How to overcome baby blues?

You've just had a baby. You expected to be basking in new mom bliss. You expected to be celebrating the arrival of your little one with your friends and family. But instead of celebrating, you feel like crying. You were prepared for joy and excitement, not exhaustion, anxiety, and weepiness. You may not have been expecting it, but the majority of women experience at least some symptoms of the baby blues immediately after childbirth. It is a feeling precipitated by the sudden change in hormones after delivery, stress, isolation, sleep deprivation, and fatigue. You might feel more tearful, overwhelmed, and emotionally fragile. Generally, this will start within the first couple of days after delivery, peak around one week, and taper off by the end of the second week postpartum. There’s plenty you can do to feel better, though, and get back on the road to happy motherhood Seek support Without a strong social network of family and friends, it’s easy to feel helpless and alone. When you feel like everything is on you, even a minor annoyance, like yet another poopy diaper, can quickly lead to a full-blown breakdown. Seek out someone who can say, “‘I get it.” That should be your partner, but it can also include a best friend or another family member. When you have the baby blues, these people will let you be as emotional as you want, and help facilitate the adjustment much quicker. Build a mommy network Reach out to friends or moms from your prenatal classes. Chances are they’re going through something similar or, better yet, have already overcome the challenges of the baby blues and can offer solid advice. Pursue empathetic friends, since they’re most helpful during stressful times Engage in skin to skin contact Research found that moms who engaged in six hours of skin-to-skin contact with baby in the first week reported fewer depression behaviors. What’s more, those who did skin-to-skin contact for even three hours a day reduced infant crying by 43 percent. Sleep You will notice moodiness in any healthy person if deprived of sleep. New moms are often deprived of sleep as they get little time to spend on themselves. To help lessen the baby blues effects, try to sleep when baby sleeps—the dishes and laundry can wait. Set realistic expectations Motherhood is often not how you dreamed it to be while pregnant. Once you’re home from the hospital you’ll likely feel scattered, so instead of trying to do things “just so,” focus on getting into a rhythm—even if that rhythm involves walking around like a zombie Eat healthy Healthy eating will keep you energetic to cope with every situation, it’s important for both you and your baby. A well balanced diet will help preventing baby blue at the earliest. Practice mindfulness Staying in tune with yourself through mindfulness that is awareness during a particular moment is said to reduce the likelihood of postpartum depression, read books or make a habit of writing diary as you will have lot of pleasing moments with your little one, which you would like to remember later. Practice yoga and meditation to reduce stress. Remember that you are not alone but millions of women go through the same stage including your mom, mom’s mom and so on.

Post Pregnancy Hair and Skin Care Tips

During pregnancy the hormone level becomes very high. So you see a lot of changes during and post pregnancy. Some women experience pregnancy glow during their pregnancy and after delivery as the hormone level becomes normal they have acne, pigmentation, stretch marks, puff eyes, dark circles and hair loss. But the good news is that those changes are mostly temporary and will get back to normal on its own in due course of time. Once your baby arrives, your center of attention will be your little one and you will be running short of time with barely any time left for yourself. But try to manage 10 minutes of your time to take care of your skin and hair, also hit the bed whenever your little one sleeps, because less sleep increases the post pregnancy skin and hair problem. Below are the changes you see in your hair and skin and the tips to take care of them: Hair Loss During pregnancy the hair grows due to rise in hormone, post pregnancy, the hormone levels come back to normal and the normal hair cycle is resumed. Therefore you will see shedding of hair, but this is temporary and the normal hair texture will come back in the 6th to 12th month post pregnancy. Tips Eat healthy - Ensure your diet contains food that is rich in antioxidants. The antioxidants strengthen the roots of your hair. Keep your scalp and hair clean – Wash your hair with a gentle anti-hair fall shampoo and apply conditioner to avoid breakage. Take vitamin supplements - Post pregnancy your body will need some supplements to help you get back your strength. Ensure you take your vitamins like Vitamin B and C regularly to maintain fuller hair. Get a short haircut – If you are losing a lot of hair, go for a haircut and keep it short, the shortcut will make it look fuller. Acne, Pigmentation, Dark Circles, Stretch Marks and Puffy Eyes The high levels of estrogen and progesterone during pregnancy cause acne and pigmentation. Also the change in hormone level causes dark circles and puffy eyes. The most stubborn one is the stretch marks which are caused due to the sudden contraction of the skin post birth. Tips Cleans your face - Make sure you cleanse your face with a mild cleanser twice a day. Use products with mild or natural ingredients like aloe Vera and eucalyptus. Drink enough water – Ensure that you drink 8 to 10 glasses of water and have a healthy diet, also sleep whenever your baby sleeps. This may sound odd but this is the best way to take a good rest and avoid puffy eyes. Use sunscreen and moisturizer - Use a sunscreen daily, even if you tend to stay indoors to aggravate pigmentation or new dark spots. As a daily moisturizer, use one that is specifically made for pigmented skin. As soon as you know you’re pregnant, start using a moisturizer rich in olive oil or an anti-stretch mark cream in the problem areas to focus on your belly and breasts. Post birth, if you have developed stretch marks use a reputable anti-stretch mark cream on the affected areas. One of the key measures for reducing stretch marks is a healthy diet and exercise.

Amazing Things that Only Newly Mothers Do

Being a mum is one of the best feelings in the world. The moment you realize that you are carrying a life in your womb, things start getting change, though in a positive way. From seeing two pink lines on the pregnancy kit to seeing your baby in the ultrasound machine, from feeling the first baby kick to struggling with morning sickness, from bearing the unbearable labor pain to delivering a life, being a mother comes with a ton of emotions and feelings that cannot be expressed in words. In today’s article, we will learn about some of the best feelings in the world that only a new mum can relate to. So, if you have just experienced a life-changing moment of giving birth to a baby, and enjoying your motherhood job, this article is meant for you. Best Feelings that Only Newly Mums Can Understand Double your happiness and boost your excitement levels by relating to below-mentioned motherhood emotions and feelings. You will fall in love it, we bet! So, let’s get started. Feeling a tiny fist curl around your finger when you touch your baby’s palm Being a new mum, you will be spending a lot of time with your baby. Most of the times, you will see yourself carrying the baby around your arms and that is a fact. While sleeping or playing, you will see that the baby is trying to curl her fist around your index finger. This emotional connection between the two of you indicates how strongly you are connected to each other. Breathing in the best smell in the world: sleepy baby There's no wonder how immensely beautiful is the moment of seeing your baby sleeping. But, do you know what’s more intensifying? It’s laying aside of her and breathing in the best small in the world, the smell of the sleeping baby. Congratulate, you are now authorized to feel it. Being the most tired but the happiest person Taking care of a baby is not an easy task. You will require being with the baby at most of the times. From feeding her at regular intervals of time to monitoring her activities, keeping her clothes and her self-germ free to taking care of you as well, a mother is expected to do more and more for the baby. All this will make you feel tired and lethargic but at the same time, you will actually enjoy doing this for your baby. Seeing her face and activities will make you do more and more for your baby. Realizing baby stops yelling in your arms A baby is connected to her mother not only by blood but by emotions as well. No other person, not even her father, can stop her from yelling and screaming than her mother. If a baby is asking for her mother, she will keep on yelling and screaming until she sees her mother or gets to be in her mother’s lap. This is the magic of being with mom. Wrap her up in a blanket, put her on your shoulder, pat her gently, and the yelling stops! These were some of the best things that mothers get to experience. Do let us know if you are going through the same. We would love to hear from you.

Know How to be A Good Mom

It is quite true that each one of us enters the phase of motherhood having a set of expectations and beliefs about what it needs to be a good mother. These beliefs are developed from the pressure of our society and communities as a whole, through the expectations of our family and friends and the experiences with our own parents. All these factors play such a powerful influence over us that it actually becomes difficult for us to listen to our own ideas about ‘good mom’ thing. Stop spending excess amounts of time on your phones Are you one of those people who are damn addicted to their phone? Is the first thing in the morning each day and the last thing at night you do is check your phone? Has the world of social media has gripped you in its hold? Spending your entire day just swapping through the various apps makes your family suffer without you actually realizing it. “Me-time” is definitely important, but little check-ins here or there are crucial as well. Know that this habit of yours is making your poor kids grow up with a device between them and their mother. Facebook and other social media are undoubtedly the ways to keep up with some of your cherished friends. But if your real-life relationships are struggling because of your ‘virtual’ friendships, then it truly needs to stop. Moms who know that it’s their family who is their number one priority and not their phone tends to be much more successful in their homes. Leave any kind of addiction, if it’s there Let’s agree on this fact- we all are addicted to something or the other. While some addictions are more serious and long-lasting, some get fine with time and efforts. The addictions we all have differ from one person to another. Some are addicted to drug or alcohol, some have addictions to food, sleep or TV. There are even addictions to certain good things such as spending time at the gym or exercise. But whatever addiction it is that is hampering your actions on a daily basis needs to be avoided. There are of course some dangerous addictions which need to be curbed as soon as possible, but certain small addictions can also hurt your relationships. So, whenever you notice that you are becoming consumed by something, just try to slow down or stop. If there is anything that you feel like hiding from your family, should be cut out of your life right away. And sometimes you can also confide in your family if you are struggling with something. This also makes your relationships stronger and makes you grow closer together. When you are free from any kind of addiction, whether small or something serious, you naturally tend to become a better mom. Say no to any ‘chaos’ Trying to keep your home and life in order has two parts- to keep the clutter and all messes picked up in the home and to make sure that you keep a schedule and aren’t missing on anything or aren’t always late. Teach your kids that taking care of home and life is important. When they pick up on these good habits, it automatically makes you a ‘good mom’. Wrapping up: So, these are some of the simple things you should practice on a daily basis to make your kids grow in a healthy and smart individual.

How to Let Go of 'Mom Guilt'?

If you are a mom, you must have experienced “Mom Guilt” sometime or the other. If you feel guilty about something that you are actually doing wrong, then it’s not mom guilt. It is a useful kind of guilt to alert you and motivate you to improve your parenting. However, if you experience guilt over things that you are doing right as a mom and shouldn’t be guilty about, but still you feel guilty just because you are a ‘mom’, then this is what mom guilt is. And it is definitely not a useful kind of guilt in any way. Such kind of unnecessary guilt experience is quite common for all kinds of mom (whether working moms, home moms or working from home moms). In spite of all the lifestyle differences,  if there is one thing which unites all these different kind of moms, then it is Mom Guilt. But, do not panic. There are ways to deal with this kind of misplaced guilt: Ask yourself questions It is human nature to inflate things much bigger than they actually are when the things go wrong. If your child has caught a cough, then surely it is a hassle especially when you are a working mom, but know that it is just a cough! It is important for you as a mother to remind yourself that you are doing all right. Do not feel bogged down with blame. The world continues to move regardless of any problems and you should also continue to move forward unaffected by what happens. Remember we all make mistakes Okay, so you have made a mistake but it was not intentional. No one here is perfect and blaming yourself as if you should have been won’t do you or your child any good. Mistakes often are your best teachers. So whenever things go wrong, instead of pulling the blame game yourself, learn the lesson. Analyze your mistake and the situation so that you could avoid it in case it happens the next time. Know that everything is not in your control There come many circumstances in life where we can blame ourselves as much as we could, but there isn’t anything that we can do about it. When we can’t change the situations, worrying about them is unhealthy. Sometimes, you need to accept the fact that no matter how hard you try, everything is not in your control. So, just letting it go is the best option. Give yourself credit Often it happens that we are so busy in playing the role of being a ‘mom’, that we forget to give ourselves credit for every good thing we did. Have a look through the last few days and you’ll get to see all the good that you have done. Holding your child all night as he cried, waking up early to feed him and many more things besides these. Wrapping up: Mom Guilt is a real thing. One must know that blaming yourself over and over again will only prevent you from enjoying motherhood. So, just stop setting unrealistic expectations for yourself and learn things in the process of becoming a good mom.