There is no denying the postpartum period after you give birth is freaking HARD. People are just starting to bring awareness to this and talk about it more openly in recent years (an amazing thing!!!!) and I polled The Mama Notes Community to see what piece of advice they would give a new mom about postpartum. Here are some incredible tips that I hope you bookmark if you are pregnant or just had a baby!
Read all of our postpartum posts here!
Take it EASY.
Listen to your body and drink your dang water!
Ask for help and LET PEOPLE HELP YOU.
Give yourself grace.
Savor the slow.
Hire a cleaning lady for the first 3 months, it helps you feel less out of control.
Pelvic floor PT is so helpful with pain and or weakness. You don’t have to suffer forever.
Target pickup or delivery!
Remember that EVERY thing is a phase. It will ALWAYS get better!
If it’s your firstborn, veg out on allll your favorite shows and movies and do not feel guilty!
When all else fails, hand off the baby and take a hot shower.
Get outside every day to breath fresh air. Find another mom to journey with.
It’s ok to be sad and feel guilty that it’s not what you expected right away, lean on your partner.
For real, sleep when the baby sleeps.
Lots of people don’t love the newborn phase. It’s okay to hate it!
One day soon, you will sit down with a cup of coffee while your child plays by themselves.
Don’t sweat the small stuff. Hold your baby as much as you want…they don’t get “spoiled”.
Keep a window open for just YOU, BABY and DAD. No visitors! It’s so important.
Feel ALL the feelings and ask for help. Articulate how you’re feeling, it helps, and it gets better!
Don’t try to “bounce back” – your body has just gone through something very intense!
Sign up for a meal train and accept help when offered!
Recovery takes way longer than they tell you, but that’s ok!
It’s okay to be selfish and say no to visitors (including your in-laws).
Take 5 minutes for yourself every day. For me that was a hot shower.
Get some SUN! Vitamin D. It helps with postpartum depression .
LOVE these tips! I wish I’d read them before my own 1st postpartum journey 2 years ago.
Also a kind & gentle suggestion…
“Keep a window open for just YOU, BABY and **PARTNER.”
It helps families like mine feel seen :) Thank you again for sharing these tips!!