All of us moms know that the postpartum phase is no joke. There’s so many emotions both physical and emotional we all go through. So first thing you should know mama is that you’re not alone! We’ve all been there and I am currently in the postpartum phase myself and I promise it does get easier! I have a 5, 3, and 2 month old and boy have I experienced my fair share of postpartum emotions and symptoms. So this post is to hopefully encourage you and give you some tips on how to make through postpartum and not totally lose it, still find joy in the everyday, and realize this is just a phase and things do get better!
Tip #1. GRACE. You have to show yourself and if you have other littles GRACE! It’s a hard time having an infant even if this is your first baby its so much. Everyone is going through a transition and it can be so easy to beat yourself up over everything ( I know it because I was that person). But God gives us constant grace and so we need to do the same for ourselves and others in our family. We all fall short somedays and we will never be perfect, so its important when you have that moment maybe you just totally lost your cool with your kids, or maybe you snipped at your spouse, maybe you’ve just had a total meltdown cried and you don’t even know why, ITS OKAY! Dust yourself off and just keep going. God isn’t upset with you, so there’s no reason to be upset and take a downward spiral into a place of being hard on yourself. You’re doing GREAT MAMA!
Tip #2. MINDSET. This tip is CRUCIAL to overcoming in postpartum. I don’t know about you, but I used to have stinkin thinkin. I let my thoughts rule me and I was always overcome by them. It’s imperative that we start thinking about what we are thinking about. When we realize we have control over the thoughts we think and start being intentional about changing them to something good. You will see a dramatic difference postpartum and just in everyday life. Here, let me give you some examples. So lets say you’ve had a hard day, you’ve lost your cool with your kids and you are starting to feel worn out, angry and you want to just quit. Our thoughts say, You are a terrible mom, you’re never going to do it right.. See you did it again you lost it with your kids and you said you wouldn’t. All of those are lies and things that aren’t true. If we choose to focus on that then we will act like a defeated, discouraged and frustrated person. If we changed our thoughts to NO I am a great mom, I had a moment but I apologized to my kids and I can do better this next time. I am loved by God and my family, I am not a failure but doing great and the Lord is pleased with me! See how much better that makes us feel? The key here is to realize we have power over everything we think! So lets get busy with focusing on what’s good instead of everything were not or everything we’re doing wrong. You will see a huge difference in your postpartum journey!
Tip #3 NOURISH YOUR BODY. So much of our struggle in life in general not even just postpartum is not taking care of ourself. It is imperative ( especially in todays times) that we take care of our bodies. That means eat nourishing and healthy foods. When we give our body what It needs like fruits, veggies, organic meats we are helping not just our bodies but our brain too. Our gut is directly connected to our Brain so that’s why we often see issues with anxiety, depression and mood swings just by the foods we eat. If were eating high sugar, high carbs and then you add on the issues of the mindset I shared in tip #2 you will find yourself possibly in a spiral. Because our mind is directly connected with our gut. So instead of grabbing a cookie maybe grab some fresh organic fruit or make a healthy smoothie with berries and a vegan protein powder, have a delicious bowl of yogurt ( I eat goats milk) its so much more nourishing for us. Cows milk is very inflammatory and pretty much all the nutrients are extracted through the pasteurization process it goes through so We only consume goats milk products at home. But you can do Coconut yogurt unsweetened and add in some stevia drops and we love to put frozen blueberries in it and it tastes AMAZING. I’ll get more on the tips of best foods to eat in another post but our diet is so important to our postpartum journey.
Tip #4. Get moving. Even if its just taking the kids out for a walk around the neighborhood. Moving your body is so important to release those happy endorphins! I don’t get to do this everyday but when I do move my body WOW I can see a huge difference in my overall mood! Plus we all want to shed a few pounds after baby am I right?! prioritizing our health is super important and you will see such a difference as you make small little steps everyday to move your body!
Tip #5 Enjoy the process! Realize that this newborn stage is temporary and it all does get easier! They are only small for so long so and I don’t know about you but I want to enjoy every stage. I want to thrive not just survive through it! Motherhood is something to be enjoyed and not dread. So take the good and the bad days and just soak it all in. Give yourself some slack and little ones too, and realize life isn’t this perfect journey with motherhood and that’s OKAY! All of us moms have are hard days and no one is a perfect parent, this is where grace and being kind to yourself and your family is so important. Being a momma is the best gift you can ever receive so as you walk out this journey of motherhood, enjoy the ride. Embrace the wonderful and maybe downright hard. Most importantly lean on the Lord for help and others! I don’t know about you but after I became a mom its changed me for the better and it will do the same for you as you push into Jesus for help in your time of struggle and need because lets face it us mommas need help everyday too! Psalms 120:1 says ” I took my troubles to the Lord; I cried out to Him, and he answered my prayer. As we rely and push into Jesus when we feel as a mom we can’t keep doing this thing called parenting and we can thrive every single day in love, joy and peace even after the rough moments too. You’ve got this mama!
