Energy Management

Sylvia Brown, author of The Post-Pregnancy Handbook, wrote this great article about managing your energy for the weeks after baby arrives. I found the best advice was actually about teaching yourself to manage your own expectations about how much it is possible to accomplish during the day. The last thing anyone should expect to be while recovering from childbirth is a superheroine.

I stumbled upon Brown’s article while looking for information about dealing with anemia that can be caused by blood loss during labour and delivery. Anemia can be difficult to diagnose as its symtoms; especially exhaustion, dizziness, head aches and even fainting, can be confused with the normal affects of sleeplessness due to caring for a new baby.

The advice for dealing with anemia, in particular, eating lots of iron-rich foods like leafy greens, eggs and red meat actually appeals to me, mostly because those foods are so fast and easy to prepare. Still, I do have my limits. Caffeine inhibits the absorbtion of iron, but I just cannot give up my daily cup of coffee or strong tea. That start-of-the-day ritual makes me actually start my day. Plus, there is no way I am staying away from chocolate. I am a foreigner living in Germany, access to inexpensive but extremely good chocolate is one of the few pleasures of my life.

You, though, might be able to follow the caffeine-avoidance advice better than I.

Natural remedies for anemia and other post-pregnancy complaints can be found on this site, that I found not extensive, but easy for my sleep-deprived mind to navigate and absorb.

By the way, according to all the experts, I should be sleeping instead of blogging while the baby sleeps. I’ll go rest right now.