a beautiful commitment, Guen! Flowers are truly a beautiful gift, but meals are a love letter on another level entirely.
Homemade bread for the win. :)