In order to make the first few days after your baby is born into the most positive, happy and relaxed time where you get to spend the maximum amount of time with your beautiful brand-new tiny baby, these are the things that you should allow yourself to do no matter what.
Breastfeed: Try to breastfeed your baby.
It is what your body is built to do and it also promotes the love hormone oxytocin to help you bond with your baby.
There is nothing on earth that will create a bond as strong as breastfeeding your newborn baby.
Skin to skin contact: Have as much skin to skin contact with your newborn as possible.
Have your newborn lying on your chest with just a nappy on and a blanket draped around them to keep them warm.
That skin on skin contact will give you a surge of hormones that brings you and your baby ever more closer and strengthens the unique mother-child connection between you.
Love your pyjamas: If you Want to stay in your pyjamas until it's time to go bed again at night, then you do just that! All that matters is that you and your baby get to spend as much time with each other as possible in those first few days and weeks, so love your pyjamas! Heck, why not get a few extra pairs! Bath with your baby: A lovely, relaxing, positive thing to do is to get into a warm bath.
Then lower your baby slowly and, of course, very carefully into the water on his back.
Then bring him to your chest for a cuddle.
Not only are you both relaxing in this warm cocoon of water, but you are also having skin to skin contact as well.
This can only promote confidence happiness and positivity in your newborn.
Never say no to extra help: If your mom offers to do the laundry or your neighbour or friend offers to collect the other children from school, just say yes! This gives you more time to relax and settle into the routine of a new baby.
It also gives you more time to play with and get to know your beautiful little newborn so accept as much help as possible.
Fill that freezer: Make sure that in the week or two run up to the birth, you get friends, family and yourself to cook lots of meals which you can freeze.
Then once baby has arrived you can just pull out pre cooked delicious meals, shove them in the oven and not have to worry about preparing food in the evenings.
Therefore you can enjoy more time with your baby.
Catnap, catnap, catnap: Try to get as many snatches of extra sleep as possible, so when baby sleeps you can have a sleep too.
Grab as many catnaps as you can during the day and this will help compensate for all the broken, sleepless nights that you're bound to experience.
Ignore the house work: The house work can wait.
The housework doesn't care.
House work is irrelevant when it comes to the birth of a new baby.
So don't panic, you can be sure lots of people will be happy to chip in with a bit of tidying! You just focus on getting some rest and being with your beautiful bouncing baby.