The final stretch in your pregnancy is here! You’re so close to bringing home your sweet baby! You’re probably getting your hospital bag packed, the nursery all ready and maybe buying last minute baby products you’ll need.
Well what about food? Have you thought about what you’ll be eating post delivery? Probably not. Or maybe you have family members coming to help you for those early weeks. Maybe you’ve got some friends to set up a meal train for you, or maybe you plan on just winging it.
Proper nutrition post delivery, is critical for proper healing and recovery. Your body has just gone through a huge transformation and finally after 9 months, you’ve delivered a baby. No matter how you delivered (scheduled c-section, emergency c-section, epidural, pitocin, all natural vaginal, water birth etc), your body has gone through some major stress and exhaustion.
Your body heals faster with proper nutrition and rest, but with a newborn – you’re probably not resting as much as you’d like. For this reason, nutrition plays a huge role in recovery!
Why is nutrition so important for recovery?
Well, food is made up of a variety of vitamins, minerals and macronutrients that help your body function properly. Without these vital nutrients, your body has to work extra hard to take care of itself. If you’re not getting these nutrients in addition to not getting enough rest (hello newborn), you will feel extra tired, lethargic, irritable/emotional, and it’ll take a longer time to heal. Plus, you’re more likely to experience postpartum depression when you have a poor diet.
What foods should you focus on for faster recovery?
Eating a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grain, protein, and healthy fats (including omega 3-fatty acids) will help for a speedy recovery, plus giving you the energy to take care of your baby. Foods that are rich in vitamin C (helps synthesize collagen and acts as an antioxidant), zinc (helps create new tissue, and helps in immune function), protein (the foundation of hormones, enzymes, muscle, tissue regeneration and more!), Vitamin D and calcium (both work together for wound healing), and iron (helps with loss of blood). Vitamin D, zinc, selenium, and omega 3 fatty acids, have all been found to help with postpartum depression. You’ll want to continue taking your prenatal/postnatal vitamins, but this is to *supplement* your diet you already have. The food you eat, work synergistically for better absorption.
.Why make frozen meals?
Well obviously you don’t HAVE to, but I strongly encourage you make a couple dishes that you can freeze then easily heat up. If you know you’re going to have someone cooking and cleaning for you for several weeks after you deliver, then maybe you don’t need to freeze your meals. However, many moms I work with, myself included, don’t have family near us. We might get a couple meals from a meal train our dear friends make for us, but there will be some days where you won’t have food and you don’t exactly have the energy to cook something healthy. These frozen make ahead meals are for those instances.
.When and how to prepare freeze ahead meals?
Frozen meals can typically hold up to 3 months in the freezer. I usually recommend making at least one of your freeze ahead meals starting around 34-36 weeks pregnant. Then 37-38 weeks crank out several more meals if you haven’t gone into labor yet. Obviously it’s going to be hard to know WHEN exactly to cook and freeze your meals, because only God knows when you’re going into labor, but if you can make one dish early on in your third trimester, then possibly add one extra meal a week or make double/triple portions of your meal and freeze that, you’ll be solid.
I recommend buying a couple tin pans from the Dollar Store, because after you deliver, you won’t want to clean extra dishes. Try to get similar pans so that they can stack neatly on top of each other in the freezer. You can also get some mason jars and line the side of the freezer door with jars of soup, chili, or stews.
.Here are some great Freeze Ahead recipes written by my fellow registered dietitians:
Breakfast
- Breakfast Burritos
- Breakfast Sandwiches
- Freezer-Friendly Breakfast Egg Wraps
- Baked Butternut Squash French Toast
- Baked Oatmeal
- Baked Oatmeal Muffins
Soups/Chili:
- Better for you Chili
- Lemon Tahini Lentil Soup
- Curried Red Lentil Soup
- African Almond Butter and Root Vegetable Stew
- Superfood Vegetarian Chili
- Chicken and Kale White Bean Chili
- Indian Spiced Pumpkin and Lentil Soup
- Savory Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup
.Main Dishes:
- Rosemary Honey Mustard Pork Tenderloin
- Rib-Sticking Meatloaf Makeover
- Mushroom and Leek Tetrazzini
- Mexican Stuffed Peppers and Zucchini
- Spicy Turkey Quinoa Meatballs
- Baked Chicken Patties
- Vegetarian Mexican Lasagna
- Instant Pot Chicken and Yellow Rice
- Mushroom-Walnut Bolognese
.Dessert:
.If you run out of freezer meals, here are 19 healthy 15-minute meals
Did you make freeze ahead meals? I’d love to hear what you made or what you ate post delivery.
