Preparing for Motherhood – 8 Tips for First Time Mums

Just because you’re not the first person to have a baby, it doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to feel stressed and scared. Becoming a mum is the biggest change in your life, and it will shift your priorities, values and expectations. This shift might take you and those around you by surprise, but this is a normal part of transitioning to motherhood. Once your baby arrives, it will be hard to gather your senses, so it’s best to learn about these useful tips as you prepare for the big day:

Preparing for Motherhood

Manage relationship stress

Becoming pregnant, no matter if planned or not, can cause a lot of stress on your relationships. Make sure to be patient with your feelings and the feelings of your partner. Make time for each other, talk openly about your feelings, hopes and fears. You will come across many differences when it comes to temperament and priorities, but if you communicate, it’s easy to get through everything.

Exercise while you’re pregnant

Being pregnant and going through birth is demanding physically. To prevent pain and manage your mood swings, continue to exercise regularly. Low impact exercises like swimming and walking are great for boosting circulation, easing back pain, strengthening your muscles and ligaments and lifting mood. Yoga is great for increasing fertility and prenatal yoga will open up your hips, minimize stress and relieve restlessness.

Don’t worry about germs

Preparing for Motherhood

No parent wants their baby to get sick, but sanitizing every square inch of your house or your baby is too much. If you keep your baby protected from every outside influence, their immune system will remain weak which will cause them to get sick more often. Simply keep your child away from sick people, wash hands regularly and that’s more than enough.

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Write things down

Books on parenting are useful, but who can remember all that info? Mums are so busy that they can’t even remember very important dates and events like the first smile, the first time your kid walked, funny things they did, etc. Luckily, you don’t have to overburden your brain when you have the practical Mumli motherhood app on your phone. This app allows you to save a ton of useful motherhood tips, connect with other mums to share advice, learn about parenting and have all those precious baby memories in one place. Write things down, save things on your phone, because later, you will want to remember every single thing about your baby.

Find a hobby

Sure, motherhood is the most rewarding thing in the world, but if you don’t have a way to disconnect, you can expect to burn out. It’s great to have a hobby or a job, something that’s “your thing” if you want to preserve your sanity. It might take you a while to figure out what you like besides your baby, but once you do, it will be great for your mental health.

Love your body

Preparing for Motherhood

During pregnancy, your body is building a tiny human from scratch. Later, you will push a baby out of your vagina and feed your child with your breasts. Do you understand how amazing, but also demanding those things are on your body! It’s normal for your belly to be saggy and squishy, and it will take some time until those varicose veins disappear. Be patient, appreciate everything your body did for you and your child and be nice to yourself. Give your body plenty of love and care and it will continue to reward you with miracles.

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Ask for help

No matter what western societies led us to believe, motherhood is not a solitary job. When you feel overwhelmed, ask your partner, family and friends for help. Your partner can take over baby chores, and your friends can come over to hang out with you. You can also hire a nanny to watch the baby so you can pee in peace or eat at the dining table. If you need help, ask for it and it will come in 99% of cases. This is especially true if you’re a first-time mum since motherhood is not something you can learn overnight.

Find out what works for you and your baby

You will get tons of tips as a new mum, all of them well-meaning. However, some of them will work for you and some won’t. For instance, most mums are told to nap while their baby is napping. However, if you’re a big napper, don’t force yourself. Find out what works for you and your baby, and ditch all other tips. Every mum, every baby and every pregnancy is different. That’s the beauty and the curse of motherhood—you don’t have one recipe that works, but you’ll find out which one is right for you.

While not every single one of these tips will be right for you, there’s definitely something useful you can learn from this article. Make sure to write down things you want to remember and enjoy your pregnancy to the fullest—it’s magical!