10 days postpartum

[mamatiti]

I’m 10 days postpartum with a 22mo toddler and 10 day old baby, I’m staying with my family for 3 months meaning I have lots of help but I’m so worried about how I’ll manage once I’m back in my house. I’ve been feeling down just thinking of it.

I have a 20m old and 3m old. I had my mum staying for the first few weeks then DH took 2 weeks off (self employed) and I was so so nervous scared anxious everything about how I was going to cope when it was just me and the babies but honestly you just do. I forgot about ‘routine’ and the only thing I made sure to do was take them for a walk in the morning before the eldest’s nap time, getting out really helped, it wore out my eldest and the baby would be asleep in the pram from the motion. I read a thread on here about something similar and someone said ‘sometimes you just have to throw yourself into it’ and it really hit home for me and once I done that I was confident and it was like I’d always had 2! Please don’t be hard on yourself you’re only 10 days PP and your hormones are still a bit all over the place. Just enjoy the help you have now and your new baby. You sound like you have a great support system anyway if you really do struggle once you’re back home but trust me, you will really just adjust without even realising. Sending you hugs xx

I second the above i was so nervous about my partner going back to work and having my toddler and baby alone, the anxiety leaving the house was crippling, what if toddler had a meltdown what if i needed to feed baby and there was nothing to entertain tbe toddler etc. This lasted about 2 weeks. Now my youngest is 6 months and i dont even give leaving the house a second thought we've done play groups, soft plays, trips to the zoo, its become second nature. Like PP said throw yourself in, get out when you can but give yourself grace. Your get there, you've got this! My top tips would be setting up simple activities for toddler (colouring/set up animals/cars/blocks) to do in morning and after naps this will give you much needed pockets of time (to breathe) and the biggest take away from people is if they both need you, meet your toddlers needs first 😀

Thank you so much. I feel much better knowing I’ll eventually get the hang of it. I’ll make the most of the help I have rn. I haven’t left the house since coming back from the hospital, I do miss going to the park. My mum and sister are taking my toddler to the park tomorrow. I’ll try going for a walk with my youngest- should make me feel better. Thanks for your replies. I hope to get more encouraging feedback.

I’m 8 weeks pp and my daughter will soon be 2 in a few days. Things have gotten better, I still have my family helping but I’ve been able to manage a few days without much help while they go out (to have some time for themselves). I’m still finding it hard to go out with both of them together but I believe I’ll be able to manage in time. I just wanted to give you an update.