What to expect here while I'm on maternity leave
And a call to support RSC and my work!
Folks, I am very close to delivering twins and stepping into maternity leave. RSC will continue to hit your inbox weekly (more on that below), but if you are not already a paid subscriber, this is a perfect time to support me and my work. For this week only, I’m offering 20% off subscriptions. Help me reach my 2025 goal of 300 paid subscribers, and keep this newsletter running!
Hi folks!
Welp, I am officially 32 weeks pregnant. I have my C-section date tentatively scheduled for July 14 (so close…yet so far away lol). Our goal is to get to 35 weeks. The reason that I'm delivering early is these are mono-di twins, which means they share a placenta but each have their own yolk sac, so the bigger that they get, the harder it is for them to compete for resources. So with a twin pregnancy like this one, it is safer for babies and mom to deliver a little earlier. We are anticipating a NICU stay and preparing for that as well.
Given that we are getting close to my delivery date, I thought today would be a good time to share with you all how I'm thinking about my plans for the newsletter during maternity leave (I plan to take July and August off).
, my newsletter editor, is going to be stepping in here to help me keep delivering Real Self-Care to your inboxes once a week. And we're going to have a nice hodgepodge of different voices coming in over the next two months. I have some fascinating guest posts lined up from my friend , one of the few moms and women of color founders in the AI space, and , who focuses on burnout and stress, that I think that you're going to love. Then, RSC’s Jillian and Madysen Luebke, my research assistant, will also contribute guest posts. We're also going to be rerunning a couple of classic RSC posts. Finally, I have some new content I’ve been keeping on the back burner to share.I'm also going to try my best to give you all brief, even just one or two sentence updates every week, just to let you know how things are going. I certainly will keep you posted when the twins arrive. It will be nice for me to continue to connect with all of you through this new phase of life.
Has this newsletter or my work brought value to your life? If you have the means, I’d be grateful if you’d consider becoming a paid subscriber. Your financial support helps me bring Real Self-Care to your inbox every week. And, this week I’m running a sale, so it’s a good time to hit subscribe if you have the means.
Don't worry — it's not going to be anything strenuous for me. It's going to be me literally texting Jillian a little update and her throwing it into incoming posts. So I will not be logging long hours on my laptop during this time by any means.
That being said, in the past, when I had my son K, my postpartum period was actually really creatively generative. I redid my website and I had all sorts of really great ideas, so I'm anticipating that to some extent again. The postpartum period will be a transitional, liminal space, and there's so much power there. But it's obviously also important to rest and metabolize this big change.
The other piece that I want to mention is that, as you all know, earlier this year we switched the newsletter over to a paid model. And we are almost at 300 paid subscribers, which is my 2025 goal. First, I want to thank the ~300 of you who are able to pay for the work I do here. I love writing this newsletter. For me, it's incredibly energizing to have the space for longer-form writing that is more in-depth, and has much more nuance than what I can share on social media. It also allows me to try out different ideas, especially as I'm writing my next book. It’s really a fertile playing ground for me.
Behind the scenes, the reality is that this newsletter does not make money; it actually costs me money to produce. When I first started a newsletter in 2022, I tried doing it all on my own and realized pretty quickly that I would burn out that way because of all the other things that I have on my plate. So when Jillian came on as my editor last fall, it was such a huge godsend, because she's able to keep things consistent and make sure writing here weekly doesn't feel like a grind. It actually feels like fun because I have her support. And then, on the research assistant side, Madysen helps me out with research for my book and newsletters.
It all feels very doable — and it costs money. So the newsletter is in the red, which is fine for now. My goal is that hopefully, at some point in the next few years, it will cross over to the black. But I do have a call to action for you to support my work as I'm about to go on this leave.
If you are able to contribute as a paying subscriber, you get access to the full RSC archives, as well as access to A Closer Look, my paid subscriber-only deep-dive series, which I will continue writing. So far, I’ve covered coping with climate anxiety and how to think about midlife. Subscribe now to get 20% off your subscription forever.
On top of all that, your monetary support enables me to put more time and energy into the newsletter, which is ultimately what I would love to do. My goal is to have this newsletter be something that brings in sustainable income so that I can justify putting even more into it, and transition out of some of the other work I do to pay the bills. I know not everyone can afford an extra expense during these times, so there is no pressure — the weekly newsletter will always remain free. And, I would so love to come back in September being closer to my 300 paid subscribers goal.
As always, thank you so much for your support! And I am really looking forward to keeping you all posted on how things go over the next couple weeks with these babies. They’ll be here very soon!
xo,
Pooja
From the Real Self-Care archives:
Paid subscribers get full access to the RSC archives.
How moms can fight back now
Now is a vital time for each of us to think about the issues we most care about, and how we can make real change in those areas.
You are reading Real Self-Care, the weekly email newsletter written by psychiatrist and best-selling author Dr. Pooja Lakshmin MD.
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📲 For more on my twin pregnancy, read Sharing Some Good News!
I'm excited for you and your family, P! I'll keep things running smoothly over here! 🫡
Good luck with delivery!!! Both my babies needed (very brief) NICU stays and the NICU nurses were absolutely incredible human beings. They are so caring and skilled!