#imagine my shock during my reread when I got to the part everyone quotes all the time

[tom-bombadil-is-transgender]

[Image Transcription: And so Gollum found them hours later, when he returned, crawling and creeping down the path out of the gloom ahead. Sam sat propped against the stone, his head drooping sideways and his breathing heavy. In his lap lay Frodo's head, drowned deep in sleep; upon his white forehead lay one of Sam's brown hands, and the other lay softly upon his master's breast. Peace was in both their faces.

Gollum looked at them. A strange expression passed over his lean hungry face. The gleam faded from his eyes, and they went dim and grey, old and tired. A spasm of pain seemed to twist him, and he turned away, peering back up towards the pass, shaking his head, as if engaged in some interior debate. Then he came back, and slowly putting out a trembling hand, very cautiously he touched Frodo's knee – but almost the touch was a caress. For a fleeting moment, could one of the sleepers have seen him, they would have thought that they beheld an old weary hobbit, shrunken by the years that had carried him far beyond his time, beyond friends and kin, and the fields and streams of youth, an old starved pitiable thing. /end id]

I know we all like to talk about the gay part of this excerpt from the two towers but I would like to acknowledge the paragraph directly after it which wiplashes you from tender hobbit love straight to sméagol angst.

imagine you're in the middle of a rare moment of peace with your closest companion during the greatest war of your time and this weird fucking guy you picked up along the way is shuddering with his eyes glazed over because he's having flashbacks to being a person

[winsomelychic]

Recovering in Bliss

There is this saying that many moms go by and it is “Taking care of yourself is part of taking care of your kids”. I think I reread this quote on fifty million mom blogs as I was preparing for my little one. Ok, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but I did see this quote often and it is so true. Post-partum care is very important when you first come home. If you are not well, you will find it difficult to take care of a needy little one. Newborns are a lot of work. Your days turn from 12 hour days to 24 hour days and you sleep when you can. Your needs get put on the back-burner as you stress over your little one. By being prepared for this recovery phase, you will be prepared to care for yourself stress-free and be able to put your focus on your new little one.

When you get home from the hospital, you are in this foggy haze of “WTF”. The initial shock of your baby’s arrival is over (Well I don’t know if it is ever over but it sure has set in), the nurses are gone to help you out, and its show time. You have just given birth to the most precious human, but your body is at the beginning stages of recovery. It just went through some major trauma of giving birth – and how miraculous that is. It’s going to take some time to adjust and go back to normal. I don’t think I felt normal until around week 3. I don’t think I went to the restroom like normal until about 5 weeks. (One thing you learn, TMI does not apply to someone who had a baby. Just get ready to talk about things you never would have thought about.) Everyone’s recovery time is going to be different depending on your labor story, but one thing we have in common – We Must Heal.

When you get home, you are experiencing so many emotions and the last thing you want to think about is the pain your body just endured. My recovery phase, I will not lie, was very easy. I think this is because my labor was very quick and easy. Marleigh only weighed 6 pounds 6 ounces and her head circumference was very small. I was in labor for 40 minutes with an epidural and within 10 pushes, little miss made her arrival. I am extremely thankful and blessed for such a wonderful labor, which made my recovery much easier. There were definite moments I was uncomfortable and using the restroom was scary, but the pain subsided pretty quickly and the bleeding stopped within a couple weeks. I was very fortunate in that department. I had a mild first-degree tear and needed only a couple stitches. I am very thankful because my husband had to go straight back to work, so I was out of help for most part of the days. I give so much credit to the mothers out there that have a child all alone! It was tough work just to have the days to myself, I couldn’t imagine never getting any relief. You mamas are stronger than you could ever imagine. However, I had quite a few friends who had children in the months prior to me and they all gave me their stories and prepared me for the worst. My one friend was in labor for hours and ended up having an emergency C-section. Another friend had a third-degree tear and a hernia to follow. I had heard all the stories and wanted to be prepared. You can never fully “prepare” for your labor and how your body will react, but there are some essentials I found important for all of us that you can have on deck. There are other items that I would have in your Amazon Prime account ready in case you need that two-day shipping. Also, if you don’t have Prime, I HIGHLY SUGGEST getting this. You will be surprised how many items you might come across needing in a quick time and it is so convenient in the first few weeks when you do not want to leave the house! Also, Walmart grocery delivery service. Totally off topic, but this is such a wonderful service while you are sitting in your home recovering. Back to a healthy recovery:

I am a very big on creating list. I list my day to day errands, my shopping needs, my cleaning routine, everything. I create a list and it helps keep me organized. You will see that on many of my posts, I create a list for you because this helps me think. Today, I am going to list out some post-partum supplies that may be helpful to have on deck to help you during the recovery phase.

Postpartum Supplies:

1.       Frida Bottle: The bottle the hospital gave me was just a generic bottle that really helps none whatsoever. This bottle is so amazing because you can fill it up with warm water and the spout curves up for easy use and easy spray for when you have to use the restroom. I bought two of these so I could have one in each restroom of my house. I also put this in my hospital bag and I am so thankful I did. This saved me in the hospital when I had to use the restroom.

2.       Tucks Pads: These are very nice and cooling. They are also very helpful if you get a hernia after labor!

3.       Dermaplast: I bought one can of this to bring to the hospital. I started using it right away! It kind of numbs you down there to help easy discomfort.

4.       Heating Pad: This helped with my back pain. I was in back labor and then had the epidural. I was just kind of sore from it all so it was nice to have when I got home to lay on. The hospital may provide a heating pack for you when you are there.

5.       Adult Diapers/Mesh Undies: This is a preference thing of what you are more comfortable with. I use all the mesh undies and pads the hospital gave me until I ran out. Since I was very active post recovery and, on the go, I very much liked having the adult diapers because I could put it on and just change when I needed too. It was much easier to change the whole diaper than make sure the two pads were in the mesh undies! Again, I did both but having some pads and diapers on hand is easy.

6.       Nipple Cream: I was very fortunate again and did not have any cracks or bleeding! They do get sore though, so this was nice to put on them and just massage it in. I also would put breast milk on the nipple and let it air dry. This is nice to have just in case your little one does have a tough latch at first! If you are formula feeding, you will not have to worry too much about this!

7.       Herbal Perineal Spray (Earth Mama)- This also helps discomfort down there and can be used when using the restroom or after a bath! Just some extra care for down there!

8.       Wipes: I had wipes just to help clean after using the restroom and the bleeding went down. It’s a lot of pat cleaning for the first few weeks due to the stitches.

9.       Comfy PJ’s or Clothing: You probably already have this but make sure it is easy to get too! You do not want to have to worry about clothes the first few weeks! Relax, take it easy.

 Helpful tip: TAKE AS MANY SUPPLIES AS YOU CAN FROM THE HOSPITAL. My nurse was all for giving me extra supplies during my discharge. She gave me tons of extra pads, mesh undies, cold packs, and heating pads to help. The hospital also gave me one thing of Dermaplast and hernia cream upon discharge (as I mentioned above, I brought the Dermaplast to use right away!)

 There are so many products out there. These are products that I had on hand that really helped for my recovery and many of those around me! I know if you have a C-Section, a belly band is very helpful with the scar healing!

Also, self-healing is not just taking care of your body with products. It is taking it easy, sleeping, and making it a priority to find some time to relax! If someone offers help, TAKE IT. Grocery shop online! If you have a two-story house, put a diaper changing station downstairs and put an extra set of the products in the downstairs bath in a basket. If you are anything like me, these tips are useless. You are going to continue to live life normally. In all seriousness, try to enjoy these days and put less stress on yourself. Let your family, spouse, partner, or friends do some work for you! Do not feel bad! Your body just endured so much, you deserve it.

 Let yourself heal.

Xoxo,

Jeana