Mo’ Babies, Mo’ Problems
Feeling worse this time around compared to your last birth experience? Listen up.
Postpartum isn't like riding a bike. Your body doesn't get "better" at it with more practice.
Sure, you become more and more of a newborn care provider rock star with each child you eject from your body. And you definitely know what to expect after experiencing postpartum before.
But just because you've already experienced one or more postpartum does NOT mean that you've "got it down" and that you'll feel equally the same each time, or even better.
Many of the causes for feeling poopy postpartum compound over time.
Because let's be real - how many of us fully recovered from one pregnancy before hopping into the next?
And raise your hand if you breastfeed one kid straight into the next pregnancy? Same.
Reality check: Almost all of my 1:1 clients have multiple kids. As well as about 2/3 of my students in my Mother Recover program.
And honestly, that's not because suddenly after having their second or third (or 5th!) kid, they have more time to spend on themselves. **Cue the uncontrollable laughter**
It's because they've reached a critical point where functioning like a human is impossible without refilling their literal and figurative cups.
I love caring for these moms who have reached the point of burnout and help them feel more energized and prioritize themselves again. But I am also here to tell you that you can get help earlier, and we shouldn’t be ignoring the signs that our bodies are screaming for love and attention before you reach that burnout.
Back to multiple postpartums.
Let's take a look at what's going on under the hood and talk about the top reasons why postpartum recovery gets harder with each child:
1. Your nutrients aren't replenished.
If you’ve been around me for long enough, you've heard me say this 1 bajillion times by now - your baby stole your nutrients! Fertility, pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding (if applicable), lack of sleep, and skipping balanced meals (aka typical new mom diet) all deplete your nutrients. If those nutrients aren't refilled before the next pregnancy, the symptoms of the depletions will pile on top of each other. More info on the causes and symptoms of Motherhood Depletion here.
WHAT TO DO: Priority number one of postpartum recovery should be nutrient repletion. Full stop. Your nutrients run the hormone show so even if symptoms feel "hormonal" - the first stop is still nutrient replenishment. In my dream of dreams every mother would get a full nutrient panel run at their 6 week visit to evaluate all of their vitamins, minerals, amino acids and fatty acids, which is what I offer to my clients and program members. If this is not accessible, starting with asking your doctor for a full iron panel with ferritin, Vitamin D, and B12 is a good place to start.
2. Them hormones.
Related to number 1, we can also get depleted hormonally - particularly after back to back pregnancies and breastfeeding in between.
A sidenote about pregnancy -> postpartum hormone physiology. By the end of pregnancy, your hormone levels of estrogen and progesterone are the highest they will ever be, and they then crash down to menopausal levels after delivery.
So consider postpartum a crash course in menopause meets puberty. A super fun time.
Your body WANTS to bring those hormones back up but nutrient depletions, breastfeeding, and the compounding of stress and lack of sleep that comes with a growing family all slow the process down. Cortisol (the stress hormone) is one of the master hormones that influence our others (like progesterone, estrogen, thyroid). So a whacky stress response has wide impacts everything across the board.
WHAT TO DO: Eating in a way to support your hormones- which looks like 3 big balanced meals a day to provide enough building blocks of hormones and keep your blood sugar stable. Moving and resting in a way that supports your adrenals is key here too.
3. Your age.
This one hits me in the feels, as I’m now firmly planted in my 40s. But as we get older, hormones change. In my clinic I start seeing perimenopause symptoms like shorter cycles, worsening PMS and irregular moods start around age 38. So if you had one baby in your early thirties and another in your late thirties, this is quite a difference in terms of hormonal recovery.
It’s definitely not impossible to recover and feel good if you find yourself both postpartum and perimenopausal at the same time though.
WHAT TO DO: Age slower. LOLZ I’m so funny. But for real, your age matters in terms of how hard you have to work at replenishing those hormones. Having babies at 25 just hits different compared to 30s and even 40s. The older you are, the more attention you have to give to nutrient replenishment and hormone supporting foods and activities - and I’d recommend testing as early as possible to get straight to the point of what your body needs. It’s certainly not impossible to feel good hormonally at this stage, it’s just that you have to try a little harder and with more intention to support those hormones.
So tell me, moms of more than 1 kid - did you experience a different flavor of postpartum with each one? Comment below and spill the details.
