My Scarlett squidge is five weeks old and we've navigated our first month as mummy and daughter together, the changes she's gone through already are just awe inspiring and we've really been getting to know each other and how the both of us are going to work. Essentially that's what motherhood is, for so long this little bundle has been nurtured within me and now I have the honour of learning what every little twitch, flail and grumble actually mean, as she desperately tries to help mummy get her shizzle together! So here are my top ten tips for surviving one of the hardest but most precious months of my life, and the only month this little miracle has ever known.
- No matter how well meaning people can be, there is inevitably going to be someone who says the wrong thing at the wrong time and the wrong place when you are literally at your lowest ebb, sore and aching after birth, despairing at lack of sleep with throbbing nipples that feel like they're going to drop off, and a baby who you love so much but are struggling to understand. My advice.... you can either smile and nod, whilst your inner monologue is hurling expletives left right and centre, or instead be strong and do yourself a favour and remove yourself even if only temporarily, from these voices for you and your newborns sake ... if they are worth it these people will totally understand, if they are not then you don't need them anyway.
- There will be days when for absobobbinglutely no reason your gorgeous angel will turn into psycho demon and there is literally nothing you can do. It is ok to not be ok. It is ok to walk away for ten minutes shut the door and cry. Cry because you feel like a failure, cry because you can't bear that you don't know what to do, cry because life has suddenly turned upside down and it's scary. Then wipe those tears and get back to being a mummy, because even though you're crying you wouldn't change a thing.
- If you are breastfeeder you will experience a new novelty, the older generation of man ... most likely in his eighties, balding, incontinent with rotting teeth, will be irrevocably drawn to your alluring nipple as you sweaty faced, sick in hair try to feed your writhing child. If the older man is your thing then this could be your moment, if not stare them out, keep feeding but use the death stare ... and as a sleep deprived mummy this one should be pretty powerful right now.
- Don't even bother to put your little one in your favourite baby grow at the start of the day... like seriously... they know. It's like newborns are programmed to soil, sick or snot on your beloved faves, so if there is a special occasion that you want your bonny babe looking stunning for, it is literally a whip it on two seconds before said occasion job.
- Buy snacks and have them stashed like a squirrel with it's nuts around the house. You will be ravenous from feeding but will also have a little one hanging on to you like a baby monkey so you need to be prepped. Think easy tear packaging... I'm learning how to use my teeth to tear those packets open or unscrew bottle tops!
- Master that sway, that rock, or that swirl... this is your signature dance move for the rest of your life. You will find yourself doing it ALL the time even if the little one is fast asleep on daddy in another room. I was in a queue doing the crazy Mumma rock when I was asked if I was trying to get past... just had to explain, that no, I was just in fact one of those mummy deranged creatures.
- If someone tells you they're tired, and they don't have children... Calmly pick up your MUSLIN filled with sick, remove your feeding bib, put your screaming baby in the pram as they fart and you realise they have done an explosive poo and walk away. It is not worth it!
- People will now think that they have the ability to touch your baby or comment on the way they are behaving. What have I learnt... they don't. Be polite if you can, snarl if you can't.
- Your baby is always crying for a reason, you just need to figure it out and remember cuddles are always the best. I have never had so many cuddles in my life and every single one of them are so, so precious and special.
- Your mummy friends are your lifeline, they are the 3am whatsappers, the spare nappy lender, the shoulders to cry on... I've literally never felt so supported and it's just fab. Then there's your own mother ... she can be your guardian angel, she's been there before, she loves you and wants you to be ok, she will help you through those long nights, those screaming fits (yours and bubba) and will never ever judge you for what you say when you're tired and stressed. It is at this point you will realise that a mother's love for her child is unconditional and this, you will one day do exactly the same for this little one you sway, rock and bob in your arms right now.
And there you have it, the first month and it's nailed.
Lottie Keble-Wyatt is Baby Luno's very own blogger. Lottie is a pilates instructor, new mother and blogger. We love following her journey as she takes on motherhood! To get more of Lottie, follow her on Instagram @just_the_girl_fitness
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