{"id":1207,"date":"2015-04-20T14:34:21","date_gmt":"2015-04-20T19:34:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/annswindell.com\/staging\/?p=1207"},"modified":"2016-10-03T10:05:27","modified_gmt":"2016-10-03T15:05:27","slug":"how-to-thrive-as-a-new-mom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/annswindell.com\/staging\/2015\/04\/20\/how-to-thrive-as-a-new-mom\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Thrive as a New Mom"},"content":{"rendered":"

My newest piece is up at Darling Magazine: “Thriving with a Newborn<\/a>.” I’ve written about it before, but the transition into motherhood wasn’t the easiest for me<\/a>. Through this article, I’m hoping that my distilled experience can offer the equivalent of a warm hug to\u00a0some of you as new moms (or as soon-to-be new moms). Be encouraged; there is grace\u00a0in the challenging seasons, and hope\u00a0is always around the corner!<\/p>\n

\"How<\/a><\/p>\n

Four weeks after my daughter was born, I had never known a love as fierce and all-consuming as the love I had for her. But I was also exhausted, and feeling unsteady. Those early days \u2014 full of the lack of sleep and the crazy hormones \u2014 had me running on empty.<\/p>\n

How to Thrive as a New Mom: give yourself lots of grace and set low expectations...#mom <\/a><\/span>Share on X<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Although the newborn stage is short in the grand scheme of life, it can feel unending when you\u2019re living in it.<\/strong> The constant needs of a newborn, the wacky sleep schedule, the high emotions \u2014 they are intense, intense things. Thankfully, I made it through, and I would say that I was even able to thrive during those early days with Ella, although it felt different than I thought it would.<\/p>\n

So, while I\u2019m not a perfect parent by any stretch of the imagination, or even a long-time parent, here are my four\u00a0how-tos for thriving in those first weeks and months of motherhood.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Set attainable goals<\/b>.
\nPrior to having a child, I had been used to accomplishing lots of things every day. I achieved at work, I developed friendships, I cooked meals and washed clothes and bought groceries. But now, I had two goals: keep Ella alive, and keep myself alive.\u00a0Ella\u2019s needs, although high, were straightforward: milk, sleep, touch. For me to stay alive was very different. I needed food, yes, and I desperately needed sleep. Friends brought meals and family watched Ella while I napped. But I also needed hope \u2014 which leads to my second goal.<\/p>\n

New moms: don't beat yourself up because you aren't getting much done. You're protecting and nurturing a new life. Wow. #mom <\/a><\/span>Share on X<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

2. Take a few minutes for yourself everyday<\/b>.
\nEven if it\u2019s short, even if it doesn\u2019t look like it used to. My emotional lifeline in those early weeks was dependent upon me getting a few moments to think, reflect, and pray every day. Some days, even getting fifteen minutes alone felt like a battle, and then I would sit and read and journal my prayers through tears or drooping eyelids. Sometimes I just turned on music; sometimes I read. But I needed several moments every day where I wasn\u2019t responsible for this new person in order to internally re-charge.\u00a0 Take that time for yourself; it isn\u2019t selfish, it\u2019s\u00a0necessary<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Read about the other two points here, over at Darling’s site<\/a>!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My newest piece is up at Darling Magazine: “Thriving with a Newborn.” I’ve written about it before, but the transition into motherhood wasn’t the easiest for me. Through this article, I’m hoping that my distilled experience can offer the equivalent of a warm hug to\u00a0some of you as new moms (or as soon-to-be new moms). […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1208,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13,5,96,133],"tags":[468,459,458,460,467,466,464,462,66,58,461,463,465],"class_list":["post-1207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-baby","category-life","category-motherhood-2","category-parenting","tag-ask-for-help-as-a-new-mom","tag-babies","tag-being-a-mom-is-tough","tag-does-having-a-baby-get-easier","tag-healthy-children","tag-healthy-kids","tag-how-to-be-a-good-mom","tag-losing-my-mind-with-a-baby","tag-motherhood","tag-newborn","tag-newborn-stage","tag-thriving-with-a-newborn","tag-thriving-with-kids","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/annswindell.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/The-blessing.png?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/annswindell.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/annswindell.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/annswindell.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annswindell.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annswindell.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1207"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/annswindell.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1744,"href":"https:\/\/annswindell.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1207\/revisions\/1744"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annswindell.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/annswindell.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annswindell.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annswindell.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}