What comes to mind when you think of self-care? The term is a trendy one these days, especially in the world of motherhood. When I used to hear “self-care”, I would think of hour-long massages, relaxing on a pristine beach, and candlelit baths. While these things are nice, and certainly nothing to scoff it, this image of self-care is often overwhelming to the postpartum mom because it feels unattainable.
It was mid-afternoon and, as I stood in front of my television bouncing my very fussy 4-week-old baby, I wished that I could escape. He had been crying on and off (mostly on) since early that morning, and it seemed that I couldn’t figure out any way to soothe him or help him get some good sleep.
HINT: Your partner isn’t a mind reader. It would be just perfect if our partners and top support people could read our minds and know exactly what we need during each moment of these early days of mothering. Unfortunately, they can’t.
My first child was born via cesarean. I had a bit of time to prepare for this, as he was breech and I knew that if he didn’t turn head down, I’d be having a cesarean. (I couldn’t find a provider who would attend a breech birth). However, this was not what I wanted. And I was still relatively unprepared for what the experience would be like during and immediately after the birth.
