The idea of bringing Mia home only 48 short hours after she was born definitely scared me and had me panic for the last 2 weeks before she was born. Babies do not come with manuals (which they really should) and we only had 2 days with nurses at the hospital! This is my first baby, I had no experience and no idea what to expect, so I took in everything the nurses and pediatrician were telling me. Now keep in mind this is my first baby and I am still very new to all of this, since I am almost 3 months in I figured I would tell you all about my first week home with baby Mia and how my husband and I survived.
• Create a plan ahead of time. This could be feeding schedules that you share with your significant other, sleep, or when you just have those household chores that need to be tended to. In our case our main plan was “our” sleep schedules and to create a plan that worked best for us. Our situation may be a little different from others because my husband’s company offers 2 week paternity leave. I was fortunate to have him all day, every day the first 2 weeks of Mia’s life. Our plan was that during the day we would try to get at least one nap in when she sleeps and when I would feed her throughout the day I would also pump after. Pumping after would help me get some sleep at night, doing this will allow your significant other to get up during the night to help you out. What worked best for us was rotating the feedings during the night. Remember Mommy’s need sleep to!
• Take care of yourself. As a new mom your body is adjusting, you have to make sure you are eating and drinking to keep up your strength. You must make sure that you are drinking lots of water and eating properly to make sure your breast milk comes in and stays strong if you are planning on breastfeeding. Also, make sure you continue to take your prenatal vitamins while you are breastfeeding doing so will help make sure you are getting all of the essential vitamins and minerals.
• Organization. This is HUGE. Remember in the beginning of this post I mentioned all of the “household chores” that still need to be done. You realize right away you have way too many things now that there is a new baby in family. You have your dirty clothes, the little ones dirty clothes, clean clothes that need to be put up, bottles and breast pump equipment that need to be washed, and don’t forget about changing diapers and all the items you have for that! It really does add up. If I didn’t have clothes hampers, a diaper genie, and my husband I would definitely lose my mind!
• The power of a sound/projection machine and swaddling. At our baby shower we received a sound machine that plays 6 different sounds and projects marine life on the ceiling. This is an item I put on my registry but did not realize the amazing effect it has in helping Mia get to sleep. This machine has a timer or you can set it without the timer to last through the night. (that is what I do) We also got one that attaches to the car seat for on the go. Other thing that also helped her sleep most of the night was swaddling. She loved to be swaddled at least for the first few weeks of her life then she’d try to bust out them. We made sure to have the nurses at the hospital teach us how to swaddle her before taking her home. This is by far amazing and my personal favorite, she would always fall right to sleep once being swaddled.
These are just a few things that really helped me out my first week home with baby Mia. I learned a lot during that first week, I learned more about myself, about Mia, and really what it takes being a first time mom. I wouldn’t go back and redo a single thing I did in that first week.
XO,
Shay <3
I know the feeling!! My daughter Aviana is 6 months old, when we brought her home I didn’t know what else to do besides nurse her . Her dad was swaddle beast and she would be so comforted by him., more so than myself. These are great tips ! Wish I knew them when I had avi !
She’s SO cute!! Congratulations. 😀 Happy you are healthy and well.
She is absolutely beautiful!!! Congrats and all the best! Great post 💙
Great advice! You are so lucky to have your hubby home for 2 weeks! That’s not super common! My hubby had 2 days unpaid, totally jealous of the time you guys had!
Great post! Yes! My favorite was the sound machine and swaddling! It worked wonders for my two kids! And taking care of yourself is number one because if your not well no one is!
Congratulations on your new bundle of joy!! Sounds like you are winning at mom life!
Be sure to practice safe use of a sound machine by keeping it as far away from baby and set on the lowest volume. I also recommend having it shut off after a time. This steps help keep baby’s hearing at it’s best!
Ahhh those scary first few days at home!! Definitely remember to keep taking care of yourself! The baby tends to take priority (as they should 🙂 ) but you sure gonna keep yourself going!
Oh I love this article! I wish I knew more of this before we brought home our son 15 months ago. One thing I found that helped with nursing was drinking coconut water – I was always so thirsty!
She’s so cute! I remember crying the first few days when I brought my children home. With the first it was because I was so scared and everything was new. With my second it was because I knew my first wouldn’t be my priority anymore and I felt so bad for him! I was also scared of taking care of two kids by myself!