4 Tips For A Successful Baby Moon
Now I know what you are thinking. 'Awesome, how do I make a vacation before baby comes successful?' But that's not what I'm talking about. Because a Baby Moon is technically not a vacation before baby comes. That's just a vacation. What a baby moon actually is the two+ weeks after baby comes. The period of time, when you get home, to learn about your baby, get to know them and also get to know your new self.
In order to make this period of time more comfortable and allow you to get more rest and recover faster, here are four things to do ahead of time and during your baby moon that can really help.
Cook and store food. When you are recoverying from your birth and your partner or family are supporting you and baby, the last thing you want to be worrying about is food. But eating nurtient, and fiber dense food will help you recover. You can make this easier to manage by cooking and storing easy to cook or reheat food prior to going into labour. In the weeks prior to your due date set aside a day here and there to do some batch cooking and store in your freezer. If you don't have a ton of freezer space, consider going on Pinterest and looking up crockpot or instapot recipes that can be stored in ziploc bags and laid down flat in your freezer. You don't need to store 6 weeks worth of food, just a week or two will be sufficient. And it doesn't have to be for each day either. Next I'll discuss the role friends and family will play in your baby moon.
Arrange for help with family and friends. I know asking for help can often feel like you are failing at the beginning of your postpartum journey but it's important to get the support you need. Accepting or asking for help is a sign of strength and remember, we were designed as a species to have our offspring with our village supporting us. But for many we've lost our village. So it's important, before baby comes to talk with any friends or family who may be able to help out.
The help they can offer can include, bringing meals, or picking up groceries. They can also help with walking the dog, yard work or snow shovelling, folding baby laundry, tidying your kitchen. Small things that need to be taken care of that will make you feel better if you don't have to deal with them yourself. And if your family or friends won't do these things for your, then they can wait to visit you and baby. Because when baby is born, you need helpers, not people to snuggle baby. It's harsh I know, but it's important.
Doula Tip: If your friends, family or neighbours offer you help with anything, the answer is always yes! Get comfortable with accepting the offer of help and support.
Lay out your visitation plans with family and friends ahead of time. It occassionally happens that both the birthing parent and their partner as well as family, have very different ideas about who and when people will visit after baby is born. Speak with your partner about what you want. Then lay out any plans and requests you have with everyone prior to having the baby. But add in the caveat that your feelings may change after baby is born and it will be important for you to be flexible and for your family and friends to be understanding if you need more space than you anticipated, or need them more than you thought originally.
Finally, prioritize rest and recovery over chores and socializing. Even if you are naturally a social butterfly, you may have to step back from it while you rest, recover and learn about your baby. You won't be gone from the world forever, but in order to come back strong and healthy, both mentally and phyically. You have given birth, and you are a whole new person and you need to learn about your new self, before you reintroduce yourself to the world.
Your chores as well, especially the annoying ones like dusting and making the bed, are ones that can easily be over looked for a little bit. You can get back into doing your full compliment of housework when you feel up to it, but in the meantime, if you have to choose between resting and filling the dishwasher, resting always wins.
And if you want, you can make all these plans and arrangements on your vacation before baby comes. 😉
