That said:
I agree with you that “exercise” sounds like a chore. I understand your choice of word with “move” and I agree with it completely. I also use the expression “staying active” and this reminds me of “The Body Book” by Cameron Diaz. I know that it sounds like a strange reference, but even though I am a man, I read this book after talking about it with a friend of mine and Cameron Diaz puts all of this amazing knowledge into very simple words which, somehow, get inside your head without being a chore…
If you have not read it yet, I am sure that you will enjoy this book a lot…

Have a great weekend and thank you for everything you are doing. Keep-up the amazing work.

Thanks everyone for your responses. I’ve decided co-sleeping is the way to go. Everyone gets a much better sleep.

I co-slept with all of mine, and I agree, it does speed up recovery. I always just slept with them on my arm…

To add my two cents: I also co slept with my two children while they were so wee, although very different styles with each one. My first, I just slept next to her, no barrier, nothing. I had a hard time sleeping because I could feel her every movement. So, with my second, I got a second hand Anne’s Co-Sleeper so I couldn’t feel his movements and it was still easy enough to reach him. Sleep is SOOO important after having a baby. I had major post partum issues which were exacerbated with lack of sleep. To cope, I had to drop the expectation and practice of having any of my “own” time after the baby went to sleep for the night (like 8 p.m. or so) and forced myself to go to bed after he did. Those extra hours really helped. Congratulations and do whatever feels best to you and your family..no matter what the end result is.

We co-slept with both of our girls and it was great not having to get up and do anything at night (I did EC, so I held a bowl under a bum a few times a night, but nothing too complicated). If you are already in light sleep mode, you will not squish your baby. I made sort of a nest for ours in the middle of our bed between our pillows–I just made a gap between the pillows). Our headboard has no gaps and our pillows aren’t super fluffy. If my husband and I scoot ourselves down a bit, we could be cozy under our covers and my wee one would be in a sleep sack of some kind above us a bit. Even after I nurse her, she usually scoots up on her own anyway (and my youngest is 2 now). My older daughter is 6 and she goes to sleep on her own in her own bed, so no, we never forced it and it doesn’t last forever!).

Bone broth, nettle tea infusions (1 cup dried nettles/1 quart of water, let steep over night), and liver capsules (or just eating liver something) will help you gain strength after loosing a lot of blood during delivery.

I’d like to hear Katie’s thoughts too since getting good sleep is hard with a baby in tow!