Mommas, Trust Your Instinct
By Kerry on November 18, 2018
Quote of the Week
“Always trust your instincts.
They are messages from the soul.”
SHORT AND SWEET
Given Thanksgiving is just days a way, I wanted to keep this post short and sweet and say what I’m thankful for and why.
I’m thankful for my mom and her wise words.
When I first had the babies she came to visit when they were two months old. She could see me spiraling in terms of trying so hard to be the best mom - mostly around trying to breast feed two babies 100%. We went for a nighttime walk with the babies and she helped me make a plan… Nurse and pump during the day, formula at night. I gave her my 101 reasons why I was against formula, and then she said there’s got to be something out there you can trust. Took to the internet and found Baby’s Only which is five ingredients and Palm Oil free. Needless to say I combatted sleep deprivation and gained back some much needed zzzzzzs.
She also saw that I jumped at every little cry or movement.
She left that weekend and gave me some solid advice… “trust your instincts”.
As mom’s we have a sixth sense - our gut. We know when something’s off and in the beginning everything feels off because we’ve never done this before. Every new noise baby makes throws us into a fluster: they spike a fever, develop a cough, sneeze, projectile vomit, etc. If it weren’t for our husbands we’d run to the ER EVERY. TIME.
Over time we get to know all baby’s sounds. That a barking cough is Bronchitis after seeing the doctor for the third time about the same symptoms. If baby wants to sleep sitting up and is tugging at their ear it’s probably an ear infection. We get to know why their eyes are red, if the head bump is bad enough for the doctors, what awful unfun Hand Foot and Mouth looks like. We learn and as time goes on we know when to trust our gut and when it’s just a fear - because frankly everything is terrifying when you’re a new parent.
It does get easier as we learn the nuances, but it takes time. We need to not be so hard on ourselves. We might act like Super Mom (which we all are!), but we are all only human. Sleep deprivation is real. We too need to eat and drink water (especially if you’re nursing!), postpartum anxiety/depression should not be ignored. Take care of you too, otherwise you can’t be super to anyone.
You got this momma. Trust your instincts. Mother knows best. Women’s intuition. All the things.
Happy Thanksgiving!