FIVE Postpartum Things I Learned From My Personal Trainer

March 13, 2023March 13, 2023 leahjorgensen

woman chats with her personal trainer online

My postpartum journey has been going on for four years now. I struggled in my new body to rediscover what kind of exercise and movement was best for me. Prior to my pregnancy I had been an avid runner and gym-goer. But those former workouts were no longer working out for me.

I walked outside a bit and kept most of the weight off from nursing. But once the weening process began, with another round of hormonal havoc, along with low activity during the pandemic, I had packed on some pounds. Worse, I didn’t feel strong in my body. I felt broken. My postpartum injuries and pain were fully felt.

In the summer of my child’s second year I was visiting family and my cousin asked me if I wanted to join her for a thirty-minute workout with her personal trainer. It was a rewarding workout on her wrap-around porch and it made an impression on me. I wanted the convenience, ease, expertise and personal attention of a personal trainer, too!

I had looked for months, to no avail. I specifically wanted to find a female personal trainer out in wine country who would come to my house. Eventually I was able to manifest what I put out for the universe to work into place for me. I was on LinkedIn looking up something business related when I found Katie. I was looking for a personal assistant, at the time, but, for some reason (a-hem – the universe working its magic!) a personal trainer also came up in my search. Curious, I messaged Katie and she got right back to me. I quickly learned that while she lived in Oregon, too, we would workout virtually – which was even better for me! Further, I could actually afford the transaction.

Three and a half years after giving birth I started my first session with Katie. And it has been a life changing, mutually beneficial relationship. We have become friends and allies. Katie continues to help me on this journey of reclaiming my body, my strength, my balance, my endurance and my confidence. Along the way, she made some profound observations regarding my postpartum health and wellness, specifically with my hip pain, diastasis recti, and pelvic floor weakness – things completely ignored by my postpartum and family medicine healthcare providers. She helped me to finally recover and thrive.

Here are five amazing things I learned from my personal trainer that helped me to finally enjoy a full recovery from postpartum injury and trauma.

BRACE YOURSELF!
Brace your core, that is. My trainer advised that I not only brace my core when engaged in our workouts, but, to use this practice through out my day – walking up and down the stairs, doing laundry, washing the dishes, making dinner, in the shower, in the care, in line at the grocery store – anytime. For those new to this concept, bracing your core is mostly associated with the practice of contracting the muscles around the spine to created a tight midsection often engaged when bending your knees to lift something heavy. This prevents back injury. But bracing your core is also a great engagement during your workouts to build the abdominal muscles while in yoga positions or other functional training. This creates stability around your spine. After growing a baby, your core gets moved around and your abdominal muscles relax. Part of the recovery from childbirth is your organs and muscles eventually fall back into place. But this doesn’t always happen perfectly. Strengthening the core should be a part of every postpartum woman’s eventual workout regimen (when cleared by healthcare provider). Bracing the core supplements all core training and really supports all of the spots a postpartum woman needs to focus on – including pelvic floor and diaphragm.

RE-LEARN HOW TO BREATHE!
When you are in your third term of pregnancy your breathing changes. Your baby is taking up more real estate, your diaphragm and lungs are not in the same space for deep, whole core breathing. Your body naturally adapts – and the crazy part? You don’t even realize your breathing has changed to compensate for your baby’s growth. The way you breathe starts higher up, and you often lift your shoulders up to pull in a “deep” inhale. Your exhale is short. Women tend to carry on breathing this way long after baby has been born. One day, I mentioned to my personal trainer that I often felt discomfort whenever I had to do forward bends. Not pain. Just a weird feeling as I folded over the top of my belly under my breasts. It was my postpartum bump that never fully went away. She paused for a moment and told me she believed it had to do with how I was breathing. She said it was my diaphragm that was causing the discomfort. And then I learned about diaphragmatic breathing. This became a deeply emotional recovery because I carried on breathing the wrong way for over four years. I was breathing wrong during horrible head colds and even when I was sick from Covid-19. I often felt like I was suffocating whenever I was congested and sick. Diaphragmatic breathing was so foreign to my body that I had to totally re-learn how to breathe in expanding my tummy like a balloon, a movement that engages your entire core and pelvic muscles. The exhale is long, slow and works its way all the way back up your core. It’s an exercise in itself! I wrote about the importance of diaphragmatic breathing and how it’s the most important practice for postpartum healing – which you can read all about here.

TUNE INTO THE MOON!
You don’t have to follow astrology or understand it completely to receive the benefits of what the universe is energetically delivering for us. I happen to have a personal trainer who is deeply engaged in astrology and I am very interested in metaphysics and certainly the greater impacts around us that can work for us – and sometimes against us. But, my trainer taught me that customizing our workouts to the rhythms of the universe – especially lunar cycles – can really have an impact on outcome. Full moon? New moon? She can create a bespoke workout to address my needs. She knows my birth chart and considers sweeping cosmic changes that are going on for me when she considers what type of workout would be best. I may need more of a restful workout with deep stretching. Or, I may need to get my heart rate going and double down on strength training. I can feel a difference when my workouts are in synch with greater energies of the cosmos versus when I would throw down a workout that poorly coincided with astrological activity – symptoms of feeling drained, over-tired, challenged with recovery, or not feeling like I got enough from my workout – all of these things have happened when I wasn’t working out with metaphysical rhythms. It’s amazing and not so surprising, if you think about it. There is a certain grace that can be experienced when one is in tune with the shifting energies around us. I also consider my water intake during and following workouts in response to the lunar cycle. We know how deep the water/moon connection is – and what this means for flushing out our kidneys, etc. Traditional Chinese Medicine holds an ancient, deep philosophical and medical understanding of the connection of astrology and physical well being that fully supports this practice.

LESS IS MORE!
Many women fall victim to the assumption and pressure that they must rid themselves of the baby bump and baby weight as soon as possible. There’s shame around the changed body of a new mother and baby weight is often regarded as fat. This is horrible on so many levels. Healing is often disregarded in exchange for body dysmorphia. Postpartum hormones can dangerously play into the negative self talk. Body acceptance is so critically important. And beyond that acceptance, a newfound appreciation, awe, and gratitude for creating and growing another human being are necessary for self love. I’m so relieved that I never cared about the aftermath of my postpartum body. I mean, I was deep in the process of needing to heal. There was no time or energy to worry about how I looked. Instead of trying to implement the over the top workouts that were part of my pre-pregnancy routine – running, working out at the gym and regular yoga classes – I let go of the virtues of hard core. I look at movement differently – how I get it, where and when I get it. Instead of hitting the pavement or treadmill hard, opt for long walks outside or nature hikes to get in some forest bathing. I make it a priority to engage in movement that I enjoy. Part of my movement routine includes two thirty-minute workout sessions a week with my personal trainer and we mostly cover functional strength training aiming to heal and strengthen my core, pelvic floor and hips. We get a lot in during those sessions, with exercises that typically are two-for-one, meaning they engage core and get my heart rate going or they stretch my hips while adding a little strength training for my arms, and so on. I’m getting the most holistic workouts and I’m not putting in the same frenetic energy as I once did, and I’m still getting great results!

HIPS DON’T LIE!
Hips are getting a lot of attention in the fitness and physical therapy world. It’s not just pregnant and postpartum mamas needing extra care there. There’s all kinds of information out there about the somatic relationship of pain, trauma and our emotions being stored in our hips. Which means our hips are also a great wellspring for offering deep, emotional healing. In my case, I experienced birth trauma and a hip injury during labor. In addition to the normal pressure pregnancy puts on our hips, I was carrying the weight of a lot more trauma and emotional stress that got stored into my hips. The good news is yoga instructors and certain personal trainers can gently address the hip pain and somatic tension, pressure and blockage. My personal trainer has been a champion in the area of healing for me. We have worked on various stretches that have put me in poses that immediately released pain – not just physically but emotionally. I would often get tears in my eyes for no reason while holding certain positions that opened up my hip joints. Whether engaged in dead bug, airplanes, hula hoop circles – my trainer has an endless list of moves that strengthen, stretch and relieve the hips. It’s been incredibly therapeutic. Plus, when I brace my core and practice diaphragmatic breathing while holding these hip positions it’s like the heavens have opened up and filled me up with the most intense, beautifully healing and strengthening light and energy offering deep healing through and through.

The important thing to point out here is that I would not have come to many of these conclusions on my own. I didn’t know what I needed – even though I’m a former athlete and coach. Postpartum recovery isn’t always intuitive and in most cases we don’t know what we don’t know! I highly recommend finding a personal trainer or yoga class that expertly works with postpartum women to recover, heal and find new strength in a new and glorious body.

Why I Could Not “Fix” My Body After Pregnancy… Until Four Years Later

February 28, 2023 leahjorgensen

I have written quite a bit about my pregnancy and postpartum experiences.

I was very slow to get in any real movement following the whole child birthing experience. Even a couple of years after giving birth, I was still nowhere near having the body I had before my pregnancy. I didn’t get how some women would even try to “bounce back” with vigorous workouts and unfaltering determination to lose that “baby belly”. Weren’t they still healing, too?

I was an older mom giving birth for the first time. I didn’t care about how long the baby bump would linger. I just wanted to feel strong again, and recovered. Having a c-section certainly changed any post game workout plans I had. I walked a little. And that was pretty much it. For me, movement included chores around the house. But, I wasn’t up for yoga or the likes of Peloton. I gave myself a long break.

Nursing prevented me from gaining any extra weight. But, still, I felt… broken.

For me, childbirth left me with painful, sticky hips, no feeling in my pelvic region, and diastasis recti – abdominal separation leaving a gaping space where my abs should have reconnected. It has been nearly impossible to recovery my core.

Fast forward to the present – four years postpartum. I now have a personal trainer and for more than six months we’ve been working on recovering my core, pelvic floor, and toning up, in general. While I do feel stronger, I can’t really see any difference in the tone or shape of my body. My hips still hurt on the regular.

One day, a few weeks ago, I had bent over abruptly and felt discomfort in the space that would have been the top of my baby bump, under my breasts, at center – my core. Basically, I described the discomfort to my personal trainer from folding over on top of that space that held my former baby bump. It wasn’t painful, just a jarring discomfort that took my breath away. After a long pause, she said she believed it had to do with my diaphragm. And diastasis recti. But, really she was concerned with my diaphragm and how I was breathing.

I wasn’t sure what my diaphragm had to do with it. But, she said it would benefit me to continue working on bracing my core throughout the day. She said we would dig deeper the following week.

I took it upon my self to research the diaphragm and the postpartum body. What I learned brought me to tears. Not happy ones. But, tears of frustration. So much of my postpartum pain and suffering and discomfort could have been avoided had a healthcare practitioner told me that I needed to work on diaphragmatic breathing immediately following childbirth.

What I didn’t know cost me time and energy and extended pain and discomfort.

When I left the hospital after giving birth, I was forgotten. Lots of trips to the pediatrician to check in on my son. But, me? Nah, the hospital could care less. Other entities provided information online about the importance of diaphragmatic breathing – but, not the hospitals, not the healthcare providers. Do they not know this? Why would they withhold this key practice and rehab? You have to find your postpartum recovery and rehab wellness from yoga instructors and other professionals who seem to care more about the postpartum woman than doctors, nurses and hospitals.

So, what is diaphragmatic breathing and why is it so important to a postpartum woman?

When a woman is in her third trimester, after her organs have shifted around to make room for her growing baby, there is a great deal of pressure on the diaphragm and lungs, and the mother’s breathing eventually shifts from deep breaths lowering and expanding the diaphragm like a balloon to shallow breaths getting pushed upward, as if the shoulders are lifting the breath from the lungs. It happens without noticing it. The interesting thing is that many women continue to breathe like this long after the baby is born – like years after the baby is born.

This shallow, shorter breath starting from the chest, lifting the shoulders, gives you less oxygen and doesn’t work the core, so it keeps the weakened spots weak. This is a problem for many reasons, but, from a postpartum recovery standpoint, not breathing from the diaphragm will not help to recover a weakened core and pelvic floor, which then creates all kinds of compensations – including weak glutes, tight hips and sore back.

So, I struggled, even with a personal trainer, to see a significant change in my core, pelvic floor, glutes and hips. And, getting your breath to work properly again will restore the muscular balance to your body. This breathing will also prevent and heal postpartum issues like diastasis recti, incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse.

There is lots of great information about diaphragmatic breathing online. I found great therapeutic help here:

brb Yoga: core strength for life – How To “Fix” Your Body After Pregnancy

Browse the brb Yoga site for all kinds of postpartum healing resources.

I also learned more about diaphragmatic breathing here:

Mother.ly – “The answer to postpartum recovery may be how you breathe…”

The big take away for me is that it’s never too late to recover your breathing. I started doing diaphragmatic breathing exercises and techniques so that after a weekend of practice, my breathing was improved. I still have to work at it to get my natural breathing fully back, but, I am no longer doing the weird, short breaths that had started in my third trimester.

When I think about living through horrible colds and Covid-19 over the past couple of years – it’s no wonder I had suffered so badly! I wasn’t breathing right to begin with!

Had I not brought up the weird sensation in my belly to my personal trainer, I would have never arrived at this therapeutic postpartum rehab – that is the most essential technique that all women should do immediately after birth. Who knows if I would have ever returned to normal breathing. This is serious rehab that gets completely missed from hospitals and minimal OB-GYN postpartum care. How is it that postpartum women are not given this important instruction following birth?

As Brooke Cates, author of the Motherly article states, “correct breathing lays the foundation for healing and restrengthening your inner core. With breath, you begin the healing process postpartum by simultaneously rehabbing both the deep core and the pelvic floor.”

Cates explains once you’re breathing from your diaphragm again, you will have a calm, natural breathing sensation versus a stressed and more forced breathing action. I felt this shift 100%!

So, fast forward to exercise and movement to regain strength in your core, pelvic floor, and so on – “once your breath is re-wired you can progress with deep core-based activations, functional movements and smart core-based exercises.”

While I lamented that I could have felt so much more support, empowerment and strength just weeks postpartum, I allowed myself to mourn that absence of rehab for the past four years and move on. I finally have hope regarding these key issues of not feeling supported, empowered or strong. I had written in my journal for the past two years that I felt physically powerless and weak. And no more. One weekend of diaphragmatic breathing has already made a difference. I am excited to reap more benefits of this incredible rehab and finally reclaim my health and my body after four years of struggle.

It’s never too late to correct your breath. It’s never too late to heal your postpartum body. And I just want to share this with every woman I know who has had a baby or is about to have a baby. No one should suffer from the lack of support, empowerment and strength that is a given with the right postpartum rehab. If hospitals won’t share this with new mothers, then I suppose it’s up to mothers to pass this along.

Who Takes Care of the Mamas When the Mamas Take Care of Everyone Else?

February 28, 2023 leahjorgensen

I never really thought about this until I was caring for my sick nearly three-year-old little boy and I inevitably got sick, myself.

Before I became a mother, there was nothing I hated more than getting sick – specifically getting congested. I don’t do well with congestion. I have a deviated septum and whenever I find myself unable to breathe, well, I get anxious.

I’ve been in the most relaxing situations – massage therapy appointments – where the simple tweaking of my lymphatic system would lead to immediate heavy congestion that would not only ruin my appointment, but, the anxiety I would get about not being able to breathe would force me to have to get up, request extra pillows to elevate my head, or leave. Acupuncture appointments were even worse because I’d be stuck, pun intended, with needles in me while dealing with an anxiety attack from treatment induced congestion. At least the congestion would immediately clear up as soon as I’d get off the treatment table.

Luckily, I didn’t get sick all that often. But, when I did it was like a short unintentional vacation in Hell. I love to elaborate on this because it’s really that awful for me. For the first two days of a virus or allergy attack I struggle to breathe out of my nose and out of mouth, and the only way I can catch some relief to breathe is by getting better and getting spotty relief from an over-the-counter decongestant.

Either way, when I lived by myself I learned how to manage my congestion and the hell that came with the anxiety of not being able to breathe. I would sometimes go into survival mode and work through totally sleepless nights of trying to cleanse and open up my clogged sinuses. This often left me feeling like Sisyphus. Luckily, I rarely got sick and mostly suffered through occasional seasonal allergies.

Things took a crazy turn after I had my little boy. We were blessed to have a healthy baby who never got sick during his first two years. But by the time he was nearing three, he had two back-to-back colds in October and then again in November. He wasn’t even in daycare. This was a particularly stressful time because of the pandemic. Both times he got sick, I got sick. And, if I was anxious about getting congested before Covid-19, my anxiety certainly piqued with cold and flu season, pre-flu shot and Covid booster shot.

I had decided to extend nursing during the pandemic so that my little one could benefit from my two Covid-19 vaccines and the follow up booster shot. Antibodies are passed on through breastmilk. The nearness and closeness left mama more vulnerable to whatever viruses he would pick up.

Of course, kiddos in daycare pick up and bring home all kinds of germs. Parents would always say that’s the key to building a child’s healthy immune system. But let’s be clear about something. Catching these colds doesn’t just mean boosting his immune system. It also means taking down mama. I know some dads and other family members might share in the sickness cycle. But, mama is always the target when it comes to sick little ones.

This isn’t a post about why it’s harder to be a mom than it is to be a dad. Someone else can debate that. But there is a difference here. My husband never gets sick. Is it because his immune system is stronger than mine? I already mentioned before having my son I rarely got sick – so dad’s immune system shouldn’t be stronger than mine! We both endured sleep deprivation during the first couple years, but, I continued to have interrupted sleep while I continued nursing. So, aside from differences in sleep hygiene, could it be that I’m in closer proximity to my child and, therefore, I’m more vulnerable to his sneezing and coughing getting me sick? Maybe.

But, I think there’s something else going on.

I don’t have scientific evidence to support this very speculative statement I’m about to make. It just makes sense to me. I believe the process of enduring pregnancy and labor makes a mother more vulnerable in her postpartum existence for years to come. I know this isn’t true for everyone. But, I suspect a lot of mamas would agree. Your body has been through so much. By the time your child is in the virus cycle, probably depending on when daycare or preschool happens, you may have not fully recovered or even healed from the experience. For some women it can take years to fully recover and heal from pregnancy and labor. And it takes years to get passed the exhaustion that comes with growing a baby, delivering and baby and recovering from that delivery. While dealing with the exhaustion that comes from your pregnancy, birthing and healing experience, there’s even more exhaustion coming at you from now taking care of your baby with a sleep deprivation period that just feels impossible to withstand. For many mothers that sleep deprivation continues through the toddler and pre-school phase. There are many reasons for this, depending on what’s going on at home with sleep training, whether or not you’re still nursing, and just how your body is recovering from a long period of interrupted sleep rhythms.

But, I want to back up before the exhaustion part and continue with the postpartum recovery part. While it takes just six weeks for your uterus to shrink back to its normal size, your body had other things to reconcile – like when it moved your organs around to fit your baby. The abdominal muscles and connective tissue have a long way to go to heal completely. I was one of those lucky mothers with abs that never fully recovered resulting in what’s called diastasis recti, which is a condition where there’s a big gap between ab muscles that should have realigned after separating during gestation. It gets even better – around this gap you get a pooch in your belly with fat and excess skin hanging out. Physical therapy can help, and some moms might opt for cosmetic surgery. But there is no cure for this condition. Three years postpartum, I hired a personal trainer to help me build my abs back up, recondition my pelvic floor and try to tighten things as much as possible.

Moms who have had a traumatic birth experience, birth injury, emergency c-section, etc., are likely to have a longer recovery time. I had a c-section after 40 hours of labor, and 4 hours of pushing. Trauma is relative to each mother; I definitely experienced trauma during the c-section. It added an extra heavy load on an already painful recovery experience.

Good nutrition is often more challenging for new moms – not just food choices, but how often you eat and whether you overeat or undereat.

So your body is at work for a long time rebuilding and recovering from so many things. And moms are often bad with self care during the first few years of bringing up baby.

These physiological conditions certainly affect a mother’s ability to ward of viruses that come her way.

As for the start of my child’s cold/flu virus cycle last year, I found myself miserably sick with his first two colds, and then significantly worse with the third cold in November. We took several Covid tests that came out negative. It was just par for the toddler/preschooler course. Not for my husband, though. He was healthy the whole time.

By February last year, my little guy got Covid from the rapidly spreading Omicron variant, and, I of course got it, too. My husband did not.

Since then it has been a long season of viruses and allergies coming in and out of our lives. In November of 2022, we were facing an uptick in Covid cases and new variants, a terrible flu season ahead and the rapidly spreading RSV pathogen sending many children and elderly adults into hospitals. It’s been exhausting. It’s one thing to have to deal with normal cold and flu viruses that are expected to infect your young child every other week. The emerging dangerous viruses that were coursing through our communities were scary. And it is taxing trying to navigate symptoms that are all so similar. It has been stressful wondering if the latest symptoms are the run of the mill colds that little kids must go through, or if it’s one of the more sinister viruses lurking around.

With this very steady, continuous cycle of sickness in our home, I find myself more exhausted. I continue to pick up whatever my child has, and my anxiety is in overdrive from not wanting to get sick and deal with what feels like collapsed breathing over and over again, to real worries about my child’s safety and what’s infecting us each time.

My husband is great. He helps take care of our little guy whenever he’s sick. I get most of the duty when he’s home sick during the workday; I’m an entrepreneur and can put my work on hold most days in a way that my husband cannot. But, when I get sick, there’s not much to be done for me. I’m usually still caring for our little guy and then I suffer through the nights. I cannot sleep when I’m congested. So, I recline on the sofa downstairs, sip on hot herbal tea and honey all through the night, and try to manage my anxiety and read or write. Eventually, I might doze off for a couple hours.

All of this is to pause for a moment and put a spotlight on moms during a challenging time of parenting. I know there are dads and other caregivers who do the same and endure getting sick, as well. But I want to take a moment to acknowledge how difficult it is for moms who find themselves postpartum two or three years and still struggling.

No one tells you about how often you will get sick once you have a baby, and for how many years. No one tells you exactly how long it will likely take to fully recover from pregnancy and childbirth because it’s different for everyone. No one tells you that your body will never be the same, that clothes will never fit you the same (I finally purged all of my stylish clothes pre-baby), or that you will never feel the same in your body. Some of your joints, like your hips, will forever feel stiff or sticky; your abs might never re-align; your pelvic floor might be a broken mess for years to come.

And no one tells you that you’ll be exhausted for so many years. I don’t know any moms of toddlers/preschoolers who are fully rested with excellent sleep hygiene, who really look refreshed.

I look around and I feel connected to these women who are in this same season of motherhood. We dress the same. We have the same look in our tired but bright eyes. There is a fullness that doesn’t go away after having a baby. All the exercise in the world cannot erase that fullness in the face, in the hips and belly.

When you fall ill to the latest virus, you go through a kind of battle because you’re having to armor up and care for your child no matter how you feel. You care for your child with the fierce attention of a mama bear, even when you are about to collapse. And you wonder if your immune system will ever protect you again.

The New Mama Re-Set: Managing the major life transition after baby

February 4, 2020February 4, 2020 leahjorgensen

Tired woman sleeping on the table in the kitchen at breakfast. Trying to drink morning coffee

My therapist once told me there’s a difference between failure and fear of failure.

Before baby my professional life was challenging, yet rewarding. But now with baby in tow, being a mompreneur of a wine brand feels like I’m a failure with a capital F. I dropped the ball on my business for the entire first half of last year. I just couldn’t…

By the fourth quarter I was barely getting through my company’s wine grape harvest, let alone running the business operations. It didn’t seem right bringing a baby to a wine production facility with busy forklifts, loud machinery, CO2 and SO2 in the mix. It was crazy difficult for me each day I arrived at the winery with my baby. Even with my entourage of nanny, mother, and trusty hired cellar hand I was overwhelmed and anxious.

My anxiety ran the gamut from caring for my baby; [not] caring for myself; failing my child; failing by business; experiencing an identity crisis; not caring about my work anymore; contemplating a business shut down; and feeling exhausted, depleted and incapable of the work I accomplished before I was a mother.

I knew I needed to address these feelings. I wanted to feel like I was in control again. I wanted to feel like I got this! I wanted to feel motivated, inspired and excited by my
work again. I just didn’t know how to be me anymore.

So I leaned into a bunch of books and resources. I literally had an Amazon Prime binge and Google overdose. But here’s what I initially found in my search for the answers to my new mama problems:

Breathe Mama Breathe: 5 Minute Mindfulness for Busy Moms by Shonda Moralis, MSW, LCSW

The Empowered Mama: How to Reclaim Your Time and Yourself While Raising a Happy, Healthy Family by Lisa Druxman, Founder of Fit4Mom

Self-Care for Moms: 150+ Real Ways to Care for Yourself While Caring for Everyone Else by Sara Robinson, MA

Warrior Goddess Training: Become the Woman You Are Meant to Be by Heatherash Amara

Motherly.com

Parents Magazine, especially the Special Edition “Balancing Your Life: Family. Career. Love. You.”

It seemed like a good start. I pride myself in being able to reframe relatively easily. And yet I wasn’t able to shake these feelings of inadequacy, exhaustion and anxiety. I didn’t recognize my old badass self. She was left behind in the delivery room – hiding from a traumatic birth. The new me was barely getting by – a doe in headlights.

Everything I learned from my research to understand my new mama self came to the conclusion that I’m a different person now. So, now what?

On one particularly dark wintry Pacific Northwest afternoon, just after my January birthday, I ran another Google Search about finding a life coach for new moms who work. I came across a Motherly article entitled “If I had my way, every working mom would have a life coach” by Katelyn Denning, a regular contributor.

I cried my way through the article and followed a link to Katelyn’s website: Mother Nurture.

“Don’t just survive motherhood. Thrive.”

I decided it was time to commit to something bigger than a mini library of self help books for new mamas. While I appreciated the books I selected and read – and they all helped me in some way or another – I just felt that I still couldn’t…

Until I picked up the phone with a professional.

After my initial phone consultation with Katelyn I knew that I had a real support person available to me who I would pay for three months to see me through this challenge. This meant I would be accountable for doing the work my coach assigned.

It was time to shift from this major upset to a RESET.

I agree with Katelyn. If I had my way, every working mom would have a life coach.

These Were A Few of My Favorite Things in 2019

January 1, 2020January 1, 2020 leahjorgensen

My Top Ten Self Care Products That Got Me Through My First Year Postpartum

When I decided to write about my “top ten of anything” to wrap up 2019, it was very clear that my top ten would be related to the birth of my son. His arrival dominated my year!

I have written extensively about my postpartum experience because I think it’s really important to be open, candid and honest about what really happens when you are recovering from having a baby. While every woman has her own unique experience, there are many unspoken aspects of recovery that make the process challenging, both emotionally and physically. More and more women are speaking up about those things.

Among the most important messages, advice and wisdom I received during this period of my life was to make time for self care. It sounds easy enough. It wasn’t! Caring for a newborn and yourself at the same time is not easy at all. Especially if you have more recovery needs than the average new mom.

I simplified. Self care would sometimes be as simple as taking a shower and using products that made me feel like a queen. I compiled a list of my favorite self care products that were especially nurturing and luxurious! These products made a huge difference in my emotional recovery – not only are they healing to the body and soul, but these businesses share high ethical standards and use the most natural, clean ingredients available.

It’s the little things that really aren’t little at all.
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10

BEE LUCIA WELLNESS CANDLE
I brought home the “Grounded” wellness crystal-infused candle with labradorite crystals. I would light this candle any time I needed to get grounded. Simple as that. Its delicate but soothing scent is all about relaxation and getting centered and to create a meditative environment. Each candle is crafted around a specific intention, made with toxin-free beeswax, organic coconut oil, therapeutic grade pure essential oils and natural crystals. When you burn your Wellness Candle negative ions are emitted to bind to toxins and help remove them from the air. I write about the benefits of negative ions all of the time! You’re not just getting the benefits of aromatherapy – but negative ions, too! Note: negative ions are beneficial particles for the human body while positive ions are harmful; negative ions are found in highest concentrations in natural, clean air and are abundant in nature – especially around moving water like waterfalls, ocean surf, at the beach or after a storm and especially in mountains and forests. Take this candle home and you can create a similar soothing environment! A local family-owned Portland, Oregon company
Screenshot_20191228-204345_Instagram

9

URBAN MOONSHINE CALM TUMMY BITTERS
I have long used bitters for digestive relief. I studied holistic nutrition and have made recommendations for many clients to use natural herbal bitters to help soothe digestive diseases. I discovered Urban Moonshine at Portland-based market New Seasons. I love the Calm Tummy blend because it has a strong yet gentle balance of chamomile and ginger – perfect for pregnancy nausea and postpartum tummy aches. Urban Moonshine has an incredible website with pages like an online classroom – super informative! A woman-run company based out of Burlington, VT.

8

SHEA MOISTURE GROUND COFFEE SCRUB
This is another product I found at a New Seasons store in the greater Portland area. The nutritionist working in the personal care section highly suggested this product. I explained that after having my baby my arms and legs were dry and a little bumpy. I tried a few approaches, unsuccessfully. This scrub healed my arms and legs, leaving me with soft, smooth skin like my baby! I love the texture and fresh ground coffee smell – a natual wake- me-up with my morning shower. I will say you need to rinse out your shower after using this product – it can get a little messy. But, well worth a brief clean-up for such luxurious natural medicine! Shea Moisture was founded by Sofi Tucker a woman who started selling shea nuts at the village market in Bonthe, Sierra Leone in 1912. By age 19, the widowed mother of four was selling shea butter, African black soap and her homemade hair and skin preparations all over the countryside. Her grandchildren run Shea Moisture, Sofi’s legacy. This business has pioneered fair trade through Community Commerce at home and abroad. A woman-founded fair trade company from Sierra Leone, Africa.

7

PACHA SOAP CO. SWEET HONEY ALMOND FROTH BOMB
I’ve never been into bubbles, froths or bombs in my bath. I prefer basic epsom salt soaks – sometimes with a little milk and honey infusion for an added indulgence. I received a Pacha Sweet Honey Almond Froth Bomb at my baby shower with some other self care items for new mamas. I put the bath bomb on the shelf. About the time my son was six months old, and I was done with the sitz baths, I decided to try the froth bomb. It was a revelation! The ultra luxe gold shimmer entices. Once added to hot water, this lovely froth opened up all of my senses with its warm honey-almond fragrance. The delicate froth turned the bathwater silky and didn’t leave residue on me (or my bath!). Instead, the all- natural ingredients kissed my skin and gently softened my elbow, knees, heels. I didn’t want to get out of the tub! The ultimate self care! Read about Pacha’s incredible mission on their website. Pacha Soap Co is another global-conscious company spreading goodness through good causes.

6

EVAN HEALY TULSI FACIAL TONIC HYDROSOUL
I get compliments on my skin all of the time. I have been blessed with my grandmother’s excellent genetics. But I still take great care of my skin. I’m a little OCA (obsessive compulsive Advantage!) about it. I use Evan Healy products for my morning and evening skin care regimen. When I was diagnosed with celiac disease back in 2007 I became more mindful about not only what I was putting in my body, but what I was putting on my body. I had to read labels for gluten ingredients, often hidden, like triticale, wheat germ, barley, and so on. Once I began reading labels I quickly saw ingredients that I didn’t want to put on my skin. I adopted the philosophy “if I can’t eat the ingredients then it won’t go on my skin.” Your skin is your largest digestive organ – it absorbs everything you put on it, as well as other unseen things in the environment. To lessen the toxic load, I decided I had control over what I would put on my skin. Evan Healy’s products are fine to eat – not that you would, but, there are no harmful chemicals. Her products align with my philosophy. Just as I practice holistic nutrition, holistic skincare is nutrition, too.

I love the Tulsi (Holy Basil) Facil Tonic HydroSoul. I mean, I love all her products. But, this was a standout for me in 2019. It was especially restorative and therapeutic during my postpartum year. Plus, it has an amazing spicy, sweet clove-like fragrance. In Hindu tradition it’s believed that Tulsi is a goddess embodied in an herb and is revered as the holiest of all plants. In the wisdom of Ayurveda, Tulsi exhibits anti-oxidant, purifying, awakening, grounding benefits to skin, respiratory passages and psyche. This is more than a skincare product. It is medicine. Another great website to educate and inform. A woman-run company based in California also involved in ethical projects as well as the American Family Farm Revival.

5

WELEDA WILD ROSE PAMPERING BODY OIL
Weleda has long been a pioneer in natural products and even has its own certification for sustainability and environmentally friendly practices. The mission is to create products that naturally work with your body’s own systems. I only recently became a fan of rose oil or rose water. This particular product is pure luxury. I apply it from neck to toe as soon as I get out of the shower. It has warming properties and just feels lovely. I picked this out just at a time when I was going through some postpartum depression and I was going through the typical new mom identity crisis feelings. This lifted my spirits. Turns out, I learned in a healing Mayan abdominal massage treatment that I also needed work on my heart chakra, which is associated with balance, calmness and serenity. Rose oil is associated with the heart chakra. I was intuitively applying medicine. Though global, Weleda still cultivates its own biodynamic gardens and work in fair trade agreements with small farmers and gardeners to source the best raw materials.

4

WILD CARROT HERBALS WANDERLUST FOOT CREAM
My feet hurt a lot during my third trimester. I had a bit of edema and my high arches were pushed nearly flat from the weight of my baby. Even months after I gave birth to my son my feet hurt. They sprang back to their normal high arches, which, I think exasperated the pain. I just wanted my husband to squeeze my heels as hard as he could for relief. My feet were also very dry from hormone changes and during harvest (I’m a winemaker) after being on them for grueling hours they’d often get wet and stay wrapped in damp socks for hours. My feet needed some love. I found this foot cream, thanks to the lovely new packaging. It drew my attention! I applied this indulgent cream immediately – the night of purchase, right before bedtime. As the website promises – it’s perfect for slathering on weary feet, cracked heels and dry legs, and uses Oregon-grown peppermint oil to help revitalize the skin and restore the spirit. It definitely softens and hydrates. My feet felt completely renewed and restored. A woman-owned company based in the beautiful Wallowas Mountains in Oregon.

3

BADGER PREGNANT BELLY OIL
I started using this soothing belly oil during my third trimester. I continued to soothe my healing tummy skin during my postpartum year. It’s that rose scent again – but with vanilla. Jojoba and coconut oils blend to make a super luxe, non-greasy oil that absorbs immediately and leaves a light scent. Lovely! Feels so good on stretching, stretched and stretch-marked skin. A family-owned company with healing products, a healthy business and a mission to make a difference.

2

KUU BOTANICALS GINGER & WILD ROSE INFUSED CASTOR OIL
Unfortunately, there isn’t a website available for this product. I found it at a pregnancy and postpartum wellness center in Portland, Oregon. This roll on castor oil was the perfect medicine for my c-section scar and scar tissue. It can also be used for menstrual cramp relief. It’s every bit soothing and warming with a delicate ginger and wild rose aroma. A gentle application with the roller ball – and heat can be added like a traditional castor oil pack. This product was ultra nurturing for me during my postpartum year. A local woman-owned Portland, Oregon company.

1

EARTH MAMA ORGANICS PRODUCTS. ALL OF THEM!
I am naming ALL of the Earth Mama Organics products as my number one self care products that got me through my first year postpartum. I received many of these products as a baby shower gift – probably the most nurturing gift for my self care regimen. Let’s face it – mama is often forgotten after baby comes along. But Earth Mama Organics takes care of both baby and mama. I could not have survived my immediate postpartum days and weeks without the herbal sitz bath, herbal perineal spray, skin and scar balm, nipple butter and milkmaid tea. The diaper balm is by far the best we’ve tried – our baby has gone almost diaper rash free as a result of this balm. I can’t praise this line of product enough! The website is a wonderful resource for expecting moms to visit – with a “Birth Plan” category and other really useful information – I recommend all expecting mamas read the section on “Postpartum Lying-in Plan”, a practice we implemented that has made all the difference for both my recovery and my child’s comfort. A local woman-owned Portland, Oregon company.