Hey y'all, I'm Brielle and I am so excited to be posting here today! Who am I? A small-town girl with a hot Texan husband who helped me make a cute baby named Jack. I love playing house with my new family, makeup, playing tennis, and graphic design, and I write about it all over at my blog, Ready or Not. Now that you know a little bit about me, stop on by and introduce yourself so we can be friends!
My baby is almost six months old now, and since I feel like I successfully survived the crazy newborn stage, I thought I would share some tips to help you new moms out there survive the first weeks at home with your brand new bundle!
1. Sleep when your baby sleeps. I know this is the most widely given piece of new mom advice out there, but that's because it is so crucial! Newborns have no idea what night time is, so odds are they are going to decide to be up in the night and sleep during the day and if you don't sleep while they are sleeping, you will turn into a walking zombie. The dishes, laundry, and thank-you notes can wait. Take care of yourself, cuddle that baby, and sleep when you can without feeling guilty about it. A well-rested momma is a good momma!
2. Don't be afraid to ask for help. I will be the first to admit I have a hard time accepting help, let alone asking for it... but I won't lie, I couldn't have survived the first three months without help. I was lucky enough to be blessed with a mom who made me freezer meals and helped me clean the house before baby came, as well as neighbors who brought over food and kept me company on the long days while my husband was working and going to school, but if you find yourself at home with the baby and no one to help... swallow your pride and ask! Ask the neighbors, your parents, your siblings... anyone who is close to you will be happy to help. No one expects you to be superwoman after you just gave birth and there are days you are going to need someone to drop off a quick meal or watch the baby when you are at your wit's end and just need some alone time to take a bath or a nap. It will make all the difference!
3. Quit comparing. This is one of the first pieces of advice I received after having my baby, and remembering that "comparison is the thief of joy" is the only thing that gets me through some days. Being a new parent is HARD, especially in today's "social media" based society, where it is so easy to start comparing yourself to others who post glimpses of their lives for the world to see. So-and-so's baby is a week younger than yours but is already sleeping through the night when your baby still wakes up every three hours. Your friend's uncle's sister had a baby and lost the baby weight (plus some!) a week later. The truth is that everyone is going to be having a different experience and comparing you and your baby to others is just going to bring you down. You will be much happier and more focused as a parent if you pay less attention to others' lives and just live your own.
4. Give it six weeks. Like most new moms, for the first few weeks after my little guy was born I really struggled. I wasn't sleeping much, breastfeeding was painful and frustrating, and my house was a wreck. When Jack was about a month old, a mom from the neighborhood came over to visit. I told her I was having a hard time getting adjusted, and that I just felt like quitting some days. She oh-so-wisely told me that I just needed to make it to six weeks. After six weeks, everything gets easier. That gave me some hope for the next couple weeks, and she was right! Jack started sleeping better (which meant I got more sleep), I got the hang of breastfeeding, and we started to fall into a schedule as a family. Plus, around six weeks is when your hormones get back to normal and all that nasty postpartum stuff stops happening, which can give you a whole new outlook on life! So, for those of you who are struggling for those first few hormone filled, sleepless weeks, just know... it gets better! Give it some time and don't give up. You can do this!
5. Take pictures every day. There is no such thing as having too many pictures, especially when it comes to your kids. I am constantly pulling out my iPhone to snap pictures of Jack, even if he isn't doing anything monumental like eating his first solids or rolling over. The images on my phone range from him bathing to crying to laughing, and I love looking back on all of them! I was even lucky enough to catch his very first smile on camera, which is obviously a picture we will cherish forever. Even thought 98% of the pictures I have of him are not perfect, high-quality images, I still treasure them and am glad I have all the little moments documented, as well as the milestones. Keep your phone or a camera close by so you can capture all those moments quickly. They pass by too fast and if you don't document them, it is so easy to forget. You'll thank me later!
That's all I have for you today, but I hope you learned something that can help you get through the potentially rough, yet beautiful time that is new motherhood! Obviously, I still consider myself a "new mom" and am learning and picking up new tricks every day to make myself a better mom and wife. So, what tips have you picked up from being a parent? I would love to hear more! After all, you can never have too much good advice. :)
