Postpartum Vlog: Prairie Moon, Week 1

WHAT WEEK?
1

HOW BIG IS BABY?
Birth weight: 3.04kg/6.7lbs
Day 3 weight: 2.85kg/6.3lbs
Day 5 weight: 2.93kg/6.4lbs
Day 7 weight: 3.04kg/6.7lbs
51cm/20 inches long

WHAT’S SOMETHING NEW THIS WEEK?
Prairie!! She’s new! We are back in the newborn love bubble and I’m absolutely loving it, so are the kids. Everything about her is new, her little face, gorgeous tiny feet, hands, smell, temperament, the whole lot is new but also she feels so familiar. She feels like she’s always been with us.

MOST CHALLENGING MOMENT?
Saying goodbye to Mark was really hard. It was 6 days after the birth. The day before he left I kept on bursting spontaneously in to tears. I know that I’ll be fine with the kids and holding down the fort while he works but knowing that he is missing out on all the newborn yumminess of Prairie made me feel so sad. Not being able to look in to each other’s eyes and witness each other falling in love with our new little person was a really heartbreaking thought but as it always is with us, the anticipation of the goodbye is always worse than actually being apart. I think autopilot kicks in and you just get on with it. Mark made such a strong connection with Prairie during the first 6 days of her life that she still responds to his voice even through the phone, that’s really beautiful. We miss him so much but I’m also so happy for him that he gets to embark on such an exciting opportunity and adventure. As Winnie the Pooh says “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard”.

FAVOURITE MOMENTS?
I honestly can’t pick one favourite! The first moments after birth were just gorgeous, with the kids all so excited about Prairies arrival. I also just love witnessing Bodhi snuggling her and obsessing over her, Forests kiss attacks on her just over and over until she’s had enough, Poets beautiful and thoughtful growth, caring and loving ways. I also loved seeing her with Mark when he was here and then too seeing cuddles she has with my Dad, Stepmum and Mum. I just find myself kissing her all the time and doting on her, I love nursing her and stroking her sweet soft head and looking deep in to each other’s eyes, getting to know each other. I feel like I’ve known her forever and I’m in that complete butterflies experience whilst also navigating being tired AF and achey from shoulder pain!

MAMA TIME
Today was Day 1 of “The Golden Month”, any Aussie ladies out there I implore you to look them up. Their philosophy is all about mothering the mother. Today I had an acupuncture session, massage, and Carla ran a bath filled with flowers for me. I took a super deep nap and spent time giving myself care and being attentive to my needs. I haven’t done that since Prairie arrived and have felt very time poor without Mark being here, so today felt like such a beautiful luxury and I so look forward to my next appointment with the Golden Month girls!

MY BODY
Is feeling great! My only complaint is that I slept weirdly on my pillow a couple of nights back and I’ve completely tweaked my shoulder/neck area. I have throbbing pain there and have even lost some sensation in my left finger tips. I’m hoping with enough of a stretch it’ll ease up.

My after pains were pretty gnarly with little Prair! Each time she nursed they would come on super strong, it felt like a contraction. They lasted about 3 days before easing up, whenever Poet nursed sheeeeesh forget about it! Super sore. I didn’t take pain relief for it as I just treated it like a contraction and swayed my hips to move the feeling through my body.

I only had night sweats the first and second nights and then they eased up! Thank goodness as that feels really gross to wake up in. My bleeding has really subsided and I assume I’ll be done with bleeding all together in the next few days. My tummy is like a cute wobbly puddle, it feels like it needs support though so I’m wearing a tubey grip to help regain strength, I know I have muscle separation and I’m hopeful that by wearing this it’ll help to close that gap!

WHAT AM I EATING?
The past two days I’ve eaten utter junk! I’ve been working on Bodhi’s bookweek costume and I have just totally neglected my own nutritional needs, I was living off multiple kombucha bottles, salt n vinegar chips, avocado toast and banana bread! Not the kind of health food I should be having but tomorrow I start day 1 of my meal delivery service from The Golden Month and I’m very excited about it! I definitely feel like I need a good hit of nutrition, thank god for Lovewell seeing me through!

WHAT’S WORKING?
Going with the flow! I do think this is my signature MO and it’s required of me even more now solo parenting 4 kids on broken sleep. Just rolling with the lunches and keeping things relaxed means everybody seems happier, it’s just stripping the stress out of it.

The other thing that has been working is my mum! Oh boy has she been working! She is SUCH a help. I’ve moved her in to the main house, she usually lives in her granny flat on the property but instead I have her sleeping in the kids room with the troopers and she has just been really pro-active- helping feed them in the morning, getting them ready for bed, holding the babe while I cook for the kids, tidying the house when I’m out, washing the poopy nappies, putting clothes away, taking care of the kids if I am doing a drop off with another child. She’s even done school/dance pick ups which is big for her since she often doesn’t feel super confident driving on the freeway. I only utilise her for pick ups if I am in a bind (like last minute costume tweaks!) but I’m just so impressed by how she’s stepped up in to such a beautiful caretaker role, I absolutely couldn’t do it without her. My dad and stepmum have also been helping with sitting one of the kids if I have to do something, today they picked Bodhi up from school and I met them at Bodhi’s footy. Little things like that have just meant so much to me and to have the kids spend time with their grandparents has been absolutely gorgeous to watch. I am so grateful.