Today we’re going to cover everything I did to set myself up for a smooth postpartum journey in terms of hormones and health with my second pregnancy. We’re going to be talking a lot about products and things I wish I would have prepared and done differently after my first pregnancy.

Food Preparation

With Landon, my first, I didn’t actually prep any food. Our family brought over a ton of food, which was really, really, really nice. BUT my biggest issue was breakfast. At that time, I was still in school, right before COVID hit. And Landon was a horrific sleeper. He would scream if you put him down for even a second so it was really hard.

When it’s like that you're like, “Okay, how do I make food and eat food all in one second before he needs me again?” So it was really hard to get adequate nutrition. And it was just hard to eat in general. It's hard to eat and find time to make food but you're also starving because you're breastfeeding and you're sleep deprived.

So something that I did differently with baby number two, is I actually prepped a bunch of breakfasts. One of the best ones was protein waffles, which are dairy-free and gluten-free, if that's something that you need. That recipe is in our Food Cycling Recipe eBook. They can be frozen so you can just pop them in the toaster and grab with one hand in the mornings. It’s a super easy, quick, breakfast option when your hands are full.

Another breakfast item that I did was frozen egg muffins. You can do sausage, egg, and peppers and mix up all the ingredients and put them in little muffin tins and bake them. Again, throw them in the freezer and then you can just pop them in the oven for a couple of seconds to warm up. Super quick to make and super easy to eat!

The third one that doesn’t require too much extra prep is overnight oats. Not only is that easy to throw together the night before, but oats, along with flax seeds, are really good for your milk supply. You can make protein overnight oats with some nut butter and flax seed then pull them out and eat with just one hand. Plus, Landon really likes all of these as well.

I also love making homemade Greek yogurt from raw milk. This has a lot of protein and I like to top it with seeds and fruit for an easy morning snack.

During those first few weeks, while I was still getting a handle on having two kids I wanted to make it easy for myself and Landon to eat enough without having to stress too much about it, and all of these things really helped.

Supplements & Essential Oils

The other thing that I did was to have beef organ supplements from Ancestral Supplements on hand because I know I won’t be eating enough food that I can sneak liver into. Otherwise, just adding liver to your meals would be a great option too, and cheaper. Since you lose so much blood in the delivery process it’s good to get in some extra iron and B vitamins will be really helpful for mood balancing.

I also have a rollerball with essential oils which really helped with the postpartum roller coaster of emotions and hormones and moods after my last pregnancy. It has Elevation, Ylang Ylang, clary sage, and geranium, which are all super helpful for that massive hormone drop after you have the baby. Highly recommend. Just be sure you have good-quality essential oils!

Pads/Underwear & Pain Relief

I thought about making padsicles but instead, I went with Rael’s disposable period underwear which can be lined with ice packs (the ones from the hospital work great for this!), and put a witch hazel, aloe patch on top. All are great for pain relief and comfort postpartum. I just tried to use pads last time and it was just so hard. I bled for a really long time so we're trying disposable underwear this time.

Another thing I use for pain relief is a perineal spray that has Roman chamomile, frankincense, witch hazel, and aloe. That stuff was magical with my first pregnancy! I never even had to use that stupid numbing spray because I had this. So great!

Breast Feeding Pump Flanges & Nursing Tank Tops

I measured for my flange size on my breast pump this time around - I didn't even know that was a thing, thank you lactation hub! I am planning on breastfeeding, but I like to have a stash in case of emergencies or anything. I try to pump once a day to get a stash going. But this just never really worked with Landon and I found out that it has to do with your flange size. So I measured and got the correct flange size, which is different than the one I had last time.

Also, I got nursing tank tops for my second pregnancy because, you guys, when you enter that engorgement phase, yeah… wearing a bra is not fun at all. So instead, I got a few nursing tank tops from Kindred Bravely. They're made of bamboo and they're just the most comfortable thing on this planet.

Hair Mineral Analysis & Personalized Minerals

You can lose 10% or more of your minerals during pregnancy. Optimizing my minerals during pregnancy made such a massive difference so I also like to run a hair mineral analysis test once I am postpartum. So that’s something I definitely recommend doing and then with that info, you can personalize and optimize your minerals to really set yourself up for success.

With my second pregnancy, I also used Ned Hormone Balanced CBD postpartum, which I didn't do with my first. When I talked to the botanist, she said that a lot of women love this postpartum to help with post-labor contractions as your uterus is coming down which can be painful.

Additionally, CBD works with your endocannabinoid system to help calm your body down so everything can just balance the way you want it to. Specifically, in the Hormone Balance blend, they have Nettle Leaf, red raspberry leaf, and Evening Primrose which are all amazing things that you need postpartum to help replenish those minerals.

I do have a code for Ned CBD if you want to try that out! You can do the subscription to get 15% off and then use code LEAH for another 15% off to get a total of 30% off. And they do have a 30-day money-back guarantee which is always great when trying something new.

Acupressure Mat

Also just because I feel like everything is stressful during postpartum times, I like to lie down on an acupressure mat. Not like for the first like week or two, but it is in my stash of tools to use. The thing is, super cheap mats - which are great, especially if you're not laying on them for super long - is that they do have PFAS and off-gassing, which is just not great. But to avoid that you're looking at a much pricier option. So weigh your pros and cons there.

Swaddle Carrier

I did get a baby carrier, like an infant swaddle one because we have a more structured one with the buckles that we would use on walks and stuff. But it's not really great for newborns and I just needed something simple and easy. These are especially great if your baby wants to be held all the time!

Pelvic Floor Therapy

I did do cell salts throughout my pregnancy, which I really, really liked. I'm not doing a belly band or anything like that because I talked with my pelvic floor therapist, and she said most of them actually push down your uterus and you want your uterus to be lifting up. So I'm just doing my hypopressive breathwork training that I learned from her.

And if you're like, “What are you talking about?” You guys totally need to follow Dr. Mueller and be sure to check out Episode 97: Pregnancy Prep: Strengthening your Pelvic Floor with Dr. Angie Mueller, which has tons of fantastic information!

So those are all the things I wish I had done during my first pregnancy and things that I’ve now done for my second. One of the biggest things you can do is make sure you’re getting enough support with your nutrition and getting more meals prepped to make this as easy as possible. You can do some stews and soups, all very easy to digest, obviously making sure we're getting in enough water.

The recommendations presented in this blog are not a substitute for medical advice from a qualified doctor. Before making any changes to your diet and lifestyle, please consult with your health care provider.

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