Take Time to Relax (Before and After Your Baby Arrives)

Pregnancy is a time of many changes that affect your emotions, body, and relationships with your partner and other family members and can bring out the best (and the worst) in all of us. Motherhood can, at times, do the same, especially if your hormones haven't quite found their way back to pre-pregnancy levels.

As welcome as all these changes may be, they often add new stresses to the lives of new mothers and their families. The new little person in your family will not only change your life but also the lives of everyone you hold dear to your heart.

With your emotions running on the cutting edge most of the time, it's important to take the time to relax and reflect on the changes taking place in your body, and in your life. Whether you're about to deliver or are holding your new baby as you read this, the following links offer some good advice for helping you relax:

Be kind to yourself and your baby by:

• Eating a healthy diet

• Avoiding alcohol, cigarettes and drugs (recreational and prescription, unless approved by your ob/gyn)

• Exercise regularly (with your doctors go-ahead)

• Participating with others in your Birth Club

• Having a good support network

• Getting plenty of sleep

Relaxation time for you and your baby:

• Pick a time each day when you can spend some alone time with just you and your baby.
• Find a darkened, quiet room with no distractions from the phone or TV.
• Get comfortable. Use pillows to support your belly (and baby).
• If you like, put on your favorite music, playing it at a low volume.
• Focus on your breathing. Allow yourself to take slow deep breaths from your belly (not your chest). Starting from your toes, and moving up to the top of your head, try to concentrate on each muscle group, as you tighten and release each part of your body. This can also be done while your baby naps to ease postpartum stress.
• Talk quietly to your baby as you gently rub your hands across your belly, or if you have given birth, softly massage your baby with a light touch, allowing your baby to get to know your voice and touch.

Taking 20 - 30 minutes at least once a day to spend alone with your baby in a relaxed environment will not only bring you and baby closer, but will also help to relieve some of the day-to-day stress that we all feel during these transitional times.

Feeling separated from your partner?

As our belly grows with the developing baby, many pregnant women tend to forget to take the time to stay connected with their partners. Many soon-to-be dads have said, "She just isn't there anymore. I don't know how to talk to her." By the same token, the separation can continue after the baby is born with so many family role adjustments to make while your body is still recovering from the marathon of birth.

Planning special evenings with your partner can help to bring you both closer, not only as a couple, but also as parents. You might plan:

• A walk in the moonlight
• A moment spent listening to your favorite music
• A candlelight dinner
• A double massage (where you each get one)

Taking the time to remember why you fell in love with each other will only bring the two of you closer and help you ease into becoming a family.

Remember, take the time you need to relax and regain your perspective of the changes happening in all your lives. The more relaxed you are with the changes, the more relaxed your baby,and you and your partner will be.