By Kristy Manners
Like most mums, I spent my first pregnancy alternating between visions of snuggling my newborn, and battling anxiety over how difficult – and painful! – childbirth could really be.
Not once did I consider the recovery process-not even when other women described it as “the fourth trimester”.
I wish I’d listened.
Childbirth recovery gave me a crash course in all sorts of problems I’d never heard of (not to mention pain in body parts I didn’t even know I had): tearing, prolapse, incontinence, infections, nutrition depletion, and more.
And perhaps the biggest secret of them all? Breastfeeding was hard. Sore, cracked nipples, anyone?
Looking back, it would have been so much easier if I’d had somebody to guide me through those early months, instead of learning everything I could have done AFTER it was too late.
…Including these three (very, very) hard-earned lessons.
1. Nourish your postnatal nutrition (now!)
When I became pregnant, I’d been an Accredited Practicing Dietitian for many years, so I knew the theory of good nutrition inside and out.
But once I experienced pregnancy for myself, the execution was much harder than I had predicted. I got hit with the one-two punch of food aversions and cravings (pickles dipped in peanut butter apparently don’t help) and then my already low reserves being utterly spent in breastfeeding my baby.
My milk supply dropped into the gutter and took my optimism with it.
I wish I’d had a more holistic understanding of my health – before it became a problem.
2. Breastfeeding might be natural, but it isn’t easy
I’d be willing to bet that I’m not the only first-time mum who assumed breastfeeding would be easy. If millions of women have done it for eons and it’s the best nutrition for your baby, it’s got to be simple, right?
I know, I know. I can hear the experienced mums laughing already.
Breastmilk is simply the best food for babies, but actually getting the breastmilk to the baby? It’s definitely an art that you and your baby must learn together, and it can be very complicated.
