…
…
…
Have you ever had one? I never had one until this birth. Usually my births are followed by a stream of visiting relatives and dinners are either made by dearest husband or ordered out at restaurants. In retrospect, I’ve always taken the newborns out way too early.
This time my friend Kathleen asked if I wanted her to set up a food chain for me and I thought, hmmm. Okay. sure. Why not? I saw the email she sent out to the two homeschool lists that I’m a member of, and then the day after baby was born she asked if I wanted it to start the next day. And then I was sent the list of names.
Holy Canolis!
23 days of food. Lovingly made and hand delivered (occasionally ordered out ;o) the most glorious invention. The most thoughtful gift.
Here’s an example of the yummies…Annette came first and introduced us to the idea that you can put french fries on TOP of a casserole. Two great tastes. Heather gave us the first taste of Chicken Pot Pie, a new favorite. We got soups from Tammy, Michelle, Annette (again!) all good.
Staci brought us chicken from a restaurant and then signed up again to bring us a fabulous ROAST on Easter Sunday. It was sooooooooo good. Tyler brought a shepherd’s pie, my eldest daughters favorite food. We had 4 nights of our favorite restaurant, Wahoo’s Fish Tacos, hand delivered to our table. Pizza delivered by Loren. Almond encrusted Salmon from theresa (no wonder it’s her specialty!) At least 5 varieties (all different! All good!) of Cheesy Tomato Pasta Bake. And at least 5 meals from mamas that I barely know, or rarely see. Each meal was awesome.
( Thank you Annette, Heather, Tammy, Staci, Michelle, John, Shari, Tyler Kathleen Teresa, Nadine, Mary, Michelle, Sonya, Loren, Diane, Margie, Patty, Maisha, Mara, Maggie, and your families too)
and there’s other benefits of the food chain!
Your husband gets to taste other wives cooking (of course in my case, this is more of a detriment, since I’m a lousy cook on my best days. I’ve got a lot to live up to now) but I think he really enjoyed the vacation from my culinary skills.
Also, because every day there was a friend scheduled to bring me a meal, I had no reason to leave the house. Not only no reason to leave, but also a reason to stay. To put it plainly, it would have seemed ungracious, unseemly, inconsiderate, to go out for the day doing things and then come home to get a meal delivered. It made me stay home. And that was awesome.
And Also, because every day there was a friend scheduled to bring me a meal, it made my husband very conscious that I still needed to be taken care of. Even the most fabulous husbands can be reminded of this sometimes.
So, I guess what I’m saying is, if you know anyone who’s pregnant,start them a food chain and If you’re pregnant, ask someone to start one for you. It’s really great, the only thing you really need.
xox,
Heather
I’ve been lucky enough to have a church community that provides a food chain for new moms (and the sick, recent surgery patients, etc,) but if you’re blessed with a great group of friends as extended family, what a phenomenal way to show your love!
Oh I totally agree. I have two favorite shower gifts
1) carbox (a few diapers, change of clothes for baby, Tshirt for momma, wipes, bottle of water, granola etc) in a rubbermaid like box
2) Freezer foods
Both gifts get a raised eyebrow from first time Mommas and sincere gratitude after the first time they are caught without the diaperbag (or baby barfs/poos on 3rd outfit) and again when they have ready-made meals for after the food chain ends.
Thanks for sharing this awesome gift idea!
My school friends did this for me when I had my second baby, and it was wonderful! I also had the added benefit of having my meals delivered, thus guaranteeing that I would have one adult to speak to every day!
i had that done with my 4th. it was the best gift ever. my friends can cook too. plus everyone not only brought a lovely fab dinner they all brought dessert! cookies, brownies, cupcakes, ice cream. yum! and the food. omg! like i said my friends can cook. it was such a wonder thing to have for 3 weeks. and it was nice to visit with everyone everyday!
heather in maine
I had 3 weeks of glorious goodness of a food chain for my last baby. it was such a difference from my 3rd where I was at the grocery store 2 days post partum. I spent a full 2 weeks in bed with my newest 4th baby and it was the best thing I have ever donne as a mom.
There is a website – livestrong something. It lets you set it all up online.
I have to say I am guilty of going out too much and too soon but its hard not to want to be a posterchild for why homebirth rocks.
And I always give lots of nursing pads to new nursing moms- ’cause they never realize that they’re going to leak! (And, being the queen of leakage, I know all about it!)
Some husbands need reminding more than others, that new mommies need to rest.
With Number 4, hubby couldn’t understand why I asked him to take time off work. “I don’t see what’s the big deal,” he said, “It’s not like it’s your first baby!”
In my church, the groups all over do this as part of the Relief Society (a type of ministry for women). Different wards do different amounts of time. My favorite is 7 days (apparently that’s long to others), but MAN 23 days!!! That ROCKS!
I totally believe in the baby moon, though I haven’t yet successfully practiced it. So, 23 (or 30) days of meals would be PERFECT! Oh… and then again when they hit about 6 months old! hahaha ^_^
Wow, Heather, hadn’t been keeping up the last year cause I had baby number six. Congrats on baby number 5. I had a food train every single time. Its the BEST support you can get after birth!!!!!! When I had a baby in the NICU friends fed my family for two straight MONTHS!
I totally agree! Meals are the best gift after a baby! Friends and family members brought us meals for the first two weeks after our little girl was born…and we were oh-so-grateful.
Have you heard of Meal Baby? It’s a meal registry system: https://www.mealbaby.com/. Somebody just passed that link on to me and it looks interesting.
Here is a poem to go with the food chain, taken from LLL´s Whole Foods For the Whole Family:
Don´t Fret, New Mother
You´ll have some busy days, soon,
with your baby´s care.
You´ll stroke her tender body
and kiss her downy hair.
You´ll nurse and hug and rock her
and sing her many a tune-
and then you´ll note
with worried frown
that dinnertime is soon!
No need to fret, new mother,
or take your babe from breast.
Your friends have made theses dinners
to when when you feel pressed.
Just warm them in the oven;
then, with your family there,
all eat with calm and loving hearts,
rememb´ring that we care.
-Lois Lake Church
I was gifted with meals for two weeks postpartum with this baby, my fourth, and it was AMAZING! I felt so lucky! I didn’t leave the house for the first two weeks except to take the baby for his (I can’t get a birth certificate for an unassisted birth unless we see the doc at 10 days visit) and to go out for my birthday that evening after agreeing to a blood draw under duress.
I wish I’d had the same support after the older boys’ births!
Have you seen this? In order to promote breastfeeding a hospital put up a poster showing, among other things, a toddler pretending to nurse her doll. The *normal* reaction to this is “awwww, how cute!”, but unfortunately some of the sillies seem to have had… a different one. If you want to support the hospital there are some addresses in the following link:
http://one-of-those-women.blogspot.com/2009/05/tasteless-toddlers-get-some-class.html
If you click my name you’ll get my take on it and a few more links.