The Five New Mom Mantras by Claudine Wolk
Motherhood is a whole new world.
Here are some Ideas to help navigate it and make it a bit
easier.
Mantra Number One: Manage Your Visitors
Naturally, everyone will want to come and see the baby. Most new moms would agree that there are two
kinds of baby visitors. Type number one is the baby visitor who wants to see
you and the baby and brings a gift. The type-two visitor is the visitor who has
come for an outing and wants to entertained. Embrace number one, shun number
two!
If feels of guilt creep in at denying visitors to your home
in the early weeks, remember that you’ve just had a major procedure that
required hospitalization. Speak up and
do what is best for you! If you are up for visitors and would like to see people
that is ok, too, just make sure the visits are on your terms.
Mantra Number Two: Take It Slow
A baby makes three and makes the household tasks that used
to be easy and quick a bit more complicated.
Remind yourself in the early weeks that your job is to care for your
baby and yourself. That’s it. When you
do feel up to a few household tasks, take it slow. Break up chores into
individual tasks and do a bit at a time.
The dust can wait.
Mantra Number Three: Never Pass Up a Nap
Never pass up a nap to clean in those early weeks. You are getting less sleep and it is broken
sleep. Naps are your lifeline. Naps also
might help your love life. A nap might
rejuvenate you so that you might have the energy to renew your love life with
your partner at the right time. Embrace your naps – even after the baby gets
bigger!
Mantra Number Four: This Too Shall Pass
After two weeks of your new life with a baby, you may start
to feel it. The after-pregnancy euphoria
may be wearing off and it might hit you that life will never be the same as it
was, that you are responsible for another human being for (at least) 18 more
years. All parents don’t admit it, but
this exact thought has crossed their minds, believe me. What eventually gets replaced with this scary
thought is the joy of having this new person in your life. There will come a time when you cannot
imagine life without your new baby.
Until then, take it easy on yourself.
Get as much sleep as you can, take it day by day, call your mom (or
special friend) to report on your and your baby’s progress, and be kind to
yourself and your partner. Your new
family is precious and fragile. Treat it
with love and tenderness.
Mantra Number Five: Ask For Help
A night of uninterrupted sleep is an amazing gift for new
parents. If you have someone in your
life willing to care for the baby though the night so that you can sleep –
anytime during those first few months of your newborn’s life consider asking
for the help. One night, my
mother-in-law watched our son through the night on the couch in our family room
while my husband and I slept through the night for the first time in four
weeks. What a blessing. My son is 30 years old and I still remember
the favor so that tells you how monumental a gift it was. If you and your partner are in agreement with
this kind of help, ask for it. You would
be surprised how many grandparents, siblings, or aunts and uncles would be
willing to help for one night if asked.
Best wishes with new motherhood. Remember, you are not alone in your joy or
anguish (at times). Be good to yourself
because motherhood is, by far, the hardest job in the world and
congratulations!
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