Hey everyone, welcome back to the podcast — and welcome to the final part of my birth series (about the postpartum season)! So far, I’ve shared three episodes all about pregnancy and birth, and I really appreciate everyone who’s listened along. If you haven’t yet, you can totally go back and check them out after this one!
Here’s a quick recap:
- The first episode was all about my pregnancy — the behind-the-scenes of my decision to have a home birth and prepare for a VBAC (Episode 318)
- The second episode was Sofia’s home birth story (Episode 319)
- The third was a Q&A where I answered 15 questions about all things birth (Episode 320)
- Now, my 13 best tips for thriving during postpartum season (Episode 321)
Today, we’re diving into postpartum but instead of sharing my personal postpartum story, I wanted to do something a little different. When I sat down to plan this episode, I realized that what might be most helpful for you is practical advice.
After going through three postpartum and newborn seasons (each one unique, with three very different births and babies), I’ve learned a lot. As I’m recording this, I’m about three months postpartum (Sofia is around 14 weeks old), so this is all still very fresh for me.
These are the postpartum lessons and pieces of advice I wish I’d heard sooner — things that aren’t your typical “postpartum recovery” tips. Instead, we’ll focus more on lifestyle, adjusting to a new baby, a growing family, and the transition that comes with it.
LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE NOW:
Subscribe & download the episode to your device: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | iHeartRadio
Search for episode 321!
Okay, so like I said, I’m coming to you right now at three months postpartum with my third baby, Sofia. I also have two boys — Colin and Ethan. Colin is four years old now, and Ethan is a year and a half. So yes, we’ve got a brand-new baby in the house!
I’ll start by saying that I’m not really going to share much about my specific postpartum experience in this episode. It’ll naturally weave into my advice, but what I mainly want to say up front is that this has truly been my best postpartum experience yet. Some of the advice I’ll share will explain why that’s been the case, and I’m so grateful for it.
There are so many factors that go into what makes a postpartum experience feel easier or harder — physical, emotional, situational — so I just want to remind you: don’t compare your postpartum journey to someone else’s. Every situation is different.
And honestly, with this being my third baby, it’s kind of crazy to me that even with more kids, a husband who went back to work much sooner, and a business to run, this time has actually felt easier than my first. Back then, I was just adjusting to having one child. So, it doesn’t necessarily get harder every time.
This has been such a sweet postpartum season for me. I’ve truly loved these months and am continuing to love life as a mom of three. It feels so amazing. I’m really loving our family-of-five life. So that’s a little life update and some context before we dive in.
Now, let’s get into these pieces of postpartum advice that you might not have heard before or at least not explained in this way. These are things I’d tell any mom, whether it’s your first baby, your second, your third, or beyond.
.
1. None of these difficulties of postpartum last forever. Remind yourself that when it’s hard.
Remind yourself of that when things feel hard. Truly, the first year of a baby’s life, and even beyond that, is full of constant change. Week by week, even day by day in those early months, everything shifts so much.
For me, as a third-time mom, it’s easier to see that now. I can look back and think, yeah, that was hard last time too, but it didn’t last forever. It passed quickly. I know to expect things like the three-month sleep regression, and that perspective really helps.
It’s definitely not as easy to see this as a first-time mom, when everything feels so new. But now, I really know how fast it all goes. Especially with my second, Ethan — he still feels like such a baby himself. He’s 19 months old right now as I’m recording this, and that close age gap has shown me just how quickly time passes.
So when things feel hard, I really want you to remind yourself — none of it lasts that long.
Let me give you some real examples from these past three months:
Your baby won’t always be awake with you until you go to bed, like in those newborn weeks when if you go to sleep at nine or ten, they’re still up with you — and then waking throughout the night. Eventually, your baby will have a bedtime around 7:00 or 7:30 (that’s my recommendation), and you’ll get your evenings back. You’ll have that time again to just relax or do something for yourself.
This time around, I actually enjoyed those evenings with Sofia — once the boys were down, she’d stay up with us until our bedtime. But now, at three months postpartum, that phase has already ended.
Nursing also won’t always take 45 minutes every two hours. It becomes quicker, more spaced out, and so much more manageable.
Your baby will eventually sleep through the night. I can’t say exactly when, it’s different for everyone, and honestly, they might sleep through the night for a while and then stop and start again. That’s been my experience. But it does happen, and you will sleep again.
Going out gets easier (both with your baby and without your baby). It really does.
If you hate swaddling (or your baby hates it!), you’ll be done with it before you know it because your baby will outgrow it so fast. Ironically, as I’m recording this, Sofia is taking her first crib nap in the Magic Merlin Sleep Suit, which we use as our swaddle-to-sleep-sack transition. We did about three months of swaddling, and now she’s in that next stage already.
You’ll also get to an actual nap schedule eventually, with fewer naps and more predictability, instead of feeling like your baby constantly needs to sleep.
Those are just a few examples of things that can feel challenging early on, but they really do pass so quickly. Try to remember that and soak in the parts you want to enjoy, because this season goes by in a blink.
The beautiful things about this season also go by quickly. I’ve been reminded of that too… yes, the hard parts pass fast, but so do the amazing, precious, sweet things about the newborn phase. Those are the moments I want to have as permanent photos and videos in my mind forever.
For example, contact naps. Yes, older kids and toddlers can still nap on you, but it becomes so rare, and you really do miss it. I’ve been soaking those up. The little newborn stretches when they come out of the swaddle all scrunched up, the cooing, the way you can just lay around and look into your baby’s eyes and babble back and forth, those happy moments when your baby just wants to be held.
And then all the “firsts” — the first smile, the first laugh, rolling over, grabbing something — all of it is just so, so sweet and precious. And it really does fly by.
That little saying, “the days are long, but the years are short,” is so true in parenting. You’ll find your groove and your new normal sooner than you think but it’s always changing. That first year, the schedule constantly shifts. Eventually, though, you’ll reach a point where things feel more stable (the feeding rhythm, the naps, the daily flow), and if you’re someone who thrives on routine, that will feel really good.
2. Getting “ready” for the day can be very mood-boosting
I’ve talked about this in other podcast episodes, including the ones about my postpartum experiences after both of my boys were born.
But I mentioned this especially after Ethan was born, how much my mood improved when I took a little time to get ready. And I don’t mean putting on jeans or a fancy top or doing your hair perfectly. I’m talking about simple things: comfy sweatpants or leggings you feel good in, a nursing- or pumping-friendly top, a little bit of makeup, and a shower.
That has truly been one of my best postpartum hacks. It’s crazy how much my mood shifts when I go from wearing pajamas, not showering, and having no makeup on — to just putting in my contacts, brushing my hair, or applying a little makeup.
I don’t do that every single day, especially not in the early weeks, but during that first month, it made a huge difference to get ready every few days… even just blow-drying my hair or putting on mascara.
And that’s true even if I look at the day ahead and think, “I’m only going to be at home,” or “the only place I’m going today is the pediatrician and the Starbucks drive-through.” It doesn’t matter and it still helps me feel better and more like myself to get a little bit put together.
On that note, I highly recommend buying yourself some cute clothes, lounge sets, and PJs for postpartum… things you’ll be excited to wear, that feel comfortable and beautiful. Maybe even size up a bit.
Find a few outfits that fit the season you’re in. For me, those early months were during the hot summer, and now we’re easing into fall. Having a few sets or outfits that were easy for nursing or pumping, but also made me feel comfortable, made a big difference.
I usually find mine on Amazon… I’ll just search for sets, pick a few that look cute, and return what doesn’t work. It’s simple and easy.
And again, this is something that really works for me. If you’re hearing me say that and thinking, “Ugh, that sounds stressful, that sounds like more work,” then maybe this tip isn’t for you. But for me, during times in postpartum when I’ve felt down, stressed, or anxious, that little act of getting ready has really helped.
3. Take the rest and slowness that postpartum is inviting you into.
First, it’s okay to hog your baby. It’s okay to just lay in bed and have other people bring you things.
I think too often, after having a baby, whether it’s your first or your third, we feel this impulse to get back to it right away. But you don’t need to. I promise.
And sometimes that impulse can be even stronger if your birth felt easier or went really smoothly. You think, “I don’t actually need that much recovery time,” so you try to jump back in faster than you should.
For me, with this third baby, I actually rested the most. Way better than with my first or second. And that still feels kind of crazy to say, considering what life looks like with three kids.
This time, I had my easiest recovery because I had a straightforward, no-intervention home birth. So in theory, my recovery should have been faster. Plus, I already had two other kids, so I could’ve told myself, or someone else could’ve said, “Elizabeth, your recovery was simple, you’ve got other kids to care for, you need to get back to it.”
But I didn’t tell myself that and thankfully, no one around me did either. And I’m so grateful for that.
So if you have that little voice in your head (maybe because it’s a subsequent birth, or because your delivery was smooth and you feel like you don’t need as much rest), let me be the one to tell you: take the longer recovery.
My midwife actually encouraged me to rest big and I did.
And like I said, I actually rested longer and better this time than even after my C-section.
If you missed the earlier episodes, this was my first home birth, and the postpartum care was completely different from my other two births. My first was through a birth center, and my second was hospital care. But with home birth, I was honestly surprised by how much care and follow-up there was.
I saw my midwife, Aubrey, four or five times before I even got to six weeks postpartum. And when I compare that to my other births, it’s night and day. With my previous experiences, it felt like no one checked on me. I didn’t see a doctor or midwife or have any guidance until that six-week appointment that everyone knows about — you have your baby, you leave the hospital, and then it’s radio silence for six weeks.
And even that six-week appointment… I remember thinking, “What’s the point?” It felt like nothing was really checked on, and then there’s just that quick mental health screening with a few questions, and that’s it.
This time was completely different. I felt like I had so much care and support, and that made a huge difference in my postpartum healing. It helped me rest.
Every appointment, Aubrey would come to our home. We’d meet in our bedroom while I was still laying in bed, and I’d ask her questions like, “Should I start doing this or that now?” or “Can I go up and down the stairs again?” And she kept encouraging me, “No, just keep resting. Keep letting other people help you right now. Focus on rest.”
And I really did. I leaned into resting this time and fully embraced the slowness and that’s exactly what I’d encourage you to do too: embrace the slowness and take the rest.
I can’t say enough how much I loved those first two months postpartum and how well cared for I felt. I loved the slowness. I loved having family help and support. I loved not being the one in charge of meals, laundry, and all those daily tasks (which we’ll talk more about in some of the upcoming tips).
Now, I still did things here and there. I’ll admit, one of the harder parts this time was feeling more disconnected from my older two kids, just because I wasn’t with them as much. But they were totally fine. We had so much family around, lots of people coming and going, and they got tons of attention.
During that first month or two, I wasn’t doing their bedtime routines every night. Normally, Adam and I would each take one kid and alternate nights, but this time, I wasn’t doing that as much. Still, if I felt like, “Oh, I really haven’t connected with Ethan today,” I’d make a point to do his bedtime that night. Little things like that helped me feel connected, even while doing less overall.
And again, it’s not forever. Your kids will be okay with you being less available while you focus on the baby.
The 5-5-5 Rule
There’s a postpartum ritual I want to mention called the 5-5-5 Rule, and there are a few versions of it. The basic one goes like this:
- Five days in bed
- Five days around the bed
- Five days around the house
So, in bed, around your room, and then around your house so you start slowly easing back into activity after birth.
There’s also a more gradual version that goes:
- Five days in bed
- Five days on the bed
- Five days around the bed
- Five days around the house
It’s all about gently transitioning from full rest to light movement and, eventually, normal activity.
I really encourage you to read up on the 5-5-5 Rule — there are tons of blogs and articles out there. Share it with your spouse or family who will be supporting you, and let them know you want to try it.
And if this is your second or third baby and you’re thinking, “I didn’t rest at all after my first,” that was totally me too. I didn’t rest well after my first birth. So this time, I made a point to do it differently.
It doesn’t have to be something that only works when it’s your first baby and you don’t have other kids to take care of. You can absolutely do a version of this with your next baby too.
So, talk to your spouse, talk to your family members, and let them know, “Hey, this is my plan so I can heal better and faster. I want to rest, stay in bed, and really bond with my baby.”
When I talk about taking rest and embracing the slowness that postpartum invites you into, I know it can be hard. You’ve just done this huge thing, and it’s so easy to feel like you need to jump right back into everything. But your body just went through something enormous, and I don’t care what kind of birth you had, your body still needs time, rest, and nourishment to recover.
You need to feed yourself well, you need to rest, and you need to get sleep whenever you can. That’s why everyone says “sleep when the baby sleeps.” It’s not always realistic, but it’s because your body truly needs that time.
Even if you’re feeling pretty good a few weeks postpartum, remember, your body still has a lot of healing to do. You just did something massive, and recovery takes time.
So, I could say a lot more about that, but I’ll leave it there: take the rest, embrace the slowness, and look up the 5-5-5 rule.
Read more: Green Boho Baby Boy Nursery (All the Links for Colin’s Chic Bedroom!)
4. Ask for help and accept help.
I have some specific advice around this that we’ll get into, but again, this applies whether it’s your first baby or your third. What people help with will just look different each time.
With more kids, there’s naturally more to manage, so this time, help might look like people caring for your older children. With your first, it might’ve been more about help with the house or with the newborn directly.
I also know not everyone has a strong support system or family nearby, and that can make it really hard to get the kind of help you want postpartum. I totally get that. And I truly pray that if you’re in that situation, someone will come into your life who can help, or that family might be able to travel to you and stay for a bit.
If that’s not possible, I’d really encourage you to pray about and think through who you could ask to be that helping hand for you and your spouse during this season.
Now, let’s talk about some practical ways to ask for and accept help. Obviously, this depends on your own family and friend situation, but here’s some advice I’d give:
1. Create a postpartum help checklist and put it on your fridge so people can see it when they come over.
This is a more passive way to guide people who are already in your house — visitors, family, friends — on how they can actually help.
This was really helpful for us with my first baby, especially since everything felt new to everyone.
For some of our family, this was the first grandchild, the first time any of us were doing this whole “new baby” thing together. Honestly, I didn’t even really know what kind of help I would want. The idea of having my in-laws or my mom in my house doing things for me felt really strange and different from what I was used to.
Normally, when they’d visit, I’d be in full hostess mode… not laying in bed while they cooked or cleaned.
But I had taken a birth course from My Essential Birth — shoutout to Stephanie, who I just adore. I actually shared Ethan’s birth story on her podcast, Pregnancy and Birth Made Easy. Anyway, I took her birth course as a first-time mom, and it included lessons about postpartum. She now also has a full postpartum course, which I’ve heard great things about.
In that original course, she had a PDF you could print. Something to stick on your fridge or send to family members with ways they could help postpartum.
So, I printed it out and put it on our fridge.
When family came to visit, I could just casually say, “Hey, the birth course I took suggested printing out this list, it has some ideas for ways you can help while you’re visiting if you want to look at it.” It was super casual, nothing awkward or pushy.
That list from Stephanie had things like:
- Take out the trash
- Wipe down the kitchen counters
- Hold the baby so mom or dad can shower
- Take the older kids out of the house for an activity
- Make a pot of coffee
- Fold laundry
- Prepare a meal
Simple, practical things, but it gave people direction.
So, I definitely recommend making your own little list to put on the fridge — something like, “Here are some ways to help.” It’s such a great, low-pressure way to ask for help, especially if it feels uncomfortable to directly tell people what you need. That was definitely me with my first. I didn’t want to ask, so this was a perfect workaround.
2. If you have a family member you’d feel comfortable having stay with you after birth to help, ask them to.
Even if you don’t have a guest room, maybe they’re sleeping on the couch or in another room, having someone actually stay with you can make a huge difference. Or, if they live nearby, maybe they just come over every morning and stay through the kids’ bedtimes.
For both of my second and third births ,with Ethan and Sofia, that person was my mother-in-law, Jan. Both times, she came over when I went into labor to watch the other kids, and then she stayed for about four to seven days straight, just living with us. Then she went home, and came back again a week later to help even more.
It was truly so helpful, and I’m beyond grateful to have that kind of family support — and to actually want someone to come live with us for a week! My mother-in-law and I are super close, and she knows exactly how to take care of me postpartum. She’s also amazing with the kids.
She took such great care of me and was constantly encouraging me to rest, along with Adam, especially during that first month. Other family members helped, too, when they were around.
But if you have someone in your life who you could ask to come stay for a few days or a week, do it. It’s honestly more helpful than people just popping in and out for short visits.
3. Say yes more often when people offer to help. It shows them that their help is appreciated (and say thank you a lot).
This applies in general life, too. If people keep offering to help you and you always respond with, “No thanks, I’ve got it,” eventually they’ll stop offering because it feels like their help isn’t wanted. And maybe sometimes it’s not, but if you do want help, then say yes, even if it’s not done exactly the way you’d do it.
Like, I’ve literally had this scenario: my mom unloads the dishwasher and says, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know where everything goes, so I just left it on the counter.”
And I’ll tell her, “Thank you so much for doing that, it’s still super helpful, even if things aren’t put away.” Because now the dishwasher’s empty, and we can reload it. That’s still progress.
So just saying a big, genuine thank you and letting people know, “Yes, that helps! Please keep doing that!,” goes a long way.
Same with folding laundry. My sweet mom used to say, “I know I might fold things differently than you do,” and I’d be like, “I literally don’t care at all.” I don’t have a special system for folding. Any help is helpful!
Something I also love to do for my friends in postpartum, and that friends have done for me, is when I’m driving through Starbucks, I’ll text and say, “Hey, what’s your drink order? I’m going to drop one on your front doorstep, no need to talk or hang out.”
And saying yes to those kinds of offers, and showing appreciation, is such a good way to encourage people to keep helping. When people aren’t sure if what they’re doing is useful, just tell them it is, and thank them.
4. If family or friend support isn’t an option, consider hiring a postpartum doula to help you in those early days.
We had postpartum doula help when Colin, my first, was a baby, and it was so helpful. They can help at night with everything except feeding the baby (or even do the feeding if you’re using bottles), and they can also help during the day with all kinds of things… whatever you need.
You typically book them by the hour for a set number of hours per day or week. And honestly, if you don’t have nearby family you feel comfortable leaning on, that can be such a worthwhile investment.
Read more: If Being a Mom and a Business Owner Feels Really Hard, Listen to This with Joy Michelle
5. Eat a lot to support breastfeeding and postpartum recovery!
This applies whether or not you’re breastfeeding or pumping, because your body needs nutrients and energy to recover from birth. But it’s especially important if you’re nursing or pumping. If you want to increase your milk supply, help your milk come in, and keep your energy up through sleepless nights and recovery, you’ve got to eat.
I know it sounds simple, but seriously, eating more food is your friend.
If you’ve ever Googled “how to increase milk supply,” you’ve probably seen all the supplements and products being sold for it. But a random thing that always comes up is that Oreos supposedly increase milk supply.
Here’s the truth: there’s no scientific reason Oreos would increase milk supply. There’s nothing magical about them (other than being delicious). I once saw someone joke that Oreos help because they release endorphins and make you happy and that happiness helps your milk come in.
But the real reason is simpler: most breastfeeding moms aren’t eating enough.
So when they suddenly eat a few Oreos, they’re just bumping up their calorie and fat intake, and that’s what helps the milk supply.
So no, this isn’t advice to eat Oreos to boost milk supply (although, funny enough, I did have two Oreos last night). But the real takeaway is — just eat more.
When my midwife and I talked about this, her advice to me was: “Whatever amount you think is enough to eat in those first few weeks — it’s probably not.”
So feed yourself generously.
Don’t forget protein
So get another little serving, especially a serving of protein.
I really did this. For example, one thing we did a lot during those first few weeks postpartum was getting Chicken Salad Chick to have on hand for lunch — just tubs of chicken salad, some croissants, and grapes. (Chicken Salad Chick’s one of my absolute favorite things, by the way.)
My husband or mother-in-law would bring me a plate in bed, and instead of just eating whatever portion they gave me, I’d ask for another serving just to get that extra protein in.
This is not the time to focus on weight loss or starting a new diet. It’s the time to eat to nourish your body. Let yourself enjoy food again. Enjoy the postpartum season. Get your calories up, focus on protein, eat good foods, and drink plenty of water to support breastfeeding and recovery.
Eat warm foods
Also, as you think about what to eat, especially in those early postpartum days, think warm foods.
This was something I learned, I think after Ethan was born, that I didn’t know with my first. I found a little quote from an article that explains it perfectly:
“Eating warm foods postpartum is recommended because they’re believed to help restore energy and balance, support digestion, and promote healing and nutrient absorption. Warm, cooked meals are easier for the body to digest, which is especially important when the digestive system is sluggish after childbirth.”
I wish I’d known that earlier, especially after my C-section or even after my first vaginal birth. After Colin was born, I really focused on smoothies, because they were easy for Adam to make and easy for me to drink one-handed.
But this time, I tried to focus more on warm, cooked meals, and I do think it made a big difference with digestion and just feeling like myself again.
So all that to say, enjoy your food. Have a treat. Eat the Oreo. Have some ice cream. Get the extra serving of protein. Drink your water with electrolytes. Just focus on nourishing your body with good food and kindness.
6. Paper plates, plasticware, and throwaway dining supplies are your best friends.
You can save the planet another day but right now, you just had a baby. So make life easier by going disposable for a little while.
At the end of my pregnancy, I stocked up on paper and plastic plates, plastic utensils, and even paper bowls. I like to get the nicer, microwave-safe ones that won’t melt — you know what I mean.
We used that stuff all the time in the early weeks, especially when we had visitors or big family meals. A lot of it was my husband’s or my mother-in-law’s call since they were managing the food, and they went straight for the paper plates every time — and it was so helpful.
Honestly, I still use paper plates at least once a week now, usually on Friday nights. That’s kind of our thing — pizza and paper plates. It just makes cleanup easy.
So, stock up on all that, right? Use it as needed, and run your dishwasher less. Don’t forget plastic cups too!
In addition to that, take other shortcuts in the kitchen.
Once you’re at a point where you’re starting to cook again, make it as easy as possible. For example, salad kits. We love salad kits in this season. My favorite is the Everything Bagel Salad Kit by Taylor Farms. There’s also Caesar salad kits and so many others, but seriously, we use them all the time.
Yes, they’re a little more expensive and maybe a little less “healthy” than homemade, but it’s still a salad you’ll actually enjoy and can get on the table fast.
Funny enough, Ethan’s favorite food right now is the Everything Bagel Salad Kit, which cracks me up, but he absolutely devours it.
Other shortcuts: buy pre-cut veggies if that helps, keep frozen pizzas on hand, or other easy frozen meals outside of the freezer meals we’re going to talk about next. Just have those options ready to go.
Basically, when it comes to cooking and cleaning in the kitchen, if you find a shortcut that makes life easier, even if it’s a bit more expensive or less eco-friendly, do it. Just do it for this season. It’ll make you happier and make things run more smoothly.
So yeah, one of my biggest little hacks: paper plates and plastic everything in postpartum. Total game changer.
Read more: Postpartum Freezer Meal Prep: Delicious Recipes I Made Before Baby Arrived!
7. Make freezer meals at the end of pregnancy, and then keep the practice up in postpartum once you do start cooking again.
Make freezer meals at the end of pregnancy and keep that habit going in postpartum.
Freezer meals are your best friend in those early weeks, second only to paper plates and plasticware, honestly. And they’re one of my favorite mom-life hacks in general.
I first got into doing freezer meals during my first pregnancy. Like I said, I prepped a ton of meals at the end of pregnancy to have ready for after birth and I never went back. I still make freezer meals now, even when I’m not in that newborn season.
Right now, I’m three months postpartum, and our freezer meals and meal train lasted about two months. So for the last month, I’ve been back in the kitchen cooking like normal.
Last week, I spent some extra time, in between naps for Sofia and juggling the boys, making a couple of casserole-style dishes for dinner. I doubled both of them and froze half.
I also made 16 frozen breakfast burritos last week, which we’ve been enjoying this week (and some last week too).
The two dinners I doubled were a chicken enchilada dish, and a pesto chicken protein pasta. And no, my kids will not eat either of those! Those are just for me and Adam. The boys are in a pickier stage right now, especially with those kinds of meals. But still, doubling them and freezing half has been such a win.
Freezer Meal Tips
I recommend doing your freezer meal prep between 34 and 38 weeks pregnant.
Why that range? Because after 38 weeks, you’ll probably feel too pregnant to spend hours walking around the kitchen and standing on your feet cooking all day.
And if you do it too early, before 34 weeks, the food might not last as long and could go bad before you get to use it postpartum.
For most of these meals, you’ve got about a three-month runway to eat them, which is great. But keep in mind, if one of those months is during pregnancy, that really only gives you two months into postpartum to use them. You get what I’m saying?
Go in with a solid plan for what you’re going to cook.
The way I do it is:
- Plan out the exact meals I’m going to make.
- Choose recipes that share overlapping ingredients.
- Make a full list (what dishes I’m making and the ideal order to prep them in).
- Create a master grocery list for everything.
Then I do a giant grocery order, usually through Instacart, which, yes, is always really expensive. I have everything delivered the day before my prep day, just in case some items aren’t available and I need to go in person to grab them or stop at another store.
After that, have a big prep day, or even two prep days, depending on how much you’re making.
Do a mix of breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals. It’s easy to only think about lunches and dinners, but don’t forget breakfast!
Things like breakfast burritos, oatmeal bakes, and muffins are my go-tos. And this time, just like with Ethan, we also made a French toast casserole. It’s definitely not the healthiest meal, but it’s delicious, satisfying, filling, and something my kids love. So we made a few of those too.
Get someone to help you with it all
This is not something I’d necessarily recommend doing alone, unless you think you’d really enjoy that solo time, maybe listening to a podcast or something. If that sounds peaceful to you, go for it.
But personally, especially being so pregnant, I’ve always liked having someone help. And all three times I’ve done this, my mother-in-law, Jan, has helped me. It’s become kind of a special tradition for us, something we do together while expecting a new baby. She loves cooking too, so it’s always fun.
I handle the planning and shopping, and she comes over to help with all the cooking and prep.
It’s looked a little different each time:
When I was pregnant with Colin, we just did it on a random day since I didn’t have kids yet. Scheduling was easy.
When I was pregnant with Ethan, we already had Colin. So we planned it for a day when Adam was home from work. That time, Jan helped more with Colin, while Adam and I did most of the cooking, because Colin was so excited his Mimi was there, there was no way he was letting her hang out in the kitchen with me!
And this third time, when I was pregnant with Sofia, we did it on a weekday when I had childcare for both boys and Adam was at work. So it became kind of a “workday” for me and we got it all done while the house was quiet.
So, my advice: get someone to help you with your freezer meal prep.
Depending on how much you’re making, expect that it might not all get done in one day, and think strategically about the order you cook things in.
You can work on multiple dishes at once, do all the chopping at once, batch your steps — there’s a lot you can do to make it more efficient and manageable.
It doesn’t have to be a recipe that’s specifically labeled a “freezer meal” in order to work well as one.
This is something I learned after my second baby. The first time, when I was figuring out what to make, I was just Googling and searching Pinterest for “freezer meals” and that’s all I was typing in. But really, anything that’s a casserole-style dish usually works great as a freezer meal.
Meals that can be pre-assembled and tossed into a big Ziploc bag to go straight into the crockpot later also work really well.
My favorite type of freezer meal, especially for lunches and dinners, is casserole-style. And like I mentioned before, I love muffins and breakfast burritos for breakfast.
But just know, you probably already have recipes you make all the time that would freeze beautifully. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You just freeze it differently.
Instead of using your regular glass pan, buy aluminum foil pans in a few different sizes.
Freeze in smaller portions
For example, let’s say you’re doubling a casserole recipe, instead of freezing it into two big pans, split it into four smaller ones. That way, you’re not thawing a massive dish every time.
Because, and this ties into tip number eight coming up, you might have a meal train, or people bringing you food, or you might be getting takeout more often. So you don’t always need a full 9x13 casserole’s worth of food every time you want to eat. Smaller portions make things easier.
So those are my freezer meal tips.
And if you’re listening to this thinking, “Okay, that’s great, Elizabeth, but I’m one month postpartum and I didn’t do any of that,” that’s totally okay.
You can start anytime… just double whatever you’re already cooking and freeze some in freezer-safe containers.
This is something that’s become part of how I cook as a mom. I started doing it after having my first baby, and I’ve kept it up ever since.
Even when it was just Colin and Ethan, before I was pregnant with Sofia again, I got into a habit of doing big freezer breakfast preps every few weeks.
I’d make breakfast bagel sandwiches, English muffin sandwiches, breakfast burritos, and breakfast muffins. I love breakfast freezer prep, it makes mornings so much easier.
So, it’s not just for postpartum, it’s really a great rhythm for motherhood in general.
Anyway, those are my rapid-fire freezer meal tips.
And let me know if you’d ever want a full episode, or even a series on another podcast, all about freezer meals. I know it’s not business-related, but if that’s something you’d want to hear more about, I’d love to know.
8. Ask a friend to make you a meal train and then send it out to people for you as well.
Ask a friend to make you a meal train.
I am a huge fan of meal trains when a family has a new baby. Maybe it’s a Southern thing, or maybe it’s just my specific friend group, but it’s kind of an unspoken rule — when someone has a baby, someone organizes a meal train for them.
And I’m the same way, if a friend has a baby, I’m like, “I’m bringing you a meal.”
We use MealTrain.com for this. It’s free to use (they do have paid features, but the free version works perfectly).
I actually just logged into my Meal Train account recently, and I’ve personally organized seven meal trains for other families over the past few years. And my family has had four meal trains made for us — one for each baby, and one when my dad passed away.
A meal train is exactly what it sounds like — it’s a calendar where people sign up to bring meals to a family. Usually dinner, though it can be anything. The idea is that it’s like a “train” of meals that keeps coming, so the family doesn’t have to cook for a while during whatever big life event they’re going through.
On the Meal Train site, the organizer sets it up with the recipient family’s info — you can include photos, food preferences, favorite dishes or restaurants, preferred drop-off times, your address, dietary restrictions, and more.
It’s all laid out clearly for everyone who’s helping.
So that’s why I’m saying, MealTrain.com is so worth using, versus just having a friend say, “Oh, want me to ask some people to bring you food?”
Use the website. The calendar function is really nice, because maybe there’s a night when you’re like, “No, we don’t want anyone coming, we have family in town,” or “We’ll still be at the hospital,” or “We just want a quiet evening.” You can block off those dates easily. I love that about it.
If you’re approaching your due date and no one has offered to set up a meal train for you, or if you’re thinking, “Wait, I’ve never done this before, none of my friends usually do meal trains when they have babies,” then I would just say: ask a friend if they’d be willing to set one up for you.
They can text or email it out to people. Or, if you prefer, you can be the one to share the link yourself where you’re listed as the recipient and they’re the creator.
There are a few ways to handle it. I’ve done it differently for different friends:
- Sometimes I’ve had the friend send me a list of phone numbers for everyone they want to include.
- Sometimes I’ve entered everyone’s email addresses myself.
- Other times, I’ve just posted the link into a group text we’re both in, and the organizer sends it out to the rest.
There’s no one right way, just whatever makes it easy for you.
Another idea: if you have a fellow expecting mom due around the same time as you, offer to swap meal trains. Like, “Hey, we’re both pregnant, let’s each set up a meal train for the other.” That can be such a fun and practical way to support each other.
Every time we’ve done a meal train, it’s been one of the biggest blessings in our postpartum season.
Yes, I make freezer meals, like I talked about earlier, but the meal train meant that we barely had to touch those freezer meals at first. For the first two months, I literally didn’t start thawing any of them for dinners.
Actually, we even used three or four of our freezer meals before Sofia was born, between 40 and 41 weeks pregnant, because we all got sick as a family.
If you listened to Sofia’s birth story, you probably remember this part — Ethan got really sick, then we all caught it. And even though I was like, “Ugh, I didn’t want to dip into our freezer meals yet,” it ended up being so, so helpful.
I was in no position to cook or even go grocery shopping, so having those freezer meals ready to go was a total gift.
So the meal train and freezer meals really work together beautifully helping you not have to worry about cooking at all.
It’s also a really sweet way for friends and family to meet the baby, if that’s something you want, they can drop off a meal and say hi for a few minutes. (More on that next.)
This time around, since it’s still so fresh, Sofia was born at home, so I didn’t have that hospital stay beforehand where you wait to start the meal train until you’re discharged.
But we still had the meal train start later because we had so much family visiting at first, and they were already providing meals.
My friend Sarah Clark set up my meal train for us, and I had actually done hers too, since she had a baby about three months before me. So it was kind of like we swapped, “You do mine, I’ll do yours.”
She made me a recipient on the MealTrain site, which meant I could log in and edit the dates myself, but she handled creating it and filling in all the details, our preferences, favorite restaurants, dietary notes, all that.
Basically, we kept the first week blocked off for family, with no sign-ups, and then opened it up afterward for a few nights a week where people could bring meals.
I even added a note on the page that said something like, “After this date, Adam will be on paternity leave for three weeks,” so, I put a note after that date saying that would actually be the most helpful time because Adam was going to be back at work, and I’d be home alone more with three kids. Having dinners taken care of then would be really helpful.
Some friends came in and visited when they brought food, while others just left meals on the doorstep, depending on timing. We also had some really sweet non-local friends who sent gift cards or ordered food from local restaurants and had it delivered to us which was so thoughtful.
So, if you’re hearing all this and thinking, “That’s nice, but my community or my friends don’t live nearby,” don’t worry. Gift cards, DoorDash, and delivery meals work just as well.
One of my friends, Tori, actually did this a few years ago. Right after she had her baby, she’d just moved away from where I live, so she didn’t have much local community yet. I set up a meal train for her, and all of us back here, her friends from home, signed up to send her gift cards, order her food for delivery, all of that.
So, even if your community isn’t local, it can still work beautifully.
9. You don’t have to see every visitor, even if they are kind enough to be bringing you a meal.
Sometimes people want to drop off food and also stay to chat, or they’ll text like, “Hey, can I stop by and see the baby right now?”
I’m just putting this out there… you can say no. Short and simple, you have permission to say no.
I remember as a first-time mom, and even last time, and a few times this time, feeling so overwhelmed when someone wanted to visit and I just wasn’t up for it.
Maybe Sofia would be due to nurse, or maybe I just wanted to nap, or I didn’t feel like getting ready, or cleaning up. Sometimes it’s even that feeling of, “I don’t want this person to see my house like this.”
Whatever it is, you can be kind and still say, “Oh my gosh, thank you so much, I appreciate this meal so much, but the timing’s not great right now.”
Or you can say, “Yes, I’d love a quick visit, let’s just plan for about 30 minutes.”
You can totally set those boundaries ahead of time.
You don’t have to let everyone hold the baby. You don’t have to have long visits.
And sometimes, you will want to! I had a few times this postpartum where a friend dropped off a meal, and I was like, “Stay forever.”
I was loving the company, catching up, talking about everything. We even had some close friends who brought takeout, brought their child too, and we all ate together. She held Sofia while I ate, and it was just such a sweet evening.
Those moments are wonderful, but again, if it doesn’t work for you in the moment, you can say no. Or if it does, say, “Please stay longer.” Just don’t be afraid to tell people what you need, and what kind of visit you’re up for.
10. Take all the photos and videos you want, and be in them too.
Hand someone your phone and ask them to take a picture of you and your baby, or of you with all your kids, or even a short video where you’re just being yourself — no makeup, messy hair, nursing your baby.
It doesn’t have to be a “postable” photo to be a perfect memory. Some of my favorite postpartum photos are those real, unfiltered moments.
Sometimes I’ll just hand Adam my phone and say, “Hey, can you snap a photo of this?” Or I’ll take a selfie with Sofia, or a picture of the boys doing something simple or of Adam being sweet with the kids.
The big takeaway here is: be in the photos, too.
And that’s not just postpartum advice, that’s motherhood advice in general.
It’s so easy to always be behind the camera, taking the perfect photos of your baby, your kids playing, or your husband with the kids.
But turn the camera around, or ask someone to take a photo of you in it, too. Those are the moments you’ll want to look back on.
And again, I truly believe that some of your favorite photos and videos from the postpartum season are going to be the ones that feel the least “Instagrammable.” Those are often the most real and the most meaningful.
So anyway, just a reminder, that’s true for all of motherhood. Be in the photos. Take the photos and the videos.
11. Find comfort in the fact that things will be different with every baby, so something that was disappointing or hard with one postpartum season might be different the next time.
I want you to know, and find comfort in this, that things are going to be different with every baby. Something that felt disappointing, hard, or frustrating in one postpartum season might be completely different the next time.
Basically, my point is: it doesn’t necessarily get harder and harder with each baby. Every child is different. Every season is different. And you are different each time, too.
Just like each child needs something unique, you as a mom will need something different with every baby because you’re evolving, too.
For example, I’ve had three kids now, and even though Sofia is still so little (she’s three months old), I’ve already had a completely different feeding journey with each one.
This time, with my third, nursing has actually been the easiest for me. And that doesn’t mean it came without work. We’ve still seen a lactation consultant, and that was so helpful. (Cannot recommend that enough.)
But with my first, Colin, he had tongue and lip ties and a bunch of other things going on that made nursing really difficult. That was such a struggle for me. We made it work, but we supplemented with formula, I pumped constantly, and I did the whole “triple feeding” routine. Ultimately, though, I nursed him for a really long time (until he was about 20 months old), and then weaning was the hard part. That was our experience with him.
With Ethan, it was totally different. He didn’t have any ties, which was awesome, and feeding started out really smoothly. But we ended up supplementing with formula again, and over time he preferred the bottle. So I did a lot of pumping and bottle feeding with him, and that was hard for me in different ways (mostly the amount of time and work it took, all the washing and prepping, the constant cycle).
So, again, there were challenges with both, but they were different challenges.
And I think as you have more kids, and more experiences, you start to learn what matters most to you: what you want to try for, what feels sustainable, and what fits your family best.
I remember, when Colin was a baby, a lactation consultant asked me, “What’s your feeding goal?” And I just laughed and said, “My goal is to get through today.”
Because that’s honestly how it felt… hard and overwhelming. I couldn’t even think long-term.
But this time around, I went into it with a clearer sense of what I wanted. After experiencing bottle preference and nursing refusal before, I knew how much work that pumping-and-bottle routine was and I realized I really didn’t love it.
I wished I’d been able to nurse more exclusively. That would’ve been my ideal.
So this time, I went in with the goal of exclusively nursing, if possible and that’s what I’ve focused on.
My bigger point is: there have been really hard things and really great things about all three feeding experiences.
I’ve truly done it all — nursing, bottle feeding with formula, pumping — and each one taught me something different.
You figure out what works best for you, what you prefer in that season, and what your baby prefers.
One thing might go beautifully with one baby and be a total struggle with the next or the other way around.
So just remember: every experience is unique.
Whether it’s feeding, sleep, postpartum recovery, anxiety, depression, maternity leave, or how your birth went it will look different every time.
And that’s okay. And yes, there will be some things that stay similar, just because that’s who you are as a mother and how you tend to do things. But overall, things will be different.
So try not to compare. Try not to compare your current season with this baby to your past experiences and definitely don’t compare yourself to friends or what other people are going through.
An extra note about feeding your baby
Even if you’re bottle feeding, whether that’s with pumped milk or formula (both are great options, by the way), you can still be the one feeding your baby.
I think that can be hard sometimes, especially early on, when everyone’s like, “Oh, anyone can feed the baby now!”
But maybe you’re actually thinking, No, I want to be the one feeding my baby.
Even if you’re doing bottles, you can say that.
You can say, “Thank you, but I want to do this feeding.”
That’s just my little tip if that’s how you feel. It’s okay to hold that boundary.
12. To my business owner friends, plan for your maternity leave, then enjoy the plan. Your business will be OK.
I’ve done a couple of episodes on this podcast all about planning a maternity leave:
- What I Did To Prepare For A 2 ½ Month Maternity Leave As An Online Business Owner (+ My Top Tips for Planning ANY Time Away from Your Business)
- How I Planned (& Executed) My 3 Month Maternity Leave with Baby #2
Those episodes are a great starting point, because figuring out how to plan for a maternity leave is really hard.
But here’s the truth: you will never plan it perfectly.
There’s always more to do in business — always.
Even if you say, “Okay, I’m closing my laptop, unplugging the podcast mic, taking a break, not posting on Instagram,” there will still be something calling your attention.
That’s just the nature of running a business.
So at some point, you have to make the plan, execute the plan, and then actually take the break.
Simple as that.
This time with your baby, this particular season when your body needs you to slow down, it only happens once. It won’t last forever so rest well, take the break, savor the moments, unplug from your business.
Your business will also likely look different post-baby
And I’ll also add: your business and the way you run it will likely never go back to exactly how it was before you had kids or even how it was when you “just” had one child, or two.
Each baby changes things. Each season evolves the way you work and the way you show up.
And when they’re older, things will shift again — maybe when they’re school-aged, you’ll be able to dive deeper into your business in a different way. I’m not there yet, but that’s what I imagine.
But just like how you’re not trying to get your body “back” to how it was before you had a baby, you’re also not trying to run your business the way you did before either.
Becoming a mom changes everything including how you run your business.
And if you’re anything like me, you might have a little existential crisis when that happens. You might find yourself thinking, “What am I even doing? How do I do it all?” It can feel overwhelming to add a baby into a system that was running smoothly before. You can feel divided — pulled between two things you love deeply.
But here’s my best advice: you’ll figure it out.
It’s hard at first. But as time goes on, you’ll settle into a rhythm. You’ll learn how to do both, business and motherhood, in a way that works for you.
Read more: How to Navigate Becoming a Mom When You Already Have a Business You Love
But start by taking the break. Really, take the break.
I can’t tell you how many times I see women share later that they wish they’d actually taken a maternity break.
They’ll say things like, “I was in the hospital posting a reel,” or “I launched a client’s website from my hospital bed,” or “I only took one week off before hopping back on Zoom calls.”
You probably see that too.
No one ever says they don’t regret that.
You’ll never hear someone say, “I’m so glad I brought my laptop to the hospital and launched while I was three days postpartum.”
No one says that.
What they do say is that they wish they could go back and do it differently.
So, hear that advice and take the break. Savor the moments. Do a little work if it genuinely feels fun and energizing, but generally speaking, stick to the break you planned to take.
Read more: My Top 4 Productive Mom Hacks for Running a Successful Business with a Baby or Toddler
13. Don’t compare your motherhood or your baby to other babies and other moms.
Don’t compare your motherhood or your postpartum journey to anyone else’s.
Talk with other moms, learn from them, use helpful resources like this podcast or others you love, but resist the urge to compare.
Because what makes something feel easier or harder for someone is a mix of a hundred different factors.
And when you compare — especially when you don’t know someone’s full story (or even if you do, but your story is just so different) — it’s never helpful.
I remember this so vividly with my first baby. We had so many feeding struggles, like I mentioned, he had tongue and lip ties, a head preference, and sleep was rough.
And I remember hearing people say things like, “Sleep like a baby,” as if babies just sleep anywhere and everywhere.
Mine did not sleep.
We were doing fully swaddled, held naps in a dark nursery when he was just a week old because he simply wouldn’t sleep out in a bright room.
And that was fine, we got through it. He does sleep better now (though still not a great sleeper at this age). But at the time, it was so hard not to compare.
I had friends whose babies were already sleeping through the night, and I’d think, What am I doing wrong? Do I need to read a different book? Take a different course?
But the truth is, some babies just don’t sleep as well.
And that’s what I mean you can’t compare. There are so many factors that go into every experience.
For me, seeing a mom who looked well-rested with her baby napping peacefully in a stroller while she sipped coffee, that just wasn’t my reality. And that’s okay.
In postpartum especially, social media, Instagram in particular, can be such a tough place for comparison. So if you find it’s making you feel worse, get off. Stop the scroll.
It’s so easy to spend hours scrolling when you’re feeding a baby or awake at night. But ask yourself — is this actually helping me, or is it hurting me?
If it’s hurting, maybe step away.
You’ll still be on your phone some, that’s just part of this season, but try shifting what you do there. Read a book or an article. Read the Bible on your Bible app. Listen to a podcast. There are so many ways to use that time that can actually fill you up instead of drain you.
For me personally, scrolling doesn’t usually leave me feeling good (especially in postpartum).
My Best Tips For The Postpartum Season
Anyway, that’s it, my best tips for the postpartum season.
I could honestly say so much more about this topic, but these are the ones that stood out the most as I reflected on the last three months — especially that first month postpartum.
I really hope something in here is helpful for you.
And if you’re curious about home birth resources, you can visit elizabethmccravy.com/birth: there’s a full blog post there with links to all my favorite home birth and VBAC resources.
Next week on the podcast, we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled, mostly business-related episodes.
But I really hope you’ve enjoyed these more personal reflections on birth and postpartum. I’ve loved recording them, truly, and I hope they bless you in both your life and your business.
Links Mentioned:
If you missed the earlier parts of this series, you can go back to listen to:
- Episode 318: My Pregnancy + Home Birth Plans
- Episode 319: Sofia’s Home Birth Story
- Episode 320: Your Birth Questions Answered
My best home birth and VBAC resources: elizabethmccravy.com/birth
Colin’s birth story: Episode 148
Ethan’s birth story: Episode 265
Maternity Leave Prep Episodes: Episodes 139, 276
BTS of my maternity leaves with Colin and Ethan: Episodes 158, 277, 278
Not sure which template is right for you? Take the quiz!
Listen to the Breakthrough Brand Podcast
Thanks to our blog sponsor, Christian Healthcare Ministries (CHM)!
CHM is a faith-based alternative to health insurance—at about half the cost. You can enroll at any time and join a proven, faith-based solution that’s both reliable and affordable.
My family has been CHM members for over 5 years, and their maternity care shared all expenses for all 3 of my children’s births—from c-section to home birth. They even shared costs for key parts of prep and postpartum care, like pelvic floor physical therapy and lactation consulting.
Beyond birth, CHM has helped us through ER visits, surgeries, and procedures. Those bills were shared by other CHM members, leaving us responsible only for our monthly contribution.
I can’t recommend Christian Healthcare Ministries enough! It’s more than financial help—it’s also spiritual support when you need it most.
Learn more here! And if you’d like to hear our full story, check out episode 305 of The Breakthrough Brand Podcast, where Adam and I dive into our experience with CHM.
