First Postpartum meal plans? « Back to Group Discussions

[UnderTheOldOakTree]

Anyone have and ideas for what you want for your first meal postpartumn?  I remember with DS  I had some awful frozen dinner that the nurse at the hospital gave me.  I did sneak a little food in early labor at the hospital but it had still been at least 24 hours since I had eaten by the time I got that little frozen dinner and I was starved and miserable.  

So, given that we're planning a homebirth this time around I'm putting a bunch more thought into what I want that first meal to be.  I'm thinking I really want a beef stew.  It's one of my favorites, it seems seasonal and with the bone broth, veggies and all it would be pretty nutrition dense.  I was also thinking that could be put in a crockpot in early labor and hopefully it would be done when I'm ready for it.  I am debating whether I should try to make it up and freeze it ahead of time or not.  Otherwise, I guess I could start making one a week around 37 weeks and keeping it in the fridge to heat up.  I'm not sure I want to have to chop veggies and stuff even when in early labor.

I'm also planning on making a grain-free groaning cake in early labor.  I've been comparing different recipes for grain free cakes and groaning cakes and I think I have come up with a recipe that will work.  I'm going to do a test run on that soon though.

[Vegan Princess]

I have no idea what I'll have! Last time I had peanut butter toast right after. Honestly, it did the trick and it was easy to make. I also think I had peanut butter toast at the start of my labor. I like the idea of having something substantial on hand but I just doubt it's going to happen. So I'll probably end up with the same!

Lately almost no food really sounds all that great to me. I'm hungry and eating often but I can never think of what I want to eat bc nothing is exciting. So I am totally drawing a blank for post partum food ideas. 

I was thinking of freezing meals and then DH could heat up something more substantial. But then I remembered my husband despises leftovers (even if he didn't eat them the first night) and I doubt he would eat frozen meals! In fact he wrinkled his nose at the idea. So that just means more of the cooking duties are going to fall on him. 

Cindy

[forumyonly1]

beef stew is an awesome idea! I may have to steal it!!!  and yes freeze it ahead of time for 2 reasons, 1- if you make it once a week you may be sick of it by the time baby arrives and 2- stew freezes amazingly well! make it up ahead of time put it in a bag and place the bag in the pot you are planning on heating it up with then once frozen you can remove the pot and it will be all ready. we did this with baked potato soup for my last birth and is was amazing! so delicious and hearty! 

I'm interested in the bread you are talking about. my husband and one of my sons have celiac disease and my oldest son is autistic so we are on a strict gluten free diet. i always loved cornbread with beef stew.. I wonder if i could find a good gf recipe for that.. hmmm 

[pregnova]

Ha! My first postpartum meal last time was some awful sandwich that had been leftover from the dinner meal deliveries at the hospital. AND, I had to beg for it. Sheesh. So, yes! lol I've put some thought into what I'll be eating right after this time...particularly as my doula mentioned that she'll be cooking for us afterwards! I think I'm going to go with the classic breakfast though...easy stuff for the doula to make that we're not too particular on taste-wise, and also something that will taste nice and fresh rather than digging into our freezer meals. I'm guessing scrambled eggs with cheese, toast or bagel with butter, and probably a fruit salad. Immediately after Baby comes out, I'll be having an herbal tea with honey to both boost blood sugar and help prevent hemorrhage, and once the placenta is out, I'll be having a fruit smoothie with a chunk of placenta blended in. (the rest of the placenta will be encapsulated)

As for the rest of post-partum, we're stocking the freezer like there's no tomorrow! lol I've already got four meals in there...I'm basically just trying out recipes and making extra if we like it and then freezing that. So far, we have orange-Ginger chicken and meatballs. I'm planning meatloaf, shredded chicken, zuchini Bread, Banana Bread, this awesome sounding muffin recipe that's great for encouraging milk supply, a few stews, chicken and dumplings, and a few others that I'm on the fence about...we'll have to try the recipes out first! DH is NOT into cooking, and if left to his own devices, we'd have spaghetti and beef every night...soooo lol, I'm making it as simple as possible for him. I do plan to have the pantry pretty stocked too, but we also live across the street from the grocery store, so it's easy to send dh out for stuff I forget. 

I do want to get a crockpot too, and I've seen on pinterest how some people freeze the already cut veggies/meat so that they can just pull out from the freezer and throw it in the crockpot. I might try a few of those...

Oh, and we're doing a birthday cake for the baby! I finally found a recipe for a natural version of those rainbow layer cakes that I'll make beforehand and freeze. We'll thaw it during labor and then dh and ds can ice it after the baby comes and we'll have a little family celebration. I think ds will LOVE it, and it will make the whole idea of birthdays more real to him. lol

[Vegan Princess]

Pregnova: Birthday cake is one of the activities I have planned for our doula to do with DD while I am in labor. :-) Though I'm actually wondering if my labor will be long enough. I might have the boxed kind on hand in case things are going quick. LOL. 

Oh and I def plan to freeze muffins and things that I know I will appreciate being able to grab and warm up easily to eat while nursing, etc. 

Cindy

[UnderTheOldOakTree]

The birthday cake thing is a great idea.  I wonder if we can make it work...of course with my dietary restrictions I can't really eat it and I'm not sure I want it around to tempt me....sigh...

Making muffins to freeze is a great idea too.  I make almond flour banana bread muffins that I love.  DS thinks they are cupcakes so maybe we'll put a little icing on a few of those and  they can be cupcakes for the baby!

Amanda I think you are right about making the stew and freezing it and then popping it in the crockpot. I'm going to try to get to the farmers' market next week to get some more good beef bones and stew meat from my favorite farmer.    I am gluten-free too due to thyroid issues (though both my guys still eat it, but not for main meals that I cook). I can't eat very many grains though because they don't do well for my blood sugar  (and I've worked so hard to avoid GD this time around).  Corn seems to be one I can handle in small amounts though if paired with lots of protein. I'm going to try a gf coconut cornbread recipe today.  If it's good I'll post the link.  That does sound like it would be good with the beef stew too...maybe I'll make some of that ahead and freeze it as well.  

I'll also let you know how the test run on the groaning cake goes too.  I've wanted to make one for this birth all along and now I just need to see if I can make it into something I can actually eat.

I also realized that we have bunches of meals that I made ahead in the freezer and they all have gluten in them....I guess I need to rethink that.....

[Amanda1]

I am planning to have lots of meals in the freezer for the first few weeks so that DH can focus on DS when he gets home from work and not have to worry about dinner.

I have not even thought about what I want right after baby is born... I suppose something in the crockpot is a good idea.

DS was born on a holiday Monday late at night, by the time I was ready to eat I was very limited in choices. Nothing in the hospital but arrowroot cookies ( I think I ate like 15) and I had no interest in the trail mix and power bars I had packed. I wanted PIZZA soooo bad but there was no pizza places open so I had no choice but to settle for the dreaded McDonalds as it was the only place open and to top it off poor DH (as much as he tried) brought me the wrong thing.

So this time I will put more thought and planning into it :)

And I love the birthday cake idea, DS would love that

[miss_sonja]

One thing to remember is that you may be really sensitive to smells during labor. One way I knew I was in labor with #2 was that when my DH got out some kimchi to eat, I yelled at him to put it away! I couldn't stand any strong or vivid smells. 

I'll probably do some freezer meals for the first week or so. DH is wary of cooking, but he's a good heater-upper. 

[UnderTheOldOakTree]

That's a good thought!  I'm thinking I'll plan to put the crock pot out on our covered balcony just in case the smell is too much!

[Vegan Princess]

Great tip about cooking smells during labor! I felt suffocated by a scented candle last time.

So all this talk of beef stew has me pondering making some to see if I like it. I used to love when my mom made it - wayyyyy back before I stopped eating meat. I do have my mom's recipe - but now I realize her cooking methods are not my cooking methods. LOL. So does anyone have a recipe they love and don't mind sharing? I have been eating a bit of meat during this preg - though I find myself not wanting it much anymore. I think maybe I'll try the stew. I like the idea of freezing the raw ingredients and then throwing them in the crockpot to cook. DH probably wouldn't have as big an issue with that as he does with reheating already cooked food - he especially can't stand reheated meat. Anyway, a light meal right after birth sounds fine but I know I will want something nourishing and substantial once the adrenaline has worn off and I've had a chance to nap a bit. 

Cindy

[esma2175]

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who is already preping meals for after baby arrives.  DS didn't sleep at all until about 4 months, and I remember being a zombie and eating a lot of pasta.

So far I have a cheese pasta with veggies and chicken and a greenbean cassarole with chicken.  I can't wait to start doing soups!!!!  I might make some with dehydrated ingredients, to ease up on the freezer space.  Some of my other meals are going to be beef stroganoff, enchladas, cheese and chicken stuffed shells.  What ever I make for dinner now, I just make two (or 3!!) and freeze the others.

One thing I didn't see mentioned is what to put your foods in.  Soups are good to be stored in ziplock type bags, and I bought 30 foil pans with lids (Sams club $12) for things that just get put into the oven to make clean up a snap!! Plus I can write the cooking instructions right on the lid.  Normally we don't use the disposable containers, and really it was hard for me to buy them, but I figured I need to eat healthy and this is the best bet for us. I love hearing what everyone else is making!! 

I haven't really thought about my first meal, I'll be in the hospital and the midwives allow you to have "light" food while in labor, but I'm not 100% sure of what that means.  After a 36 hour labor with DS (starting at midnight so I was up for over 48 hours!) not eating anything that whole time, all I wanted to do was sleep.  Soup sounds wonderful right now... maybe make some small packets of the dehydrated mix that DH can add water too and put in the microwave.  hmmm, I will have to explore this some more!

[forumyonly1]

esma- last time i used the disposable pans you bought and loved them they were amazing.. easy dinner.. easy clean up! we also stocked up on paper plates lol 

@vegan princess- if you are uncomfortable eating meat you could make a veggie stew! just chop up veggies like carrots, celery, potatoes and green beans or whatever else you might like, and then use a vegetable broth instead of a meat based broth. the only reason i was thinking beef stew might be good for me instead of baked potato soup this time is because beef is a rich source of iron and iron is good during lochia! or if you wanted that beef flavor but didn't want to eat a lot of meat you can use beef broth for the base. i don't really use a recipe for stew just put the meat, cut up vegetables, broth, salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder. then i usually throw in something like bay leaves or basil or whatever herb sounds good to me... but that's the kind of cook i am lol.  i DO have an AMAZING recipe for baked potato soup if you want that though!!!! hahaha

@under the old oak tree- we ate paleo for a while so i know what it's like to eat little to no grains. it can be challenging for kids and all of the meals we ate required a ton of prep work.  if you can handle corn and want something premade that is easy and gluten free you can get tamales and toquito's in the freezer section. there are several brands that are gluten free.. these may not be the best food ever for you, but for quick easy lunches.. it's not a horrible option. i made a list up last night of gluten free meals to freeze. if you would like i can type out that list!-- also i'm not sure if they carry it every where, but our walmart carries a brand of gluten free noodles that cook up much nicer than brown rice noodles and they are corn based. they do have rice in them as well, but from what i can tell, they are mostly corn. my kids absolutely love these noodles.  can you make a lasagna and use zuccini instead of noodles?? i love the way these taste but my kids want nothing to do with it. lol. any way, if you get stuck and want ideas let me know! :)

[Vegan Princess]

Amanda: I don't mind a little meat right now. I'm guessing after labor might be a time my body wants it? I ate ridiculous amounts of sauteed kale for months after giving birth last time. I couldn't get enough. DH became an expert at cooking it. It's high in iron. A veggie stew just isn't quite the same as a beef stew, ya know. LOL. I'd love the potato soup recipe though.

Can you really freeze soup in ziploc bags? I'm guessing you have to wait for it to be 100% cooled down so it doesn't melt. I get a bit sketched out about storing stuff in plastic. But my only other good soup container for freezing is plastic tupperware anyway. And FYI - ziploc brands bags do NOT have BPA but if you buy Target brand, they do! I just learned that recently. 

Cindy

[forumyonly1]

cindy- good to know about the bags!!!! we always buy ziploc brand at costco so they last us forever, but my sister in law buys target all the time i will let her know! and yes just wait for the soup to completely cool off and then pour it in a bag. i guess you could probably pour it in one of those disposable aluminum casserole dishes and heat it in the oven... not sure how that would work though lol

i will post the baked potato soup recipe after i get ds on the bus!

[Angelorum]

For some reason I keep imagining eating broccoli cheese soup after the birth this time.  I guess I should start testing out recipes because I don't have one that I like.  It's still far too hot for soup though.  Last time, someone made me a big turkey sandwich that my midwife fed me while I held ds.

As for other meals for post partum, I should probably start freezing some things.  MIL cooked for us a lot last time, and I expect my mom will be coming out to help as well this time since we live closer.  Dh is an awesome cook as well, so I'm sure we won't need frozen stuff for the first while, but there came a point last time when I was still exhausted and sore but everyone kind of assumed I was recovered and I had to start cooking again.  Freezer meals for then would be awesome.  I am a little worried though about making stuff ahead and then finding out that babe has trouble with some of the ingredients.  I had to give up dairy with ds at about 5 weeks, and dairy products were one of my main sources of fat and protein while I was pregnant, so it was a big adjustment.  I'm crossing my fingers I don't have to do it again, but I'll make sure some of my frozen things are dairy free just in case. 

[Aurora]

I could live happily on soup and bread. I was planning on potato cheese soup as my first meal, but since Angel mentioned broccoli cheese...

This is my very favorite broccoli cheese soup recipe. I have never froze it, so I am not sure how well it works, but I may try it this weekend. If it does well, I will make up a pot to freeze. 

http://www.soulemama.com/soulemama/2009/09/bits.html

[forumyonly1]

mmm broccoli cheese soup sounds yummy!!!

here is my favorite baked potato soup recipe!! it's fantastic!

http://www.recipelink.com/mf/14/18184

[Vegan Princess]

Thank for the recipes! I bet DH is going to LOVE baked potato soup!!

Cindy

[Aurora]

The baked potato soup sounds divine! It is super hot here, and I am contemplating making soup for dinner. I need the weather to cool off so my family does not revolt. 

[forumyonly1]

lol i feel your pain with the heat... it is disgusting here. yesterday when i took my son to kindergarten i thought "oh it's not that bad out" then i got in the car and saw it was 104 degrees.. it's pretty sad when 104 is "not that bad" but we've been averaging 115 this week /barf.  after living in Alaska for 6 years... anything about 80 is hot to me though lol

we are having chicken and dumplings for dinner tonight.. hope the family doesnt complain too much lol