Hindsight is a fine thing…this is a saying that resonates so deeply with me when it comes to those hazy newborn days of my sons life. I had a wonderful birth experience having my son (read my birth story), in fact I honestly found the weeks after giving birth to be harder than labour itself! I really had not expected that.
I had put so much thought and focus on the act of giving birth that I hadn’t given much time to what it would be like once I was a Mother. I found myself overwhelmed and crushed under the pressure I’d put on myself….
Here I've put together a list of things I didn’t do the first time around but I’m sure as hell going to be doing next time!
Stock your freezer with healthy options.
To avoid falling into a pit of sugar & salt laden ready meals cook some freezable meals ahead of time.
Personally I’m fanatical about my slow cooker, it’s so easy! Here’s a brilliant blog post with loads of freezable slow cooker recipes:
https://sweetpeasandsaffron.com/healthy-freezer-meal-prep-dinners-for-new-moms/
Send your friends and family some of these recipes and ask them to cook some for you too, this ties nicely into my next point…
Start practising asking for help.
Everyone was so used to me being stubbornly independent that it never occurred to anyone to offer me help.
It’s more than likely that those around you really WANT to help you so please let them do that and actually tell them what you need them to do.
Find yourself a cleaner.
Everyone tells us not to worry about the house work when baby arrives and they’re completely right! Buuuuut I find my mental health so interlinked with the house, when the place feels messy my mind does too! I couldn’t resist tidying up when I should’ve been resting!
So I say find yourself a domestic fairy to come in and take that off your hands and give you more time for newborn cuddles.
Enrol in exercise classes with postpartum experts!
Exercise has been a huge part of my life in recent years and I was so eager to get back to it. I pestered my midwife with endless questions about what exercise I could start doing and honestly she wasn’t very helpful… I forged ahead alone and probably didn’t do my body any favours.
There’s some really wonderful ladies out there who have educated themselves thoroughly on what a postpartum body needs, two Abergavenny local and absolutely lush ladies are
Amy of POW fitness and Sarah of Exhale: Yoga with Sarah Jones. Cannot recommend those two enough!
P.S This is also a great way of meeting other Mums and there’s nothing like being part of a Mummy tribe!
Acknowledge how precise this time is and sloooow down.
I’ll say it again and again, the newborn chapter is so short! It really doesn't last long at all and before you know it you’ll be wishing them tiny again. So please soak it all up, sit on the sofa all day whilst you hold them close and don’t you move till you feel ready. There’s no rush to get back into the swing of things or for you to ‘bounce back’ (that phrase makes me see red!)
This is such a magical time of life, so just glow within it, in time life will resume to your new normal.
I’ve put together a handy checklist full of things to help you smoothly transition into this time and remind you to cherish it will all your heart!
Want to see all the gorgeous Mums to be in my maternity portfolio? Click here!