Surviving the First 2 Months of a Newborn

Let me begin this post with, I’m not pregnant.

However, for some reason, I feel the need to organize all my thoughts and ideas and attempts at surviving the first few weeks with a baby.  These are not scientific by any means, but just some thoughts that I used or wished I’d used when my babies were, well, babies.

I love being a mom and having little ones running around, but to be completely honest with you, I kind of wish my child could be born and then carted off only to be returned to me at 3 months of age when their new little body has adjusted to the world.  But maybe that’s just me.

Either way, here is my list of ideas to help get you through those first 2 months of crazy, sleepless… crazy.

1. Sleeping Arrangements: When my son was born, I really struggled with sleep anger.  Every night when my baby cried, I knew I was on duty. I hated the idea of waking my husband and feeling uncomfortable that I couldn’t be as loud as I needed to.  Now, if you’d asked my husband he would have told you that I was certainly allowed to be as noisy as needed, but I just felt this pressure to keep the baby quiet and for the nursing to go seamless every time.  That’s just not reality… at all. So, what developed instead was I became angry every time my baby would cry out for me at night, and I think we can all agree, that “anger” isn’t a great place to be hanging out when you’ve got a newbie.  When I got pregnant with my daughter, I planned ahead to sleep in the guest room.  Sure it was tough to not share a bed with my hubby for a few weeks, but man, did I enjoy nursing and those early weeks so much more.  There was no one to wake or bother or tip toe around, and I didn’t have to frantically shush baby.  It just went a lot smoother, and I kept a little bit of my sanity.
2. Having a Show: Since we’re already talking about nursing, who says you have to nurse exclusively in the dark or by candle light?  You can if you want, but if that is just too much for you, pick out a brand spanking new show and watch it in the middle of the night while you nurse.  Sure, there will come a time when everything needs to be tranquil and dim so baby can drift to sleep better, but there is also a period of time where none of that matters.  And I’ll go ahead and tell ya, that time is the first few weeks. I wouldn’t pick a 45 minutes show, but instead try to stick to a sitcom or any 30 minutes show.  This way, you aren’t so glued to the newest “OA” episode that you can’t sleep when you need to.  My recommendations are FRIENDS, Parks and Rec, The Office, 30 Rock, Seinfeld, and Community… and yes I could always name more.
3. Pre-made Meals: I’m sure most people do this, but if you don’t, there is never a bad time to start.  There are several ways to make your pre-made meals.  You could just double a recipe once a week for a month leading up to your delivery, and have the yummy second half waiting for you in the fridge for weeks to come. OR you could plan out ahead of time and do a giant shopping trip and cook all your meals in one day.  Remember, “pre-made” meals doesn’t mean everything has to be homemade.  You can always put a couple pizzas in the freezer!
4. Sleeping on Tummy: Okay, now with this one, I can already hear the gasps of disapproval, but allow me a moment to explain.  No, I wouldn’t put a brand new baby, alone in a room on their tummy at night.  But my second baby was gassy and when I would allow her to sleep on her tummy, DURING DAYTIME NAPS, while I was right next to her, she just slept a little longer. And it helped those gassies. Seriously.
5.  Pass the Baby: We used to play a game with our newborn to lighten the mood. When you have a screaming 3 week old on your hands, you try to find ways to bring a little sunshine. So, in the evening, when all the crying was happening, and I was going insane, my husband and mom would play pass the baby.  We would give the crying newborn to someone and we would see how long they could keep them quiet, when the baby shrieked, it was time to pass her to the next person.  It sounds really lame, I realize that, but it was so funny to see all the exaggerated dance moves and sharp twisting and bouncing that was happening to calm that sweet thing down. And we all needed a good laugh at this point.
6. Take a Timeout: There is only so much screaming a person can handle. I thinki my breaking point is probably 35-45 minutes of constant inconsolable infant cry… and that’s being generous.  So I had to take a break. I would nurse baby, change them, and swaddle them.  Then I’d place the screaming infant on their back in their safe crib. Next… I’d shut the door and put on head phones for 5 minutes.   Again, this may sound awful, but at a certain point I new that baby wasn’t going to stop crying even if I was holding it, so I had to… HAD TO take a break.  There is nothing wrong with this, and chances are, your kid will still be crying when you come back.  But at least you will have recharged your batteries for a minute.
7.  Ignore Facebook: Look, you are going to be a mess, and feel a mess, and your house will be a mess, and you will feel like you stink at everything. And right when you need it the least, you’ll climb on Facebook to see everyone who has had a baby in the last year posting pictures and comments about how amazing everything about motherhood is and how they can’t remember life before their baby.  But you will remember life before your baby, and long for it. and these little comments and pictures will only make it worse.  So, do yourself a favor and lay off Facebook for a couple months.

What advice would you give to a new mom?

Katie Short

Hi, I’m Katie. I am new at this stay-at-home-mom thing, and I live in the deep HOT south. My days can be long and tiring at times, but I want to bring glory to God daily by loving my closest neighbors… my family. It is a calling, and I count it all joy. My days are spent playing outside with my son, sitting in a rocking chair with my “sweet potato” of a baby girl, and cooking yummy gut-healing food for my hubby. I am so excited to have the opportunity to write blog posts for AGoodTired and I hope you will find as much laughter and encouragement here as I have.