Facebook Live: On Partners and Self-Care -postpartumprogress.com

This week’s Facebook Live Event took place at noon today—which is when you can plan to find us weekly right now. We experienced a few technical difficulties, including near-literally blowing up Katherine’s phone, but we also experienced some great engagement from those in attendance.

It turns out that gathering together in the comments to chat about what Katherine is saying on the video provides Warrior Moms with a great chance to connect. We didn’t realize that would happen with these events, so it’s an added bonus for us all.

If you missed the live event, you can watch it now.

Here’s a list of all the links shared in the comments:

During the chat, Warrior Moms shared what they do to incorporate self-care into their day. Some ideas included coloring, photography, spending time in nature, gardening, showering, reading, taking time to eat, and more. It was really great to see moms promote self-care to one another and reassure each other that self-care is not selfish. It’s what we do to take care of ourselves. Even stepping outside for a moment, as one mom shared, can be all you need to breathe a little easier.

Katherine really drove home how important it is to get quality sleep, even though that feels impossible at times with an infant. She gave different ideas for how to manage sleep, such as parents splitting up the week into two days on and two days off or even splitting the night into five hour segments (or 3-4 hours at a time for our nursing moms).

We also talked real about what moms can do if they don’t have a supportive partner, either by choice or because the partner doesn’t understand postpartum depression. We reminded moms that it’s okay to ask for help, to ask someone to come watch the baby just so you can get five hours of sleep. Even those with a supportive partner talked about how they felt guilty, that their partner deserved something better than what they had with them. We all know that’s depression whispering dark lies in a vulnerable mom’s ear. Don’t listen to or believe that lie!

Near the end of the chat, we started talking about the decision to have another baby, but were cut off due to the phone overheating. We’ll be starting out next week’s chat with that topic and addressing two others as well. Please let us know what you’d like to talk about next week!

Thanks to all who attended and participated or shared in any way. When we share our truths about our experiences with postpartum mood and anxiety disorders, we help other moms. Even those mamas still struggling can be a life line for other moms just simply by opening up and sharing what’s going on in her head, heart, and life. You are all Warrior Moms and we are grateful to have you as part of our team.

See you next week!