First Steps To Postpartum Recovery

 

From the moment of conception there is no doubt your body changes drastically especially when you deliver your baby and placenta. Hormones trigger many imbalances and fluctuations making you feel like a hurricane just hit you, no matter how much you plan.

If you are one of the lucky women, your physical appearance will bounce back to normal but we know this doesn’t mean you have regained functionality. You may find yourself in pain, constantly urinating, constipated, poor digestion, unable to cope, mad at the world, overwhelmed, looking for answers and wondering if you are going to feel this way for the rest of your life. Creating a balanced recovery plan touching on all areas of your life is crucial after having a baby. 

---

[pullquote style=”left”]”Lack of self-care within the first six months of childbirth can affect the next 40 years of your life.”[/pullquote]

In the USA, it is common after delivery for you to go home with minimal health advice. Your baby gets a wellness check within a few days and you see your OB/GYN in six weeks and are usually cleared for activity. But we are missing care for hormonal imbalances and other common symptoms mothers of newborns experience. It becomes your responsibility to pay attention and question anything abnormal.

A holistic approach and organizing your life allows you to regain control of your life and body by recognizing when you need help and learning how to not accept these changes as your new normal. Read on to learn some simple things to help you get and keep you on track and balanced.

---

There are 15 major component of daily life everyone needs to balance. Your quality of life may seem diminished when they are unbalanced. Review the list below. Order them from “needs the most work” to “needs the least amount of work.” This helps you find clarity and identify your pain areas.

Most can be deeply personal making them hard to face. Acknowledging and visualizing your daily needs, wants and desires is the first step to making them reality. Only after you identify the areas needing the most work, can you begin to set transformative goals and find satisfaction. Honestly evaluate connections in your life components. Example: perhaps your nutrition or partner bond is suffering because of poor time management or emotional health.

 

---

Components To Life:

1. Physical Health (pain, illness, injury)

2. Emotional Health (happiness, sadness, stress)

3. Environment (living and work conditions)

4. Financial (abundance, debt, income, bills, savings)

5. Leisure/Fun (vacation, dining, television, social gatherings)

6. Friends/Family (children, relatives, quality and quantity time, interpersonal connections)

7. Partner/Significant Other (communication, alone and together time, depth of bond, intimacy)

8. Purpose/Career (fulfillment, satisfaction, motivation)

9. Personal Growth (education, skill development, culture)

10. Spiritual Growth (empathy, emotional quotient, intrapersonal reflection, inward beauty)

11. Time Management (procrastination, distractions, asking for help)

12. Physical Activity (exercise, playtime, strength training, massage)

13. Nutrition (food, cooking, supplements, healthy choices)

14. Beauty Routine (outward care, clothing, hair, skin, nails)

15. Chores (dishes, dusting, vacuuming, laundry, neatness)

 

 

 

---

Values:

 

After prioritizing your life components, figure out the values driving your decision-making. Knowing this provides clarity for achieving your goals. Mothers have many time constraints: feedings, play-dates, activities, school, baths, bedtimes, cooking, cleaning. It seems there is never enough time to get things done.

Establishing your driving values puts your life on track, helps you meet your goals and minimize distractions. This allows you to focus on truly meaningful tasks leading you to find your personal truth and purpose in all your actions.

Make a list of your core values. Look up their definitions. Prioritize your list and write statements for each describing how that core value makes your feel or how you feel when they are taken away. Values change and grow with us, so pick ones resonating with you as well as aspirational ones.

 

Example:

Freedom
Fulfillment
Happiness
Warmth
Abundance
Openness
Financial Independence
Adventure
Influence
Spontaneity
Youthfulness
Health

 

---

Value Statements:

 

1. Freedom makes me happy.

2. I am fulfilled when I help others.

3. The feeling of happiness radiates warmth.

4. Openness in space and heart allows me to not feel cloistered and trapped.

5. Financial independence allows me to foster abundance and spontaneity.

6. My health keeps me youthful and energized.

7. Youthfulness allows me to embark on adventures.

    

---

You can figure out how to ground yourself in any situation by finding your values.

Check out the amended list below or the original from https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2004/11/list-of-values/ and use some of their other materials to help guide you.

---

 

[one_fourth first=]

Abundance

Acceptance

Accessibility

Accomplishment

Accountability

Accuracy

Achievement

Acknowledgement

Activeness

Adaptability

Adoration

Advancement

Adventure

Affection

Affluence

Aggressiveness

Agility

Alertness

Altruism

Amazement

Ambition

Amusement

Anticipation

Appreciation

Approachability

Approval

Art

Articulacy

Artistry

Assertiveness

Assurance

Attentiveness

Attractiveness

Audacity

Availability

Awareness

Awe

Balance

Beauty

Being the best

Belonging

Benevolence

Bliss

Boldness

Bravery

Brilliance

Buoyancy

Calmness

Camaraderie

Candor

Capability

Care

Carefulness

Celebrity

Certainty

Challenge

Change

Charity

Charm

Chastity

Cheerfulness

Clarity

Cleanliness

Clear-mindedness

Cleverness

Closeness

Comfort

Commitment

Community

Compassion

Competence

Competition

Completion

Composure

Concentration

Confidence

Conformity

Congruency

Connection

Consciousness

Conservation

Consistency

Contentment

Continuity

Contribution

Control

Conviction

Conviviality

Coolness

Cooperation

Cordiality

Correctness

Country

Courage

Courtesy

Craftiness

Creativity

Credibility

Cunning

Curiosity

Daring

Decisiveness

Decorum 

Deference

Delight  [/one_fourth][one_fourth second=]

Dependability

Depth

Desire

Determination

Devotion

Devoutness

Dexterity

Dignity

Diligence

Direction

Directness

Discipline

Discovery

Discretion

Diversity

Dominance

Dreaming

Drive

Duty

Dynamism

Eagerness

Ease

Economy

Ecstasy

Education

Effectiveness

Efficiency

Elation

Elegance

Empathy

Encouragement

Endurance

Energy

Enjoyment

Entertainment

Enthusiasm

Environmentalism

Ethics

Euphoria

Excellence

Excitement

Exhilaration

Expectancy

Expediency

Experience

Expertise

Exploration

Expressiveness

Extravagance

Extroversion

Exuberance

Fairness

Faith

Fame

Family

Fascination

Fashion

Fearlessness

Ferocity

Fidelity

Fierceness

Financial independence

Firmness

Fitness

Flexibility

Flow

Fluency

Focus

Fortitude

Frankness

Freedom

Friendliness

Friendship

Frugality

Fulfillment

Fun

Gallantry

Generosity

Gentility

Giving

Grace

Gratitude

Gregariousness

Growth

Guidance

Happiness

Harmony

Health

Heart

Helpfulness

Heroism

Holiness

Honesty

Honor

Hopefulness

Hospitality

Humility

Humor

Hygiene

Imagination

Impact

Impartiality

Incisiveness

Independence

Individuality  [/one_fourth][one_fourth third=]

Industry

Influence

Ingenuity

Inquisitiveness

Insightfulness

Inspiration

Integrity

Intellect

Intelligence

Intensity

Intimacy

Intrepidness

Introspection

Introversion

Intuition

Intuitiveness

Inventiveness

Investing

Involvement

Joy

Judiciousness

Justice

Keenness

Kindness

Knowledge

Leadership

Learning

Liberation

Liberty

Lightness

Liveliness

Logic

Longevity

Love

Loyalty

Majesty

Making a difference

Marriage

Mastery

Maturity

Meaning

Meekness

Mellowness

Meticulousness

Mindfulness

Modesty

Motivation

Mysteriousness

Nature

Neatness

Nerve

Non-conformity

Obedience

Open-mindedness

Openness

Optimism

Order

Organization

Originality

Outdoors

Outlandishness

Outrageousness

Partnership

Patience

Passion

Peace

Perceptiveness

Perfection

Perkiness

Perseverance

Persistence

Persuasiveness

Philanthropy

Piety

Playfulness

Pleasantness

Pleasure

Poise

Polish

Popularity

Potency

Power

Practicality

Pragmatism

Precision

Preparedness

Presence

Pride

Privacy

Proactivity

Professionalism

Prosperity

Prudence

Punctuality

Purity

Rationality

Realism

Reason

Reasonableness

Recognition

Recreation

Refinement

Reflection

Relaxation

Reliability  [/one_fourth][one_fourth fourth=]

Relief

Religiousness

Reputation

Resilience

Resolution

Resolve

Resourcefulness

Respect

Responsibility

Rest

Restraint

Reverence

Richness

Rigor

Sacredness

Sacrifice

Sagacity

Saintliness

Sanguinity

Satisfaction

Science

Security

Self-control

Selflessness

Self-reliance

Self-respect

Sensitivity

Sensuality

Serenity

Service

Sexiness

Sexuality

Sharing

Shrewdness

Significance

Silence

Silliness

Simplicity

Sincerity

Skillfulness

Solidarity

Solitude

Sophistication

Soundness

Speed

Spirit

Spirituality

Spontaneity

Spunk

Stability

Status

Stealth

Stillness

Strength

Structure

Success

Support

Supremacy

Surprise

Sympathy

Synergy

Teaching

Teamwork

Temperance

Thankfulness

Thoroughness

Thoughtfulness

Thrift

Tidiness

Timeliness

Traditionalism

Tranquility

Transcendence

Trust

Trustworthiness

Truth

Understanding

Unflappability

Uniqueness

Unity

Usefulness

Utility

Valor

Variety

Victory

Vigor

Virtue

Vision

Vitality

Vivacity

Volunteering

Warmheartedness

Warmth

Watchfulness

Wealth

Willfulness

Willingness

Winning

Wisdom

Wittiness

Wonder

Worthiness

Youthfulness

Zeal

[/one_fourth]

 

 

---

Goals:

 

You have recognized your priorities, deficits and values. Now you can set your goals. Doing this, you may find your values have changed. This is not a bad thing. For instance, you might value desserts or dining out and have a goal to become a body builder. It requires routine and a strict diet to meet your body composition goals, so you will have to reconcile how you value carefree meals with body building. Your values are guidelines not rules to govern your life, though some are less negotiable. Be open to change as you proceed.

 

1. Make a list of goals to help you balance the 15 areas of your life

2. Pick the top 3 areas needing help

3. Create 10 goals to help you improve these areas

4. Refine each goal like a project manager by listing each step to reach your goal

5. Focus on and complete each step

 

You may find some steps take longer than expected but consistency is key. Remain focused and committed to achieving your goals, step by step. Don’t get lost in the process. Change is never easy – the rewards are worth your diligence. If you need encouragement or advice along the way, book an appointment with Lencola or attend a live Core Care Priorities workshop. 

 

---