The Fourth Trimester Workbook

Enormous energy goes into preparing for a birth that lasts a day or two. Almost none goes into the twelve weeks after it, which change everything.

This is a planning workbook for after. Not a guide to newborns — a plan for your household, made while you still have the attention to make one.

It covers recovery honestly: what's yours to expect and what's your provider's to answer. Rest, and where it will actually come from, because sleep is the thing that runs out first and the thing everyone is glib about. The numbers to write down now, while writing things down is easy.

There's a section on feeding that starts with what you want it to look like, in your words, before anyone gives you theirs — and a page worth reading before you need it, for if it isn't going the way you hoped.

And then the part that makes the difference: visitors. Who comes when, and the sentence that protects the list. Who does what around the house, allocated before anyone is tired. The help you'll actually accept, because a vague offer isn't help.

The last section is about you, which is the part that gets asked about least.

What’s inside

• Your Body — recovery, rest, when to call someone
• Feeding — what you want it to look like, the first two weeks, and if it's hard
• Your House and Your People — visitors, who does what, older children and pets
• You — how you're doing, and what you want someone to notice

Good for

The third trimester, and partners. Best filled in together, before the baby comes, while it's still a conversation rather than a negotiation.