Postpartum Grace

Postpartum woman with newborn

The moment has finally arrived! You have spent the last 9 months anticipating all the emotions you’d experience as you finally get to hold your sweet, new little one. And if you experienced primary or secondary infertility prior to this moment, your time of waiting may have been even longer. Regardless of how long you have waited for this moment, the period after having a baby (postpartum) can come with all sorts of ups and downs, whether you’re a first time mom or a veteran. No two seasons of postpartum life are the same, but it is a season of life where you need to give yourself some postpartum grace.

     In speaking with a client recently during a follow-up, she and I had a laugh over all the things they do not tell you about after baby arrives, like how much all the things can hurt in those first two weeks immediately after baby arrives. Whether its working on healing from a C-section, repairs from a vaginal delivery of a particularly big-headed baby (big heads= big brains, right?), or the sheer agony of trying to establish a proper latch for breastfeeding while dealing with engorgement (I highly recommend the Memorare prayer during those first painful moments of latching…by the time you finish it, the worst is over!), there can be a lot of painful situations in the immediate postpartum period! And during that initial postpartum period, it is so important that you give yourself the extra grace you need to navigate that time of life. Take the necessary time you need with each bathroom trip to perform the proper peri care to ensure optimal healing of any tears from delivery. Reach out to a lactation consultant if things are really challenging in the breastfeeding department. Take the time to just breathe and savor all the sweet little snuggles and newborn melts knowing that this phase (both the good and the bad) will not last forever.

     Once you move out of that initial postpartum phase, you might be experiencing that phase where you are trying to reconnect to who you are as a woman now that you have your body (mostly) back to yourself. This can be a particularly tender time where more grace and frequent reminders of what amazing, awesome work your body just did are needed! Postpartum hormones can make even the most basic daily task seem emotional (I literally cried once while writing a grocery store shopping list) and sometimes all you can accomplish with a newborn during the day is keeping them and yourself fed…and that’s enough! Giving yourself the grace to accept that you are not defined by what you accomplish (or do not accomplish) during the day during the postpartum phase and remind yourself that this is a season of life that will not last forever.

     And of course, since this is a blog about charting with the Creighton Model, once you and your spouse feel ready to be together during that postpartum period, give yourselves the grace to work closely with your practitioner to understand what is happening with your chart postpartum so you can successfully navigate the postpartum phase in alignment with your family goals are for the time. Those same crazy postpartum hormones that might have made you cry while writing a grocery list can also cause some crazy charting situations that are influenced by all sorts of factors- breastfeeding vs formula feeding, nursing frequency etc. Extend yourselves some grace, take a deep breath and schedule that follow-up

for a time that you and your spouse can listen in together, which allows for you to both have a better understanding of how to navigate your chart postpartum. And just like any time of the postpartum experience, the good and the bad will not last forever!