4 post-partum must do’s
1. Keep up with belly oil
As your skin begins the journey back to your pre-pregnancy size there are a few helpful things you can do. One being that you definitely want to nourish your body with diet and light stretching. Though externally, you may want to think about keeping up with your belly oil routine (mine is at night, before bed). Oiling your belly will help with skin elasticity and hydration as your uterus shrinks, and your once blooming belly returns to whatever your norm is. My personal favourite is bio oil post-baby as it contains a natural retinol, and doesn’t ruin my bed sheets!
2. Continue taking your prenatal vitamins
Prenatal vitamins are great for hitting all your vitamin and mineral markers postpartum, though they also help with maintaining normalcy in your body. After you give birth your body is going to have a crash of hormones, amongst other changes, so you may want to consider maintaining your daily prenatal vitamin for several months. This way you can reduce the risk of becoming deficient in a vitamin or mineral, while not having to think about what you need to change right away in your diet (trust me, you won’t have much time to think about yourself - for a while!).
3. Drink way more water than you think you need
I found with my first baby I was eating in the middle of the night while breastfeeding - I just felt crazy hungry all the time. Enter feeling like I was gaining weight, quickly. After doing some research on how breastmilk is created in the body, I discovered its base is lots and lots of water. So I pumped up my hydration and felt a lot better than eating around the clock. My water intake curved my seemingly insatiable appetite and bonus!! I also noticed that my milk supply increased! Even if you’re not breastfeeding, your body is going to be losing a lot of fluids, so drinking more water helps in your equilibrium, weight, and skin, too.
4. Belly massage followed by a belly band
Your guts, yes your guts, have moved all around inside to accommodate your beautiful little passenger for the past 9 months. Now that your baby is in your arms, your insides are trying to get back into position. Gentle belly massage (with your belly oil - win win) helps this process; using a belly band after massage will support your spine, alignment of your guts, and posture. This will help you feel that pre-pregnancy posture you likely forgot about. I massage my own belly, and I just do what feels good to me - I try to focus on stimulating some blood circulation, and reacquainting myself with my belly.
