Stretch Marks

Today in the bathroom my daughter was looking at my stomach and told me that my stretch marks were really pretty. She has also told me that she likes my misshapen belly button and that it's really cute. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy at the affection she has for my body. I hold my belly lovingly when I think about the wonderful things that my body can do. I love the way that the stretch marks hug my belly as though they are holding something special, they are proof that I grew an entire person inside me. There is nothing less beautiful about women who hold scars across their bellies, my body is real. How can any woman allow her body to be photographed and Photoshoped in a way that changes what she really looks like and who she really is. That woman doesn't exist. Embrace all that you are and love the body you are in.

Stretch!

I take every spare second as a chance to stretch and breathe. Here's a great post breastfeeding stretch.

Mumma Tea

I've recently discovered a winning combination for a herbal tea blend. This blend can help with your quantity and quality of milk for your baby so it's great even if you haven't had any supply issues.

I mixed 2 table spoons each of fennel seed, caraway seed and fenugreek with  3-4 tablespoons of lemon verbena. Combine ingredients in an airtight container. Place a teaspoon in a cup with boiling water and brew for 5-10 minutes. Tastes great warm or cold.

Yoga and Baby Wearing

Often when I'm wearing my baby and in between doing things or about go out I really feel like doing a bit of yoga. Today I found myself carrying a sleeping baby and was about to head to the train station but really felt like I needed to stretch and breathe. Here's a few pictures to show you that it's still possible to practice yoga in your spare moments with your baby.

Returning to the Soil

Spring has arrived, and with it the sunshine and warm days. Our courtyard is cold and damp all through winter with no direct sunlight meaning it's not my favorite place to be. With the longer and warmer days now the sun is reaching over the high north facing wall bringing light and warmth.

Since Mio's birth we have had the placenta safely stored away in the freezer waiting for the right time to return it to the soil. As Winter at our house is so cold and damp I decided to wait for Spring and the new beginnings it brings. I was home alone with Mio on the day she turned 3 months and decided it was time to bury her placenta. Digging the hole gave me time to reflect on the experience of bringing Mio into the world once again and to give thanks to my body and the earth for the amazing experience.

Digging the hole.

Filling the hole and thanking the earth.

3 Months

My transition into motherhood the second time round has been relaxed, happy and easy. My baby is wonderfully chilled out and has been smiling lots and has even been laughing. She has started dribbling and has had a couple of unsettled moments which I suspect indicates the onset of teething. So much growing, so much changing.

Spring is here and with it has come beautiful warm sunny days which means I can get out of the house and relax in the park (and I've been doing this nearly every day). It's been so warm that Mio has even been able to get her little feet out and wear some more summery clothes. Growth and a change of season means that I need to get knitting (and crocheting, and sewing) so my girls both have some lovely things to wear through Spring.

My woven baby wrap finally came in the mail after an order mess up, it was well worth the wait though because it is gorgeous and soft and super supportive. Being a busy mumma in and out of the house all day with the school run and all the things to do around the house I probably carry Mio for 10 hours a day so it was a fantastic investment.
Carrying her on my back is definitely a favorite; at home it means I can get things done while still being close to each other.
Baby wearing has many benefits for both mum and bub. A baby's need to be touched, cuddled and held
is easily achieved when you wear your baby. A baby who has it's needs met is a happy baby. I also think that a mother has the need to be close to their baby as well and this way everyone can be happy and still get work done and make good food to eat all at the same time.

Family Yoga

Doing yoga with your children is not only a lot of fun but it can help children to establish a love for moving their bodies and exploring the world through movement. My daughter always loves to join me when I'm doing yoga and we enjoy these impromptu moments more than if I try to give her a more traditional lesson.

A lot of my day is spent with my baby close to me and often I want to move and stretch my body when she is snuggled close to me. The great thing about baby wearing is that it allows you do just about anything while you give your baby that all important attention and care. I like to practice a few balance poses while my baby sleeps but it's important to be sensible and only do what you feel comfortable with.

I had a fun and playful yoga session with my girls and it left me feeling full of energy. Here's a few of the highlights.

Postnatal Yoga

With all the new demands, postnatal yoga is not about setting aside your normal one hour session everyday to be alone in you practice. Often five minutes to practice is a blessing. We need to let go of the attachment to our old practice and incorporate yoga into everyday moments. Moving your body purposefully in those spare moments will bring the benefits of a longer practice without needing to organise a solid block of uninterrupted time.

Here are a few of my favourites for these early postnatal weeks and months.

Plank pose was made for the postnatal mama! It strengthens your arms and wrists which helps you to carry that growing baby around. It also strengthens the abdominals and builds core strength, helping your body to return to its pre-pregnancy state.

Downward dog strengthens the back and relieves tension in the shoulders that is caused from carrying and feeding a baby. It also stretches the backs of the legs and the feet, and calms the brain relieving stress and mild depression that can occur as you get used to the demands of motherhood.

Supta Virasana improves blood flow to the abdomen which aides digestion and can improve the function of the reproductive organs.

Paschimottanasana is a great counter pose to Supta Virasana. It stimulates the liver, kidneys, uterus and ovaries making it a great pose for mamas. It is also calming for the mind and reduces fatigue- great if you've had a long night with an unhappy baby.

Child's pose is another favourite for calming the mind. I like extended child's pose as it helps to relieve tension between the shoulder blades. Having your toes tucked under stretches out the bottoms of your feet and toes. 

You can practice this series as individual poses or if you are blessed with more than a couple of minutes you can practice it as a sequence resting in Child's pose to finish your practice.

My Postnatal Body

There is so much hype surrounding women and how quickly they should 'get back into shape' after they give birth. The truth of the matter is that you do put on weight through pregnancy and your body does change and this is completely normal, you need those extra fat stores to establish and sustain healthy breastfeeding while your body recovers from the marathon effort of giving birth. No matter what, physically, mentally and spiritually pregnancy and birth will change you and every pregnancy and birth will be different and bring different learning experiences.

Despite my knowledge of this I must admit that until today I have at times felt a little less than sexy. Half my clothes still don't fit me, I have stretch marks, a round belly, and my hips have disappeared but today I decided to hold my belly with the tender love that I did when I had a baby inside me. And guess what? I was suddenly flooded with a new sense of love and total awe for my beautiful body and its ability to grow and birth another human being.

At a time when women choose to hide their bodies or hit the gym with an unhealthy obsession I'm showing the world my body. I'm choosing to embrace the beauty of my soft round belly and show that even with stretch marks and a bit of extra weight a woman's postnatal body is beautiful.

Living in the Moment

Parenting presents us with challenges and at times can really test our ability to stay cool, calm and collected. Just as we hit the 5-6 week mark our beautiful calm relaxed and easy going baby who never cried now awake to the world around her started becoming over stimulated easily and having trouble falling asleep in the evenings and then throughout the day. No longer a newborn we are now embarking on new stages of development which inevitably will bring new challenges (for her and us)- the first being this over stimulation and trouble settling. While I consider myself incredibly blessed as I am yet to experience this so called lack of sleep new parents are supposed to experience, at times I feel tired and after a long day of holding a baby close to me I want nothing more than to have a hot shower and do a bit of yoga and enjoy the calm quiet of the evening while my baby sleeps next to me. At the moment this doesn't always happen exactly as I would like which presents challenges for me, particularly when Dave is not home to help with dinner and India's bedtime routine and as a pair of cuddly arms for Mio while I have a shower.

In the times that I feel challenged I am thankful that I have my yoga practice (with all its infinite wisdom) to fall back on. The thing I have gained most from my yoga practice is the importance of living in the moment. Just as it is important to live in the moment and breathe through challenging yoga poses, it's important to breathe through challenging moments in our life.

We need to live fully in each moment no matter how uncomfortable. Rather than focusing on how much we would rather be doing something else we need to focus on embracing the moment and being there as a steady rock for our babies. Being anxious and unsettled with your mind elsewhere will do nothing to help your baby settle. Yogic breathing techniques can help to keep you calm and centred in those challenging moments. Breathing deep into your belly slowly in and out gives you something to focus on when your crying baby needs to be held close. There will be times when it seems that your baby will never settle but it's important to remember that your baby will settle and that nothing lasts forever, and that if nothing else through calm breathing you have been there fully for your baby who really needs you.

Yoga

So now that we've hit the six week mark and I've recovered from my chest infection I was very keen to get back into yoga again. I'm aware that my practice will change considerably from my prenatal months and it's important to embrace this change. Postnatal yoga provides the perfect opportunity to bring yoga into all aspects of your daily life. In the weeks since the birth I have focused on my breathing and being calm and centred as I know this has a positive impact on my baby (and myself). When practicing yoga with a baby around, it's important to let go of all your attachments to what your yoga practice was before your baby was born. Chances are, you will not be able to enjoy an extended period of time interruption free. Your practice can be spread throughout the day whenever you have a few minutes to spare, it won't be what you were used to doing but it will help you to live and breathe yoga away from the confines of the yoga mat.

I'm a bit of an inversion junkie so I was very excited to be upside-down again. Mio happily lay beside me on her blanket while I explored what it's like to be upside-down without a baby in my belly again.

Six Weeks

Six weeks already! I have totally recovered from my chest infection and I'm enjoying these warm winter days with my baby. She's growing and changing everyday and she's lifting her head when she lies on her tummy. She has been a bit restless in the evenings but she calms almost instantly when I hold her close and breathe slow and deep.

1 Month Old

So one month since I gave birth has already passed and Mio continues to be a perfectly calm little baby. She sleeps well at night waking about 3 times to feed. She doesn't need to be rocked to sleep and she is happy to have loads of nappy free time. She's such a beautiful little girl.

I will be starting my yoga routine again soon now that my body has had a chance to rest and recover from the birth. I'm looking forward to being upside-down again! My sacroiliac joint problem has been fixed, it was caused by Mio being in an odd position in. All I needed was to loosen the tense muscles in my hips and do some gentle stretches and it very quickly fixed itself.

Sleepy milky daze

Four Weeks

This past week has been pretty rough. India got really sick and barely ate anything for 4 days which meant that her body just wasn't getting what it needed to help her get better and in turn it just made her get sicker. She has never been that sick in her entire life, it turned from a bad cold into conjunctivitis and an ear ache (both things she has never had before) we had to resort to pain killers (another thing we have never needed to do) just to stop the pain and tears. Despite taking olive leaf extract and vitamin C and eating really well I ended up getting sick too, I was so sick that I spent an entire day in bed- I don't think I have ever done that. Dave had a film job in Geelong to do so he was away overnight, taking care of my sick self and two children was not much fun. Mio was great through it all she probably liked that I spent so much time snuggled up in bed with her. I thought she was going to get away with not catching what we had (especially since I was taking so much olive leaf extract and vitamin C) but late on Sunday night she started crying (again, this is something that just doesn't happen) and I knew that she must have finally come down with it. She spent all of Monday sleeping in my arms, there were parts of the day when she was happy but I could tell she was pretty sick and it was really upsetting because I knew exactly how she was feeling. I can't remember India really getting sick as a baby (at least not while she was so little) so it made me feel so terrible. I've been keeping her close and she seems a whole lot better already even after just a day of being sick. Dave thought he was going to get away with not getting sick but has just come down with it too. Never have our whole family been sick at the same time, this week has been a whole lot of firsts for us and I'm not happy about it. This bug really floored me, I'm still getting over it, I'm hoping that with Dave and India both on holidays now we can get out and enjoy these beautiful winter days we've been having.

3 Weeks

Mio is now 3 weeks old and looking so grown up. Still an easy little girl that lets me sleep at night and lets me have a shower while she naps in the evening.

Unfortunately Mio developed a little fungal nappy rash a few days ago. She woke one morning looking a little red and despite spending a few hours each day sleeping without a nappy on, putting breast milk on it, putting probiotic powder on it, and covering it in coconut oil (for it's amazing anti-fungal properties) I couldn't get it to heal. It didn't get any worse but it wasn't getting any better either. India had a similar problem once when she was real little and as much as I hate chemicals and do everything in my power to avoid them I knew that it just wasn't going to go away without a trip to the pharmacy. With only 2 applications and less than 24 hours it has healed considerably which makes me feel much better about the situation.
Considering it is a fungal thing it got me thinking about candida and the fact that her body is a direct reflection of mine because everything that I have goes into my milk so if she has a candida problem then chances are I have one too. I've been taking probiotics but it has been very sporadic as I often forget now that I have two little ones to keep me busy. I considered an anti-candida diet but the diet recommends eliminating all dairy (except yoghurt) and all legumes and as I don't eat meat and have had to take it easy with nuts and seeds otherwise I get stomach aches I decided it wasn't a good idea because I need protein and a varied diet to make milk for my baby. Instead I resolved to eat less sugar (and try to cut it out completely), take it easy with starchy foods like potatoes and take probiotics, I'm sure both Mio and I will benefit from this.

The niggling little pain in my back that I suddenly had at 37 weeks pregnant was still hanging around and was worse if I sat down for an extended period. Curious about exactly where this pain was coming from I looked up some pictures of the bone structure in hips and lower back. I figured out that it was my left sacroiliac joint that was causing problems and did lots of reading and started to get real worried that I may have done some real damage. I decided to go to a physiotherapist to see what they thought and to hopefully knock this problem before it got too bad.
as I suspected it was a problem with my sacroiliac joint but it wasn't as bad as I initially thought. The joint was very tense and the surrounding muscles were also quite tight which was twisting my left hip forward. This fits with my initial thoughts when I first felt the pain when I was pregnant. The cause is most likely from Mio being in a funny position when her head engaged in my pelvis which is why my back hurt and I had a pain at the front of my left hip. The pain in the front of my left hip was probably from her shoulder pressing into it. I mentioned this to our midwife and she said that it did always seem that Mio did seem to lie sort of half sideways across my belly. Mio's positioning caused the sacroiliac joint and the surrounding muscles to become tense which is most like what made that later stages of my labour feels more difficult than it should have and made the labour take longer than I expected.
I find it all incredibly fascinating and it's a relief that I haven't done any serious damage. The physio gave me a few gentle stretches to do so with time I'm sure this niggling little problem will fix itself.
My trip to the physio was also the first time I let Mio out of my sight, Dave came with me and I fed Mio before I went in and then Dave took her for a walk to the coffee shop where they had their first daddy daughter coffee date. She slept through the whole thing but it was still a bit special.

The past 3 weeks have been really beautiful and it's so lovely to see my little girl growing. She really is such an easy baby to take care of, I've been able to do a little crocheting, and some drawing and painting, and I've also been able to cook dinner most nights which is something that I really enjoy doing. I'm trying to soak in these early days before they disappear.

Two Weeks in Pictures

Birth Day 

 1 Day Old

2 Days Old 

3 Days Old 

4 Days Old 

5 Days Old 

6 Days Old 

7 Days Old 

8 Days Old 

9 Days Old 

10 Days Old 

11 Days Old 

12 Days Old 

13 Days Old 

14 Days Old

Night Sweats

 Since Mio was born I've been waking at night covered in sweat. Dave even woke up one night and his back was covered in sweat from me hugging him- he gave up on sleeping in the same bed that night and opted for the couch (waking up covered in someone else's sweat can't be nice. I assumed it was because I was safely snuggled between two people and sleeping that close to Dave and Mio was just making me hot. I was reading up on postpartum herbs and found some information on night sweats. Suddenly it all made so much sense! The sweating is caused by a change in hormones after giving birth as well as the body trying to rid itself of all those extra fluids. I never experienced night sweats after giving birth to India so it's been a whole new experience. Usually the sweating continues for a few weeks after giving birth so probably in the next week or two they should die down.

Ginger tea is good for night sweats and it's important to keep drinking lots of fluid throughout the day. I keep water beside my bed so I can have a few sips through the night when I wake to feed Mio, and I take my drink bottle everywhere with me.
I'm looking forward to a nice warming cup of ginger tea before bed every night, the spicy warmth is bound to  make me feel good on these cold Melbourne winter nights.

Two Weeks

I've been a new mumma again for two weeks, time really does go fast. I'm feeling good, even got out for a quick skate the other day. I'm still remembering to take things easy and I try to have a little nap with Mio every day.
I've stopped bleeding which means my body is recovering nicely. My pelvic floor muscles feel strong and my belly is slowly returning to it's pre-pregnancy state.
My milk supply is going pretty crazy, when my let down reflex kicks in it's all a bit much for Mio. My boobs leak quite a bit now and the breast pads I made have proven themselves very useful.
I've started to do a bit of yoga again- just gentle forward bends and twists as well as a few shoulder and chest opening movements to make sure I don't get too stiff from breastfeeding and carrying a baby around all day. I've also been making sure to practice my pelvic floor exercises to make sure those muscles stay strong. I'm looking forward to getting back into a more regular and longer practice but it's important to give my body time to recover before I rush into things. This is the perfect time for me to practice pranayama and meditation though so I've been trying to focus on that in my spare moments.

I've been trying to work out how to get meals cooked when Dave isn't around. He's been out of the house all day a few times which means I need to make sure India and I have good food to eat. I've discovered that soups and stews are the easiest thing for me to make and I can get things organised by cutting up the vegetables in the morning or though the day and have them in a pot in the fridge ready to cook at dinner time. Not having family around to help out with this kind of thing has been a challenge but we are managing and it really helps to have a super helpful 5-year-old that loves cooking.

Mio is such an easy baby, she sleeps at night, only waking to feed a few times and goes straight back to sleep. She doesn't cry and she likes nappy changes. I can already see her growing and changing, she's waking up to the world and staying awake for longer periods.

Reflections on the First Week

The Birth

I feel really lucky to have been able to have personal care from two midwives during pregnancy and birth. Joy was saying that every birth she attends leaves an impression and on her journey home she thought about how as my baby was crowning I took her head in my hands to guide her out slowly. Joy said it was really powerful and it's how a baby should be born. I remember that feeling and when I put my hand on Mio's head now and feel her soft hair I'm brought back to that moment of slowly guiding her into the world.

Mary said she was amazed at how as soon as Mio was born I was on my feet and I walked without effort to the shower and got in and out of the shower without assistance. As soon as Mio was born I had all the energy in the world, I felt really good and I wasn't tired anymore.

My birth experience with India was so different. I remember getting out of bed to go to the toilet and being hit with the wave of a contraction and from then on it was a hugely intense experience and I needed Dave and mum to hold me both in and out of the pool. This time I didn't really know when labour started, I didn't know if it was labour or not. It's hard not to be influenced to some extent by a previous birth experience so I wasn't expecting to have any signs of early labour and in those early moment I didn't feel like I was in labour at all. While my active labour was similar in length to what I experienced with India my lack of sleep made this birth experience challenging. As challenging as it was though I managed the whole labour with little support from our midwives or Dave, I was way more independent the second time round and I had way more strength- even if it didn't feel like it at the time. I think that part of me also forgot a little about how much an intense experience giving birth is- it really is hard work. I'm so proud of both my birth experiences and I'm so happy that I was able to bring my daughters into the world in our own home.

Baby Blues

It's pretty normal to hit a low around day 3 or 4 after the birth, there is a lot of hormonal change going on as your body adjusts to a new role. I remember with India that I had a very brief but overwhelming sense of helplessness as it hit me that the little person I just gave birth too was completely dependent on me. During that moment Dave was out and even though I had my mum there to take care of me all I wanted was to be wrapped in Dave's arms. Those feelings didn't last very long, probably only a couple of hours but it left a lasting impression on me. I was very conscious that this might happen again so this time I told Dave that I would probably really need him at this time and that I wanted him around at all costs. Because my babies were born at different times of day I experienced a low at night this time rather than during the day. This time though it was a beautiful experience, I was lying in bed just relaxing with my baby and looking at her and touching her hair and all of a sudden I just wanted to cry, she was just so beautiful and so perfect and giving birth to her was so amazing that I just needed to cry. I got up to find Dave because I just wanted to be wrapped in his arms so we could share this experience together. He held me in bed and I cried and felt so much love for him and our two beautiful daughters. We talked and hugged and then I drifted off into a beautiful sleep while feeding our baby.

Feeding

Straight away Mio was great at feeding, she just knew exactly what to do. She had a really big feed when she was born so she ended going 12 hours through that first night without feeding. Her first poo was just a couple of hours after she was born and we changed her a few times during the night but she was happy to sleep through the night without another feed. She feed a lot through the first day and the meconium continued to clear from her system. My milk came in, in the evening of the second day after she was born. My breasts were heavy and full but I didn't seem to have an oversupply and I didn't leak milk everywhere every time she fed. I haven't really needed to use my breast pads. My nipples were a little sensitive but I think that breastfeeding India had conditioned them quite well and I didn't get any cracking. when Mio was 3 days old she had trouble very briefly with the switch from colostrum to milk so she had her first big cry when she was having trouble burping but she quickly got used to the change.

Mio

Mio is an amazingly calm little baby. I believe all the yoga and taking good care of myself helped to bring such a calm and centred little girl into the world. She doesn't cry when I change her nappy and she doesn't cry when she needs to wee or poo. She's so calm when she's awake and she sleeps so well at night. She doesn't cry when she is hungry, she just looks for the breast with her mouth and moves her head around. I'm actually surprised that I wake up at night when she is hungry because she only makes little sucking and grunting sounds.

Me

I'm recovering really well, I feel great. Because we only have 3 seats in our car and I haven't really felt up to going out without Dave and India my outings have been on foot, and while I feel great when I am out I get home and feel quite tired which I'm sure is to be expected after you have walked a couple of kilometres. I managed to go to the city on my own with the girls while Dave was busy, it felt good to get out but I was tired when I got home.

My bleeding is minimal and my uterus is well on its way to contracting down to its original size. My handmade cloth pads work well and are super comfy (way better than wearing plastic). My stomach muscles feel strong and my pelvic floor muscles are not at all sore even after being on my feet for a while. 

40 Weeks (1 Day Old)

Our little girl born one day before her due date. Being pregnant was amazing but now we are ready for a new journey.