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Now I've Had the Baby... Help!

Your New Life

By Linda Jenkins, RN, Childbirth Educator

Visitors may be pleasant, and in some instances necessary, but restrict them! They take energy, too. With adequate rest, this first tenuous period will pass more smoothly. Re-thinking priorities will be a necessity now. A dirty house is easier to treat than a depressed mother or cranky child. If that dirt really bothers you, however, maybe a high school girl would be less expensive than a professional cleaning firm. Relatives as helpers work well for some, while not for others. Stock your freezer with enough food to get you throu8h the first two weeks with only the briefest of trips to the store and kitchen. Soups, one-dish meals, stews and casseroles are nutritious, and if ready to go directly into the oven, they will allow you to get a decent meal on the table and improve your outlook about feeding the family.

When it comes to taking care of yourself, Kegel exercises are invaluable in helping heal an episiotomy (or tearing or perineal stretching). They will also improve your sexual relations when intercourse is resumed. No matter how happy any woman is to have her baby, most are also quite eager to have their pre-pregnancy shapes return. Being able to wear only maternity clothes is depressing, especially if the child is already over a few weeks old. Many women have had those depressed feelings, talked them out, worked their body a bit, and are now trim again. To begin with, after delivery, on that very first day, pull yourself up as tall as possible, stand straight, hold in your abdomen, hold it in farther while you take several natural breaths, then relax. Repeat this throughout the day and make it a permanent habit. As soon as your health care provider feels you are ready, resume more strenuous exercises. The abdominal strengthening exercises learned by a father during a Lamaze class was later taught to his entire college swim squad as part of their training. It worked for them as well as for hundreds of new mothers.

More exercises can be found in a number of books, but perhaps it would be more fun to take an exercise class with other new mothers. Often these are available for a small fee and include baby sitting for those mothers who are expecting their second child. These mothers offer many insights to the uninitiated. Forming your own exercise group, swapping tips on child care while each of you catches your breath, might be another solution.

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