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How do you survive the first days with a newborn baby? It’s amazing how something so little can cause so much havoc. Find out some of the best advice for new moms from someone after the birth of their second child. Claim Your 20 Free Pregnancy Tests – Click Here
Well, this is Layah! She is our newest edition, she’s three and a half weeks old and today I’m going to talk with you about life with a newborn.
No time for chores
You may be wondering why I am surrounded by a pile of laundry slash miscellaneous crap! I thought about cleaning up the bed before filming this and then I thought no! This is the whole point. This is what life with a newborn is like. I do have time to wash and dry the laundry; I have yet to find the time to fold and put away the laundry-ever.
This is a recurring problem. I also find in the kitchen, I can usually make the time to make some food; I cannot clean up after myself. There’s just no time because there’s a little one who really loves to be held. And lets you know if you’re not holding her the right way, long enough, whatever.
I also do a lot of laundry now, you may think why is there so much laundry? They’re so little. Look how little their clothes are. Yes but she wears just three to five outfits a day. Mommy wears just three outfits a day and our bed sheets get washed, yup everyday, because we like to change her on the bed.
When will we learn? I don’t know. I actually have a bed sheet right here and the reason it is covering me is because, I’m not wearing any pants! Why am I not wearing any pants? Because, Leah threw up on me earlier today and that came on the heels of throwing up on me earlier in the day which she threw up on my other pair of pants.
The postpartum body
And, this is another thing about life with a newborn. Just what it’s like – postpartum. Your body is just weird; my maternity clothes don’t really fit me anymore. My pre-pregnancy clothes don’t fit me; I’m in this very strange, awkward place body wise. And so I have like two pair of pants to fit. Well, she threw up on both pairs so here we are. I’m covered by a bed sheet.
Patience, patience!
The point of all this is not to paint a dooming gloom picture about life with a newborn. It’s simply to say you need to give yourself plenty of grace. You need to really set the bar low. I personally am very type A. I love having a list. I get immense joy out of crossing things off my list. If I do something that isn’t on my list, I’ll write it down and cross it off-you know that type.
It has been a challenge, and I experienced this with my first child too. It’s been a challenge watching my daily to-do list of forty-eight items, whatever case may be, I get, maybe 25% of them done. It hurts my heart. But, I try to remind myself that when I die, I won’t wish that I had spent more time cleaning or organizing this mess but always so glad for the time that I have with my kids when they were little.
So, just be aware that your house is probably going to be a mess, your clothes are going to have spit up on them, pretty much at all times, you’re not going to have anything to wear literally and you’re going to have a whole lot of fun at the same time. So, that’s life with a newborn.
Readers Advice for New Moms
Accept help
Don’t be Superwoman. You may be able to do it all, but don’t. Post-partum is a time to accept any and all help. Let your family and friends bring you meals, let them help you houseclean. Stay in bed, keep your pajamas on for a full week, and just let yourself be with the baby.
Soak it all in
It may feel like a flurry, like every stage will never end, but it does. Time flies. So even though you feel like you’ll never sleep straight through the night again, you will. Even though you feel as if there is never an end in sight of dirty diapers, there will be. And in the blink of an eye, your baby will be graduating high school, off to college, and getting married. Enjoy the little people while they are still little.
Be in the moment
That laundry pile will always be there. But that little baby? She or he needs rocking now. So take a moment to sit back and just be. Savor the moment.
No instruction manual
Sadly, there is no instruction manual attached to our little beings when they enter the world. Although there should be. So take a deep breath, know that every new mom before you for the past 1000 years has had to go through the same fire by boot-camp, and feel peace you are not alone.
It’s going to be OK
Post-partum blues are real, and you may cry. You may feel blue, and you know what? It’s OK. Transitioning from pregnancy to having a demanding newborn can be a harder transition than you can imagine. So tell yourself that everything will be OK, because it will.
Put your husband first
Remember who got you to this point, so never forget your husband. It may seem like it’s all about the new baby, but don’t neglect Daddy. He can be your partner-in-crime especially if you remember to treat him right. Be a team.
Breastfeeding can be hard
Even for those who go on to breastfeed like champs, breastfeeding can still be difficult at first. So if it’s your desire to nurse your little one, hang in there. Even for the most seasoned, you may find some discomfort for the first few weeks, but don’t despair – it does get better.
No instruction manual
When that instruction manual doesn’t turn up, guess who you can turn to? Mom! She’s done it all before and raised you, and you turned out OK, right? So call her up and ask her for advice and support.
Stick to an early bedtime
When the around-the-clock feeding starts to subside, start thinking about an early bedtime. Early bedtimes are natural for babies and toddlers, and sending them scuttling off to bed by 6pm gives you and hubby lots of time to recharge your batteries for the next day.
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