Liz Hilton is revolutionizing postpartum support with her innovative swaddle technology, the Swaddelini, designed to help babies sleep through the night. Host Lucinda Koza delves into Liz's inspiring journey from founding her company, KnitIt, to navigating the challenges of entrepreneurship while raising a family. Liz highlights the importance of community feedback in developing her products and discusses the impact of her work on babies with neonatal abstinence syndrome. A significant part of the conversation centers around Liz's new initiative, Project CHIP (Cultivating Health in Postpartum), which aims to provide solutions for postpartum challenges through a documentary that emphasizes the necessity of proactive measures and community support for new mothers. Together, they explore how investing in postpartum care can transform the experiences of mothers and their families, ultimately fostering a healthier society.
Lucinda Koza's engaging discussion with Liz Hilton dives deep into the multifaceted world of postpartum support and innovation. Liz, an accomplished mother and entrepreneur, recounts her journey from launching KnitIt, a company specializing in soft goods, to developing the groundbreaking Swaddelini swaddle solution. This innovative product was born out of Liz's own parenting challenges, particularly the sleepless nights spent with a baby who would escape traditional swaddles. Drawing on her expertise in 3D knit programming, she crafted a swaddle that not only comforts but also addresses the developmental needs of infants, demonstrating how personal struggles can lead to impactful solutions.
Throughout the episode, Liz shares candid insights into the struggles of balancing her entrepreneurial ambitions with the demands of motherhood. She highlights the pivotal role that community feedback has played in refining her products and shaping her business model. This dialogue emphasizes the need for mothers to connect and support one another, illustrating how shared experiences can foster innovation and enhance wellbeing. Liz also introduces her latest initiative, Project CHIP, which aims to shift the conversation around postpartum experiences from one of struggle to one of empowerment and support.
Through a documentary lens, Project CHIP seeks to explore and promote healthy postpartum practices, emphasizing the importance of nourishing mothers and fostering community support. Liz's passion for creating a cultural shift in how postpartum care is viewed resonates strongly throughout the conversation, shedding light on the need for greater awareness and proactive measures in supporting new mothers. Her story serves as an inspiring reminder that with the right tools and community backing, mothers can thrive during the challenging early stages of parenthood.
Takeaways:
- Liz Hilton's journey from a 3D knit engineer to a successful entrepreneur shows the power of innovation driven by personal necessity.
- The viral success of Swaddelini highlights the importance of community feedback in product development.
- Project CHIP aims to redefine postpartum support by focusing on solutions rather than just challenges.
- Empowering postpartum women through community support can significantly improve their well-being and recovery.
- Liz emphasizes the need for proactive measures in postpartum care, advocating for prioritizing women's health after childbirth.
- Cultural practices around postpartum care can play a crucial role in nurturing new mothers effectively.
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Knit It
- Swaddelini
- Project CHIP
- Village Postnatal Recovery Center
Check out @swaddelini https://swaddelini.com/
A special thank you to
My name is Liz Hilton.
I'm a mother, inventor, and entrepreneur.
(00:21):
So before I became a mother InAugust of 2017, I had founded a company
called Knit it, which is asoft, good additive manufacturing
company.
I'm a 3D knit programmer by trade.
I program 3D knit solutions ona computer, and then I knit it seamlessly
in one piece on CNC knitting equipment.
(00:44):
And, you know, I started outbasically doing this in my garage,
and then, you know, wasn'tvery successful.
Um, and then, you know, thatsaying, necessity is the mother of
invention.
I was thinking about that.
That is like the living,breathing example of that, because
I became a mother.
(01:05):
And of course, the number oneproblem you have when you become
a mom is sleep.
And so I had a little Houdinibaby who would escape every swaddle.
And you've heard a lot ofentrepreneurs, mompreneurs, if you
will, who've stayed, startedswaddle companies.
But for me, because I was a 3Dknit engineer, designing 3D knit
solutions for office furniturecompanies and oven gaskets and shoe
(01:28):
uppers and all sorts ofthings, I.
I had the tools at myfingertips to solve this problem
in a whole new way.
I thought if I could invent aswaddle solution that could hug my
baby, that could help calm hiscentral nervous system, activate
his vagus nerve, and increasesproprioception, while also allowing
(01:49):
freedom of movement toexperience active sleep and moral
reflex.
I knew I'd have something, andso I prototyped it.
I put it on my baby, and Iremember putting him to sleep in
the crib that night.
He was like two months old.
I go to bed.
I wake up in a panic.
My husband and I both wake uprealizing we slept through the night
for the first time since wegot home from the hospital.
(02:10):
And we run to the crib, makesure he's okay, and he's sleeping
there peacefully.
And my husband grabs my armand he's like, you're gonna sell
a million.
Of these, and it's fun.
I didn't.
I was not as excited.
In that moment, I realized,this is gonna be a lot of work.
Like, I had something, andthis was going to take years of all
my energy and focus.
And it did.
(02:31):
Like, it took.
While I was growing a family,I also had, like, my business wasn't
doing well.
I had to go get a W2 job, youknow, to pay bills.
And I, I still pursuedSwadolini by going to baby shows
all over the country, meeting moms.
And it really like Swaddelliniis what it is today because of the
(02:54):
feedback from other moms.
And I love that it's every newproduct we come out with is because
moms asked for it or dadsasked for like the caregivers.
So I love being so connectedto them and so connected to the medical
community.
Um, so we've done a lot withneonatal abstinence syndrome babies.
We've donated to babies whoare born addicted to fentanyl.
(03:17):
And our, our products areengineered with hug technology which
helps with the tremors, helpswith exacerbated more reflex which
these nast babies suffer from.
And then it, it is alsodoctors and nurses have used it in
NICUs for babies withrespiratory problems because they
have trouble calming down toget the rest they need.
And our product helps with that.
So it's, it's been a wild ride.
(03:39):
It, it didn't take off untilJanuary 7, 2021 and I had a viral
TikTok.
In one day I had a millionviews, 341 orders from all over the
world and zero inventory andone machine in my garage, two kids
and a full time job.
(04:00):
So I hired like the daughterof my mom's friend from Chen and
who still works for me by the way.
She's amazing.
She's now a technician and programmer.
Yeah.
Anyway, yeah, the rest is history.
So now I have a, a 9,000square foot facility, 17 machines
and 11 employees.
(04:21):
Oh my gosh, that is so incredible.
It's just such a success story.
It is, it's the American dreamand I love that it's all about manufacturing
here and I'm like the lady Imentioned who helped me when I first
went viral who's still workingfor me.
She's going to get a statecertification for being a technician
(04:42):
and honing all those skills.
And so I love that I get toinvest back into the talent in my
community.
It's, it's amazing.
I, I am, I'm very, I, I, I, Idon't take my, this privilege for
granted.
Like I know that this is aprivilege and so part of understanding.
Wow.
I and a platform on social media.
I, I built this incrediblecommunity of new and expectant mothers
(05:07):
online.
What am I going to do withthis responsibility?
And I thought about how Icould best add value and I came up
with Project Chip which iscultivating health in Postpartum.
It's a documentary where weare following one woman's journey
preparing for her postpartum cardan.
There are so manydocumentaries out there about the
(05:29):
postpartum depression and allthese jarring, shocking problems.
There's nothing about the solution.
And I, I, I want to make thefirst documentary about the solution.
So I actually got togetherwith Han.
Oh.
Who wrote the first 40 days,which is a beautiful nutritional
guy.
You know it?
Yes, I do.
I got, I bought it and I gaveit to my husband.
(05:53):
I was like, here's a gift ofhow to take care of me.
Well, did he use it?
Did he use it?
So sort of, but hard.
Yeah.
I feel like it's like a whole,you know, concept that you mindset
shift too.
It is, yes.
Yeah.
(06:13):
About, like, how to reallytake care of a woman after she gives
birth, like, how to nourish her.
Well, it's not a Eastern and alittle, like, west from Europe.
Almost every culture that'sbeen around for more than 500 years
has their own, their own wayto support a woman in her rest and
(06:35):
recovery journey.
Postpartum.
And America being so new andso lost.
We have lost how to mother inour country.
We need to relearn it.
And we.
It starts with investing morein preparing for our postpartum than
our birth.
Our birth only takes a few hours.
Postpartum is years.
(06:56):
You want to plan yourpostpartum, especially in the first
40 days.
Absolutely.
And I have twins.
Whoa.
Hello.
And God, I was so unprepared.
How old are they now?
They're 19 months now.
(07:17):
Well, my gosh.
So you're still in the thickof it.
That's such a hard age.
Oh, yes.
I, I've been told that I'm atthe hardest stage for twins.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, for any baby, probably.
I know by twins, it's doubleeverything, so.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Oh, my gosh.
(07:38):
Yeah.
Did, did you get plugged inwith Twinversity Nat, do you know?
Yes, yes.
Yeah, she's a friend of mine.
I know.
Oh, really?
Oh, yeah, yeah.
The baby industry is so small.
We all know each other.
I've been to all the shows, so.
I know, Nat.
I know.
Yeah, we every, we all, we'revery incestuous industry all night.
(08:01):
That's amazing.
It's, that's it.
It's an incredible community.
She's great.
Yeah.
I love Nat.
If you got have twins, yougotta check out twinversity.
Oh, yeah.
I get the emails that arelike, it's now week, blah, blah,
blah.
With your twins, you shouldhave her.
On your, have you had her on.
Your podcast I want to.
(08:22):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, I love that you'refocusing on postpartum support, because
women just aren't.
And that book that you boughtand gave to your husband, that.
That only came out, like, nineyears ago.
Hunt wrote that.
And.
And.
But in.
It's gained in popularity inthe last few years, and I really
feel like it's bringing to theconsciousness of the American woman.
Hey, if you don't stop andinvest in yourself and prioritize
(08:46):
your nutrition and your restand your recovery, you're going to
pay for it later.
And I think we're finallystarting to understand this, and
I'm hoping so.
The big question that mydocumentary is going to ask is, what
is postpartum support?
We always talk about it.
We talk about community.
(09:07):
I want the meat and potatoesof what is it?
So we are getting detailed andspecific and giving people tools
throughout the doc andillustrating stories of what you
can do to help.
And I hope that people willtake the call to action seriously
and think, okay, if I want thevillage, I gotta be the village.
(09:27):
That's.
That's the.
And.
And that.
I didn't know that was gonnabe the message of the doc.
But after talking to women,this is.
This is what it needs to be,and this is what we all need to hear.
That's.
That is the perfect sound bite.
Thank you.
But that is also so true.
Can I tell you a story thatillustrates why it is so true?
(09:51):
So I learned about the first40 days book from my.
My best friend Paige.
And Paige went through herfirst postpartum without a baby.
She had a stillborn at 36 weeks.
It was, you know, the mosttraumatic, horrible thing you can
imagine.
And so her reaction to thatwas to really dig deep into her spiritual
(10:16):
healing and her physicalhealing and what she needed from
a.
A spiritual level, apsychological level, and a physical
level.
So she threw herself into hernutrition, and through the teachings
of the first 40 days, shethrew herself into her community.
Community.
She made.
She made meals, postpartummeals, and then delivered it to the
(10:38):
women she knew that wererecovering from postpartum.
She's like, I don't haveanything need take care of, so I'm
going.
I'm going to be there forthem, and I'm going to be their village.
And she said she received somuch healing by stepping out into
the world and doing this forother women who.
Who.
Who.
Who were, you know, doing their.
(10:59):
Their stuff with their newbornand didn't have time.
She had the time, and that washer gift.
And she said, I Mean, it'sjust so beautiful.
But she received so muchhealing from doing that and, and
for after that.
But she now has a healthy babygirl who's 2 now, and she's pregnant
(11:20):
with her third.
So, yeah, we're very, veryhappy and everything's going well.
She's almost at the end.
She's due any day now with her second.
But yeah, to.
To go through something likethat and have such a.
A healthy reaction.
I mean, wow.
And now imagine, okay, she wasin an extreme situation, but what
(11:43):
if all of us women, evenbefore we give birth, had this attitude
of, of service for one anotherand showing each other love in this
way.
You know that.
Because this is what we usedto do.
And if we could get our get.
You know, I think what thefirst 40 days is doing is, it's created
(12:04):
a cultural shift, and we'restarting to value these small, these
acts of service, of makingsomeone a meal.
It's becoming more mainstream,and I think that's really great.
Postpartum women have startedmaking healthy boundaries with in
laws and visitation.
Now, of course, enforcingthose boundaries is a totally different
(12:26):
thing, but at least we'retalking about it and we're setting
them.
You know, it's.
And then teaching ourselves how.
How to mother, how to.
How to do what we need to dofor ourselves first so that we can
be the best caregivers for our baby.
(12:47):
And I, I know that theAmerican people are not ready to
hear this message.
A lot of them are not ready,because when I make a post about
a moment, so I make a lot ofposts about safe sleep.
I do.
I do a whole scene thatexemplifies safe sleep practices.
If you're a new mom and youget sleepy, you put your baby down
(13:09):
in a safe sleep environment,bassinet by your bed, and then you
get rest.
And people online will seethis and go, why don't you just hold
your baby?
You're so lazy.
Moms are so lazy on theirphone all the time.
And I'm like, oh, my.
Oh, my God.
Like, that woman needs to getthe rest.
She needs to recover and bethe best, best mother she can be
for that baby.
And.
(13:29):
And you're on.
On my page judging her for that.
Like, people are.
Have lost their minds.
And, and social media hasnever made that.
It's made that very clear.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I read something today that was.
It was like, there's so muchadvice about how to parent, but there's
(13:52):
no both.
But what about advice abouthow to take care of people doing
the parenting.
Yeah, that, that is a bookthat should be written.
Okay.
Because.
Well, one thing, some peoplethink they're taking care of you
by disciplining your child for you.
And I, I really don't like that.
(14:13):
Um, it's like, if I'm, I, Idon't believe in policing.
I believe in guiding and coaching.
So if someone, like, wants tocome in and disclaim a kid.
No, it's not okay.
That's not okay.
Yeah.
If someone wants to come inand, and say, this is how things
should go, this is how thingsare going to go, then that's just
(14:33):
not helpful at all.
Yeah.
Or if somebody wants to comeinto your, your room when you have
a newborn and say things like,oh, are you, Are you breastfeeding?
You're not breastfeeding?
Like, getting into yourbusiness like that, that's not helpful.
Not helpful at all.
(14:54):
But yeah, parents also need toknow that perfect parenting does
not exist.
Like, so you will mess up andyou just gotta, you know, try again,
get back up.
And it's not a, it's not a jobfor a perfectionist.
Right.
What a job.
Yeah.
Um, yeah.
And it's hard to deal with imper.
(15:14):
You know, people areimperfect, so it's hard to deal with
the imperfect comments thatare made when you're a new mom and
everything is triggered andnobody gives you grace like that.
That's another thing I wouldlove to normalize.
Can we normalize giving apostpartum woman grace?
Because, you know, I, I have atype A personality, and so when I'm
postpartum, I am verysensitive and I don't think I'm alone
(15:38):
in that.
And so I, I would love to see,okay, I might have a moment of postpartum
rage, but can you, can yougive me a break?
Can you give me some grace there?
You know?
Right.
Like, instead of usingpostpartum rage, instead of using
that term to, like, shame meand make me feel like I'm crazy,
(16:00):
how about it's normal that youhave a moment of postpartum rage,
you know?
Yeah, yeah.
Or just like, say, oh, okay,well, let it.
Let.
Or just say nothing.
Just let it brush off and thengo about your day.
Right.
Oh, gosh, the things I want to normalize.
I mean, I just imagine if,like, every woman invested as heavily
(16:22):
into their postpartum recoveryperiod as they did into their birth.
I mean, the whole.
Our society would be different.
The way we bond, our childrenwould be different.
And especially as moms, I feellike if we prioritized our rest and
Recovery postpartum, we'd haveless resentment toward our kids because
that's, that's where the momguilt comes from.
(16:43):
Ah, that's my belief.
I'm a, I'm speaking out turn.
I'm not a psychologist, youknow, but I do have four kids.
You have four?
Four, yeah.
So I have the, the baby I hadthat, that inspired me to make the
swadolini is now seven.
And then I also have a, a fouryear old and a two year old and my
(17:04):
baby just turned one.
Yeah.
So you are still postpartum?
Yeah, yeah.
Oh yeah.
I'm still breastfeeding, yeah.
Wow.
Yeah.
And actually one of the thingsI did for a friend, she had a nesting
party and everybody signed upto like do dishes one day, do laundry,
(17:24):
bring her a meal.
I signed up for bedtime routine.
So I came over about eight andshe was making a bottle and I was
like, you know, I'mbreastfeeding right now.
Like, would you, I could beyour wet nurse.
And she was like, oh, go for it.
And I've done this for mysister's kids.
So I did.
She went with her husband intotheir bedroom to rest.
Their baby was only a couplemonths old and I hung out with him.
(17:47):
I tried to keep him awake aslong as possible, changing his diaper.
I fed him a couple times and Ithink he finally went to bed around
like 9:45 or so.
And then I made sure he was still.
I obviously put him to bed ina swadolini and I think I creeped
out like 10:30.
And she said that he woke upat like 6:05am the next day, slept
(18:10):
through the night.
I love that.
So I feel like I, I, I mightexplore this, that I might have a
new career path.
You don't know.
Sure.
Like a, like a, I mean like.
Hair'S night nanny, you know,if I.
Had known that that existed,I, I, I think I would have with twins,
(18:34):
like I, I would have.
You didn't know about nightnannies when you were postpartum?
No.
I mean, which I didn't know anything.
Oh no.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So I'm like a cautionary tale.
Um, yeah.
Basically a night nanny canlike will like do what I did for,
(18:56):
or my friend or, or, orpostpartum doula type person or like
whenever the baby wakes up, ifthey're really young, like this baby
was like two or three monthsold that I, I did the routine for.
But you, they'll bring thebaby to you so you can nurse them
and then, and maybe they'llbring you water.
Maybe they'll do some laundryor something while you're sleeping.
(19:18):
Whatever.
You negotiate into it.
Yeah, that's.
That's a huge act of service.
Yeah, but.
But the thing is, what I didwas for free.
It was.
Or another new mom in mycommunity who definitely could not
have afforded a postpartum doulas.
Right.
Yeah, Right.
That's the caveat there.
Yeah.
Well, there is, like, where was.
(19:39):
I think it was Sweden is doinga time bank system where you volunteer
time to help and aid with anelderly person and you'll be like
their aid for a day.
Right.
And you bank that time.
So when you get old, then it'sreciprocated with the next generation.
And I think that is beautiful system.
(20:01):
Would love for it to work here.
Maybe for postpartum.
Absolutely.
No, I mean, why is Sweden perfect?
I know.
Oh, cool.
Oh, man.
There.
Anyway, there's a lot oflittle solutions and big solutions.
Right.
(20:22):
But I think what mydocumentary is getting at is how
can you be the solution inyour own way, in your own community
and explore that?
I mean.
Well, so the way we're doingit is we're following this one woman's
journey through preparing forpostpartum, living it out, and then
interviewing her on, you know,what worked, what didn't.
(20:44):
And I'm doing this with Han,the author of the first 40 days.
So she obviously.
Han is Chinese American, andthe subject of our film is Chinese
American.
And she really wanted topractice the ancient Chinese practice
of confinement when she.
With her first child that shehad a few years ago.
But it just.
It didn't work out.
Her family members were notable to be there for her through
(21:06):
for one reason or another.
And it just.
It was.
It was a disappointingexperience for her.
And so I'm really excited weget to give this back.
So I actually have a friendwho owns the Village Postnatal Recovery
center In San Francisco, 15minutes from this woman's home.
Her name's Alice Eisman, andshe just gave birth a few days ago,
(21:27):
and she's checking in onMonday, and I'm flying to San Francisco
on Tuesday.
We're going to film Wednesday.
And she's.
We.
So Swadolini has sponsoredthis and we're sponsoring her Chinese
meals that are going to bebrought to her every day, and her
family can visit.
And I.
I'm just.
I'm so excited to showcasethis because although people might
(21:47):
think, okay, I can't afford apostpartum doula for like 35 to 65
an hour, in San Francisco,it's like $65 an hour.
So if you want 24.7care, it'sout of the question.
But at a postnatal recoverycenter like the Village, it's $800
a night, and it's 24.
7 postpartum doula care.
So it's, if you need a breakthat's available to you.
(22:11):
Um, it's, it's, it's amazing.
And could, could it be systematized?
Sure.
Where I, I'm also exploringthe counterpoints to that, because
I thought this was all fineand dandy, like, how much I would
have loved to go to a retreatcenter and just be away from my home
and my responsibilities for afew days.
That would have been amazingfor me.
(22:32):
It might not be for everyone,but it's one of the things we're
exploring.
The other thing we'reexploring is postpartum doula support
in home.
And, and then, of course, theother thing we're curious about is
her, her friend circle support.
So she did have a nesting party.
She did have a signup sheet.
And we're going to beinterviewing her friends, like, how
(22:54):
they want to be there fortheir friend in her postpartum period.
So because the, the, theperson we're doing, who's the subject
of this doc.
Alice.
She's a giver.
Like, she's one of thosepeople who's always giving and giving
and giving to others, but isreally, really hard for her to ask
for help.
I think that's never going away.
Women will always have troubleasking for help.
(23:14):
But what we can get better atis giving it and giving, giving it
without asking.
Just showing up.
Just showing up and giving.
I, I, we could get better at that.
Yeah.
Delicious.
I, I love how proactive you are.
(23:35):
It, for lack of a better word.
Well, that's the key word.
I love that word.
Proactive.
Like, I, I don't like seeing a problem.
Oh, my baby's not sleeping.
I'm gonna engineer a swaddlefor him.
And this.
Oh, postpartum support isabsolutely non existent.
Let's change this.
Yes.
Yeah.
(23:55):
I think the most importantthing is that a new mom feels empowered.
Right.
Well, and to have the words,that's one thing I learned in birth
that I think could also beparalleled to postpartum.
You know, I, I wanted to birthnaturally, but I didn't have the
words and the tools tocommunicate what I needed in the
(24:16):
moment I needed it until Itrained with, retrained my brain
through hypnobirthing, whichlife Changing.
Honestly, if you're notpregnant, I would still read hypnobirthing.
Wow.
The ideas in that book arefantastic because it's giving you
the tools you need mentallyand changing your mindset so that
you can have the words toadvocate for yourself.
(24:37):
And when you're postpartum andyou're under a lot of stress, you
don't have the, the toolsready to feel what you need to feel
in the moment.
You need to feel it.
So postpartum emotionaldistress may not hit you till six
months a year down the road.
If you don't prioritizeyourself in the first days and weeks
postpartum, it will hit youlike a ton of bricks.
(25:00):
That happened to me.
So I know really well my firstday back from the hospital, my husband
worked a 22 hour day.
It was manufacturing.
And he came home and I lit himup and he was like, Liz, I took four
days off for the birth and Iwas like two of those days were Saturday
and a Sunday.
Six months in, we go on avacation and he leaves me with the
baby two days into thevacation to go back to work.
(25:21):
Yeah, I'm serious.
And, and then I get back fromthe vacation and I tell him, you
quit your job or we have nomore children.
And, and he quit his job andhe actually got a job making it.
He was six months unemployed.
It was tough and I had to geta real job, a much higher paying
(25:42):
job.
I wasn't really making muchmoney, so I had to get a job.
He got a job making a thirdless than what he was used to.
Which for a man who has hiswhole identity wrapped up in that,
it's amazing what my husbanddid for his family.
And it all worked out cause hehas quit that job and now we work
together.
So yeah, that's incredible.
(26:03):
It's a very happy story.
But.
And you know what?
I got to experience thathappiness because I had the words
to advocate for myself and myfoot down.
And I see some women that arejust so buried in their postpartum
stress, they don't have those words.
But my postpartum.
Oh my postpartum stress story,I almost, my son almost got kicked
(26:24):
out of daycare because I blew up.
It was bad.
Not like me, okay?
I blew up at one of theirworkers cuz I thought they, they
misplaced or stole a blanket,which they hadn't.
Okay.
Brad put it in a differentplace and, but it was my fault.
And they told me that, Liz, ifyou react this way or behave this
way, you can't have your child here.
And they were totally in theirright to say because I acted completely
(26:47):
horribly and I took it to my doctor.
I'm like, look, this is notlike me.
And I don't know what's going on.
I feel like I have no control.
And she put me on 50milligrams of Zoloft.
Amazing.
And I, I did that for abouteight months and it was great.
I love sharing this story cuzI really believe 50 milligrams of
Zoloft never hurt anybody.
And for me, I needed that.
(27:08):
I didn't have postpartum depression.
I wasn't thinking of hurtingmyself or my kid.
But I had postpartum emotionaldistress, which is totally normal.
And I, because of the stress,like not having my husband available
in the first few weeks andmonths, he had no paternity leave
that I, I didn't hit me untillike six months, eight months later,
you know.
(27:28):
Yeah, yeah, I think that'swhat happened to me too.
And my husband also did nothave paternity leave.
And I, I needed the words andI needed the tools to advocate for
myself and I didn't not tohave the words at all.
What eventually did you do it?
Eventually, yes.
(27:49):
So eventually I figured outwhat it was that felt so awful and
was able to, to talk with himabout it.
It's still an ongoingconversation, you know, because it,
because you're right, it's, ithits you like a ton of bricks and
you know, it's like icky,sticky, like sticking with me, you
(28:10):
know, their.
Man has no control over it andhe's like, well, what can I do?
And, and that's where, youknow, like, hey, ask me if I'm thirsty
or just bring me a glass ofwater every time you come up to check
on me or bring me a snackevery time you come up or to just.
And then if, and if I'm, I getvery snap.
I remember I was very snappy.
(28:31):
It was very bad.
But I've gotten better.
I've gotten better becausewhen you start thinking about, okay,
I know this time is not goingto be perfect, then you know what
you're going into.
And I didn't get postpartumemotional distress anywhere near
as bad as the first timebecause I had the words for it.
I knew what it was, I knewwhat was happening.
I didn't have to go on sooften the subsequent pregnancies
(28:51):
because I knew what to expectand I knew I'm going to need support
during these hours.
I'm going to need, you know,easy nutritious foods accessible
at all times.
I made sure he put a minifridge by my bed and a microwave
and a tea kettle and, like,all these things.
I had a little pantry right by our.
(29:12):
I had, like, a second kitchenin our bedroom.
And that's.
I.
I.
What I needed.
And I.
My.
My fourth postpartum was mybest because I followed a lot of
the practices in the first 40 days.
So the fact I get to work withthe author, Han.
Oh.
On this project, Chip it.
It's.
It's amazing.
And I.
I hope we inspire women allover the country to.
(29:33):
To invest in their postpartum experience.
I can't wait to share it andsee it and just celebrate it.
And I thank you for doing it.
I mean, it's.
Oh, yeah.
And it's.
It's gonna.
I don't need to make money on this.
I'm not out to make money onthis doc.
It's gonna be launching onYouTube for free, and it's gonna
(29:54):
be on my website.
And I, you know, I've got,like, 700,000 followers across all
my social media platforms.
I'm just gonna be pushing itout social media, hoping other people
share it too.
And.
Yeah, I'm just.
It's that.
That's the way I think it's.
It's meant to be.
Absolutely.
Well, thank you so much.
I'm so glad that we did this.
(30:16):
Yeah.
Likewise.
Have a great day.
Oh, you too.