Charlie's Postpartum unfiltered

I would love to share and support your mission of authenticity and real-life experiences!

Something valuable you learned during your postpartum journey…

It took me a few days to notice the cause of the unease inside me when I would lay Ocean down in her little cot beside our bed to sleep. 

After a few days of the feeling instantly disappearing when I collected her into my arms and nursed her to sleep, the more I gained the confidence to lean into my own instincts I realized that I was fighting against myself and what she and I needed by laying her anywhere else but beside or on me or Thales to sleep.

I have grown up in a society where it seems as soon as the baby is birthed, those of us who just birthed them are expected to be away from them.

It seems that the sooner you can, leave your baby with someone else or sleep a full night alone or go out with friends the ‘better’ you are doing.

This conditioning I didn’t know I had been subjected to all my life, really showed up in those early days and I am so proud that I didn’t listen. I am not listening.

Once I realised that conditioning was playing out and making me so uneasy, I left it behind and have parented by instinct since.

I don’t listen to what society says about how I be with my baby, I don’t care about what other parents are doing with their babies, I don’t want to know about what I ‘should’ do.

I, she, knows what we should do. And that is just what we will do.

A tip or trick that made your postpartum experience smoother…

In the first weeks postpartum my partner would hand me an eye mask, fill me up a water bottle and take our little baby out of the room leaving me to sleep until she needed her next feed.

Those two hours a morning of undisturbed sleep were such a lifesaver and made me feel so grateful and connected to my partner too. It also meant that he got to spend one one-on-one quality time with our little girl. 

What you wish you had known before postpartum…

Well. I have always been an eater but Breastfeeding takes the hunger to a whole other level. 

Lots of healthy, filling meals and snacks save the day and water water water, wherever you go take that water bottle!

your best and toughest moments – let's celebrate the victories and empathise with the challenges.

When Ocean was about a month old she began to scream her little heart out every evening at about 6pm.

She hadn’t really been much of a crier and we would be beside ourselves not knowing if she was in pain or of it was something we were/weren’t doing. 

It was her ‘witching hour’.

We discovered that her soother was our favourite Disney playlist blasting, fairy lights on, and being held tight while we danced around the room. 

This was our evening routine for about two months. 

Safe to say it took us around three months not to go into full fight mode when she cried. But after that, we learned her cries and came to feel safe in knowing that her crying doesn’t always mean something is desperately wrong. That it is her only way to communicate with us, that sometimes it is just a dance or a hug that is required. 

One piece of advice you'd offer to another mama stepping into the postpartum world.

Get some of those big adult nappies! 

All you want to do is sit and snuggle and sniff and stare at your baby, those nappies offer a little cloud to sit on and you can forget about whatever mess might be being made as you get lost in your perfect little baby.

Favourite Viva La Vulva product and how did you use it…

I have two favourite Viva La Vulva products! 

For me one was before I had even given birth.

Perineal Power Soothing Postpartum Ice Packs absolutely saved my swollen ankles and feet!

The Peri Wash Bottle was a must-have along with the Witch Hazel for those first weeks postpartum.

🔥💗 Thank you so much, Charlie - for your honesty, and vulnerability and for sharing a piece of your postpartum journey with us. This is such a powerful step towards changing the narrative around our postpartum experiences. It's time to not only celebrate the victories but also empathise with the challenges!

If you want to help normalise postpartum and share your story click here x

#postpartumwithvivalavulva