Postpartum Week 19 & Mama Thoughts Vlog by Teresa Palmer

What week

19!

How big is baby

15lbs/6.8kg

What’s something new this week

This week has been beautiful because it’s really the week Forest has been able to sit up on his own for longer periods. Last week he was really leaning forward and toppling over, but this week he has become much more sturdy!

It’s also so much easier to get him to chuckle really loudly now. He had giggles here and there but Mark and I were trying so desperately to get him to crack up laughing all the time. This week he is laughing a lot without having to tickle him, all we need to do is pull silly faces and make funny voices. It’s absolute music to my ears!

Most challenging moment

The most challenging thing about this week was the lack of sleep I’ve had. We very uncharacteristically have had things on at night time this week so it’s been hard to catch up on sleep. This past Wed we arrived back in to LA from Australia (didn’t catch any zzzz’s on the plane!) then we made the mistake of sleeping 6 hours during the day which screwed me up that night to sleep (Forest, Mark, my Mum and Bodhi all slept wonderfully!??) Thursday night I had a Q & A for Berlin Syndrome which was at 11pm! Friday night we had Marks premiere at Newport Film Festival so we went along and took Forest with us. I could only pop my head in and out to watch Marks film since I wrongly thought Forest would just sleep with his little noise canceling headphones on! I didn’t want to leave my Mum with all 3 boys so we brought him along and he was cooing, giggling and doing his sweet little legs pumps, just completely wide awake haha! So no sleep that night either, Saturday night we had a wedding which ended late, Monday night was my good friend Jaime Kings birthday party! SO many late nights in a row and so many early mornings. I think it took me a full week to get over the jetlag. I just made sure I napped when Bodhi did and Mum had Forest so I could catch some shut eye!

Something you loved this week

I loved so much from this week! Mum being here has been AMAZING. To have her in our home and to see her bond with the boys is just beautiful. She is also so incredibly helpful, whether it’s dishes, laundry, putting Forest to sleep while I’m with Bodhi, staying with Bodhi and Isaac when we went out, making the beds in the morning when I’m getting breakfast ready etc. it’s just been heavenly having her sweet and helpful little soul around…can she please stay forever?! I’m so used to the activity and the chaos around our place but to have an extra pair of hands and for it to be the boys grandma is just so special.

Mama time?

Mark and I met a woman recently who has a daughter Bodhi’s age, she is RIE parenting trained and was looking for some casual sitting jobs. We LOVE the way she is with her daughter and just loved her so much that we decided to carve some time out for Mark and I to write our tv show just so he could be around her and play date with her daughter. So she is coming every Monday for 3 hours and Mark and I disappear in to the backyard to write in our tiny house that I bought on ebay and got shipped to LA a few years back (definitely an impulsive buy hahaha) it’s actually been so lovely having that space to ourselves while we get creative but also to be within earshot of the kids should they really need us.

What am I eating?

A bunch of beautiful home cooked meals! Mark is such an incredible cook, I actually bow down to him. Now that we are a vegan family he has gotten really in to creating exciting and nutritionally sound vegan meals; stir fry with rice noodles, fried onions and nutritional yeast, veggie dogs with sundried tomato pesto, nut cheese with a side of broccoli, roasted soy veggies, marinated zucchini noodles and we both make a killer protein shake.

I’ve been loving giving up dairy, although my body did take a hit and I got a little too thin in the first 2 weeks after we went vegan, I was hoping it would all settle back down so my milk wouldn’t be affected and luckily it has all balanced out. I just made sure that I was replacing the dairy with high quality whole foods based protein. It was an adjustment but now I feel amazing. Forest’s tummy has been affecting him less, his skin seems a lot softer too. I think he was having a reaction to the dairy (and I was pounding the dairy!) so it’s been such a positive change in my life. It also feels very aligned with our beliefs as a family.

What’s working?

Our sleep has gotten a lot better, we went through a period of Forest waking up every hour and a half. It was from about 13 weeks until 15 weeks. He has since settled back in to a routine of more sleep time. He is just also really easy to read. He likes to wake up, play, nurse, play, sleep. He just does that pattern over and over in the day and he is set! He is so much fun and brings us so much joy, I can’t remember a time without him now, he just fits in to our family so well. I find 3 months onwards to be the easiest, the first 3 months you’re getting to know them, the next three months you’re just enjoying your baby who still feels young and then they’re on the move the next few months and it’s busier again. So right now we are in the sweet spot with him where it feels like things are working well.

My Body

My body is starting to get stronger again. I’ve been going to Pilates twice per week and I can feel that I am gaining some more strength back. The tiniest moves completely kick my butt, you forget how much a pregnancy can affect your abs. I used to be able to plank for long periods now my whole body is shaking after a minute of planking, it just feels different. I still have my Linea Nigra, it’s almost gone now but I love still seeing the hint of it there. My Pregnancy Melasma is still there in full force smack bang in the middle of my forehead. I had heard that it fades but mine certainly hasn’t, did yours go away? Any tricks? (I’ll check my Instagram comments for answers!)

Checking in

So since I last left you there has been many fun and wild adventures! Everyone is growing up and getting bigger, learning everyday. It really does go fast doesn’t it? Of course that means that I’m already talking about the next pregnancy (hahaha very typical of me!) I’m yet to return to shooting a film so I’m just really enjoying the freedom of choosing how our day looks, I know I’ll miss that when I start shooting something again. Mark and I have big creative and philanthropic plans so we have been really trying to carve time out to put some love and energy in to these ideas, but with kids it’s just hard to focus completely. I think that’s what I want to make sure I’m doing between now and when I next give you the next update. Striking a balance between being very present with the kids and nurturing our artistic sides too. It’ll mean great time management as well as being very organized, something that I’m sometimes great at and others times I’m never quite on top of! It’ll be my goal.

Many thanks and see you next month ❤️🙏