One of the best things I have ever done in my life, is having Mila.
Seriously, once you have a child you don't know what you did before having them.
But being a new mom is tough. There are so many ups and downs and its like you are being thrown into a job where you have no idea what you are doing. But eventually you figure out what works best for you and your baby. Here a list of things I have learned along the way and would have helped me out tons if I would have known these beforehand.
Sleep whenever you get the chance.
I feel like this is the one piece of advice I always blew off. When your baby is napping, it is literally the only time that you have to get things done. It may sound smarter to take that time for yourself but GO TO SLEEP. The more exhausted you are, the harder it is going to be on those nights when the baby just won't sleep. And you will then have those moments that I did where I would load up the Keurig and hit start without putting a mug under it. The dishes and Netflix can wait. Go catch up on sleep every chance you get!
Don't be hard on yourself.
I was constantly comparing myself to these moms on instagram who just seemed like they always had their lives together. They would be sharing photos of their newborns and their picture perfect houses and be fully dressed with makeup on....meanwhile I could barely take a shower once a week and find time to do anything for myself. Don't compare yourself to other moms. Don't you do it! You are doing the best that you can and doing what works for you and your baby! I guarantee you those other moms also have those moments where they feel like nothing is working for them either. Keep your chin up. You've got this motherhood thing down.
Get out of the house.
You will go stir crazy if you stay locked up in your house with a newborn or toddler or child of any age. The best memories I have are when we went out to town when Mila was only a few days old and pushed her around in the stroller. We would take long walks and I would get a coffee and any worries I had would completely disappear. Take a run to Target, go for a walk around the block with your partner, do anything to get yourself out there!
Don't be afraid to ask for help.
When Mila was born, I refused any help. I still refuse help 2 years later. I blame it on wanting to do everything myself at first and then it just continued on and on and makes for emotional breakdowns when they are unnecessary and could be prevented. I always felt like I was the mom, I should be doing everything. One thing I never wanted to trust anyone else with was measuring out formula. I never even wanted my own husband to do it. It led to me missing out on so much sleep because I was the one who had to get up every few hours to make bottles.
Luckily, I have a fix for those of you who have the same control issues I do. And for those of you who don't, this will save you and your partner tons of time...The Gerber BabyNes. It is like a Keurig for babies. But better.
The BabyNes makes bottles in less than a minute. The best feature to me, is the fact that the BabyNes capsules have 6 stages of formula that are inspired by breast milk. Just as the fat, protein and calorie content of breast milk changes naturally, BabyNes formulas evolve to meet your baby’s changing nutritional needs.
It even runs on WiFi and can alert your phone when it is time to feed your baby. No more worrying that it is past time for baby to eat, the BabyNes machine takes care of that for you.
