by Jamie Reed posted in Parenting

Pregnancy comes with a ton of rules: foods to avoid, vitamins to take. Once the baby's here though, you're kind of on your own when it comes to figuring things out. Sure, there's lots (and lots!) of advice out there on taking care of the baby, but what about when it comes to taking care of yourself" As a new mom myself, here are a few rules I came up with to help fellow new moms out during the first few weeks home.

1. Don't sit down until you're good and ready
You?ve finally got the baby to sleep and now all you want to do is relax with Netflix. It can be tempting to head straight for the couch or your bed, but first, when was the last time you had something to eat" (Not including the handful of cereal you grabbed while trying to feed the baby.) Do the stuff you need to do to take care of yourself before you sit down to rest and then when your baby starts to stir you won?t be scrambling for the cereal box again! 2. Let people help you
Once I came home with the baby, family members were offering to help like crazy. Let them! Let them hold the baby while you take a shower. Let them give the baby a bottle while you take a nap.
It was hard for me to accept help in the early days and I felt like I had to do everything myself or I wasn't being a good mom. Letting someone else help didn't make me a bad mom; in fact, it made me a better one since I wasn?t so exhausted. You need a break and Grandma is MORE than happy to hold the baby....