Maybe you’ve heard of the 4th trimester or maybe you haven’t. It’s this beautiful but messy time period where your newborn baby is adjusting to life outside of the womb and you’re adjusting to a larger family and a changing body.

Learn how to prepare a postpartum care kit and be prepared for the newborn stage.

This ultimate postpartum and newborn guide is perfect both for expecting and new moms as well as those looking to care for someone else in that season of life.

Contents

1 Helping the whole family thrive the first 3 months with a new baby in the house

Helping the whole family thrive the first 3 months with a new baby in the house

What’s most important about preparing for the early days of postpartum is learning to be flexible. Life simply isn’t the same, so expectations are out the window. But a fuller, more beautiful life is headed your way and learning to embrace it is a wild ride!

Postpartum Essentials and Gifts for Mom after birth

If you’re a pregnant mom looking to plan ahead or if you’re a beloved friend and family member trying to compile a basket of postpartum must haves, it’s a pretty ugly but wonderful list.

We always see these beautiful images of glowing mothers with their precious, squishy babies. So we’re not usually thinking about the pain the moms are enduring from stitches (cesarean or perineum), hair falling out in clumps, or the other really ugly postpartum symptoms.

Check out our popular gift guide for moms after birth!

(And yes, these can be gifts to yourself. I will allow it. In fact, I will absolutely lobby for it and encourage it!)

Postpartum Care for moms

Caring for yourself as a new mom can be difficult. It’s an adjustment that many are not truly ready for. It’s much more than just recovering from birth, but also learning your body all over again to be both mentally and physically healthy.

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Here are just a few overlooked ways new moms need to learn to care for themselves better:

Continue doing easy, low-impact mom exercises like the ones you did during pregnancy.
Work on strengthening your pelvic floor so you won’t have to dread the mom sneeze.
Establish a “me time” routine early on.
9 ways to beat the baby blues (depression & anxiety) before it stops you in your tracks.
Learn all about how to troubleshoot strange postpartum symptoms [/color-box]

Finally, when people talk about pregnancy brain and mom brain, it’s not some crazy excuse. in fact, science proves that mom brain is real. So cut yourself some slack and learn to compensate when you’re feeling the effects.

Gifts for Dad After birth

Don’t forget that dads need attention and help too! Not only are fathers also needing to help prepare for birth, they will be a key part of the baby’s life.

They’re there (at the very least) to support the new mom, but also are getting sleepless nights and long days.

Maybe they’re changing diapers, running extra loads of laundry… because baby poop… or maybe they’re even helping with feeding. In all tey need the same amount of coffee and support so they can be their for their spouses.

Check out this new dad gift guide for thoughtful ideas.

Gifts for Newborns and Infants

Finally, we can’t forget the babies. Whether Christmas is coming up, Easter, another holiday, or just because, there are lots of practical and educational gifts for babies. These lists are great for parents to send to family and friends, especially before big holidays!

One of our most popular guides is newborn Christmas gifts… but it can be used during any part of the year.

We also have a follow-up gift guide for babies and their mamas including great gifts for 0-3 month olds during the 4th trimester.

[color-box] Other helpful guides in the birth and baby series:

Preparing for a newborn
Natural Childbirth Guide
Breastfeeding Resources and Encouragement [coming soon]
Baby’s First Year [coming soon] [/color-box]

Get my free birth & breastfeeding “mom guide” mini-series!

This is a completely feee mini-course and includes topics such as pouring into your marriage after baby, practicing self-care after birth, staying connected with non-mom friends, and more! It’s one of the hardest life adjustments women have, so we need to do the best we can and grant ourselves grace when we can’t.

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