Self care is a huge buzz word right now. I think that self care in the depths of postpartum depression/anxiety might look different than if you are feeling better. I wrote about Mommy Self Care before, but I wanted to give some basic self care tips for those that might be struggling with a maternal mental health disorder or have a newborn at home and your world has completely turned upside down. This simple routine can take less than 30 minutes!
Shower/Bath
When my husband came home from work while I was on maternity leave I would hand off Ewan to him and take a shower or I would take a shower during his first stretch of sleep. It gave me some alone time and allowed me to do a very basic and necessary thing, get clean. It’s amazing how much doing that can make you feel instantly better. Like a new beginning. Now that I have more time to pamper myself, I will take an occasional bath and watch something on my laptop. I don’t super enjoy baths, but I feel good and sleep well afterwards.
Clean Pajamas
Put those dirty (spit up covered, food stained) PJ’s in the (overflowing) laundry basket and put some fresh ones on. It just makes you feel a little more human, and that’s a huge thing when you have a newborn!
Glass of Water and Healthy Snack
Take a quick couple of minutes to make sure you get a drink of water and/or fill up your water bottle and put some quality food (or any food if eating is a struggle during the day) in your body. Your body does not function at 100% without sufficient water. Some ideas of healthy(ish) snacks are Sargento Balanced Breaks, greek yogurt, cheese sticks, apples, oranges, celery sticks with peanut butter/hummus, baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, cottage cheese, bananas, beef jerky, beef sticks, and even a bowl of cereal.
I think the best option is a protein shake. Currently, I drink Shakeology , but before that I used Garden of Life Protein + Greens. You can buy a Bottle Blender and mix it with water or, my favorite, unsweetened vanilla almond milk! It’s quick, nutritious, and you can drink it while doing other stuff. If you want to get fancy you can add frozen fruit or frozen spinach and/or kale to add some extra nutrients.
Pray/Meditate
I know it can be scary left to your own thoughts when you are not in a good mental place, but it’s probably the most important part of a night routine. You can start with listening to worship music. I LOVE worship music. During the nights when Ewan was a newborn I would play a local Christian music radio station on my phone all night. It helped me get through the roughest of the rough nights.
Another starting place is to use a prayer that is already written down. There are some great prayers in the book Prayers that Avail Much. You can also copy the prayer and then start to really make it your own.
Sleep
This may seem silly to put on here, but sleep is so incredibly important to mental health. Sleep deprivation alone can lead to depression. I included this quote in a past blog, but it is worth mentioning again.
Apparently, sleep deprivation sometimes results in biological depression even when there’s nothing to be depressed about. For example, one study took healthy young childless volunteers and deprived them of deep sleep (found during delta-wave and dream stages) every night for a month. At the end of the month, they were evaluated. Every single one of them had become clinically and biologically depressed!
and baby makes three by John M. Gottman and Julie Gottman
I encourage you to reach out to friends and family for help so you can get some sleep. Even if you are breastfeeding, you can feed then hand off baby to someone so you can sleep as much as you can until the next feeding. I was blessed that mother-in-law would come over and do night shifts. We didn’t even sleep with the monitor in the bedroom!
I never want to leave a blog post without saying this: You are doing great, mama. If you are feeling like you just can’t do it anymore, please, reach out for help. If you feel overwhelmed and need to talk to someone. Please, reach out. Have HOPE, because there is HEALING!
In hope and healing,
Brittany
You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.
2 Chronicles 20:17 (NIV)
Postpartum Support International: 1-800-944-4773 (Non Emergencies)
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741
Postpartum Support International Support Coordinators
Pregnancy & Postpartum Mental Health Symptoms (from Postpartum Support International)
My Beloved 