They sent me home with my baby….now what?
6 Tips to Help With Those First Few Days Home (MOM edition):
Celebrate the Wins
Hey mama, you’re already doing better than you think. You made it through the birth-win! You put your baby in the car seat-win! You had a poop and so did baby-win! Take a deep breath and try to focus on how far you’ve already come. It’s your rebirth too. Have some cake, champagne if you want, just remember you deserve to be celebrated.
2. Let Someone Else Focus on the Household Load
Your job is to heal and feed your baby. Your body has been through so much these last few days and you need time to rest and recover. The LAST thing you should be doing is bending over a dishwasher or clothes dryer. Family and friends want to help you, so let them. Let them drop off dinner, do your laundry, mop your floors and pick up the mail.
3. Feeding Your Baby
As a Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC), I remind mamas all the time of the 3 P’s of breastfeeding.
Patience. If this is your first baby, you have never done this before! And guess what, neither has your baby. Be patient with yourself. Finding a good rhythm, latch, favorite spot, favorite position … none of it happens in an instant.
Perseverance. Just because it takes time for your milk to increase in volume DOESN’T mean you don’t have enough milk to feed your baby. Your baby was born to breastfeed on your body. You’ve got this, keep going.
Practice. No major league baseball player hits a home run the very first time they pick up a bat! It takes years and years of practice to get to that level. Lucky you! Breastfeeding doesn’t take years to get good at it. With the right support and plenty of practice, you and your baby will be pros in no time!
4. Create a Peaceful Space
It is so easy to get overstimulated as a new parent. Loud noises, bright lights, the constant of having someone touching your body and the hormones that are trying to level out, make it very difficult to regulate. Find the things that bring you peace. Maybe that’s ocean waves playing in the background or yummy chicken noodle soup. Maybe it’s binge watching your favorite show as you camp on the couch for baby’s all-day buffet. Maybe it’s a pillow fort in your bed while your partner feeds you grapes like a goddess. Whatever makes you feel safe and calm … do it. Your body and your baby will thank you for it!
5. Give Yourself Extra Time Before Leaving the House
No one talks about how hard it is to get yourself and your baby ready to go, only to have a massive blowout in the car seat or a projectile like spit up in your freshly washed hair. It’s OK. You built in extra time so there’s no rush. That first pediatrician appointment will feel like a marathon just to get there. It’s OK. Just do your best and let go of the rest.
6. Ask for Support
As a species, we are not wired to be isolated. We have to find our village. I often hear that having a baby is as lonely as you’ve ever been, without ever being alone. It doesn’t have to be this way. Ask for help. It doesn’t make you a “bad mom” if you need postpartum care to get some much-needed rest. Or to have a meal train provide you with dinner every night. Or to have that one friend who comes over and just keeps you company like an old school slumber party. You deserve to feel cherished and surrounded by love.
Don’t know where to start? Reach out for a free consultation and we will walk through it together.