Ways to Bless a New Mom

After reading a post about this by Passionate Homemaking, I was inspired to write my own from personal experience.

We are about 8 weeks in to this whole baby thing and I can't tell you how blessed I have been by my friends and family. I have seen such an amazing support group rise up and help us in so many ways. So thank you friends and family. You have no idea how much you have carried us through these 8 weeks.

There have been numerous ways that people have helped us out. I wanted to mention some of them as not only a reminder to myself in the future but also to help others without kids know how to help out a new mom. Here are some ways to truly bless a new mom.

1. Bring Them a Meal

We had meals brought to us on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for 6 weeks! It was incredible. We scarfed all of it up and shed a tear when the meals stopped coming. I had always thought this was a nice thing to do for new moms but having personally experienced it now, I realize that it is vital to survival. OK, that's an exaggeration. But seriously, Austin and I would have been living off of cereal and frozen pizza for 6 weeks if we didn't have meals coming our way.

Here's one more tip on that subject: Include some breakfast food! In those first few weeks, I barely got around to eating breakfast. After being up half the night and the extra calories spent nursing, I was often famished in the morning but didn't have a spare moment to eat anything other than cereal. When we had a friend drop off coffee cake, I couldn't be happier!

Oh, one more suggestion: Make them a meal in their home! (Only if you have a close enough relationship that is). We had friends come over and just take over our kitchen and made us dinner. I loved it. Not only was the company a breath of fresh air but we got a great, fresh meal out of it. I also had friends come over and do the same thing for breakfast. Those were some of my favorite mornings.

2. Just Hang Out

In those first few weeks, I was bored. Lonely. Things felt so quiet. Coming off of a very social and high energy job, it was really hard to be home so much. I craved people being around. I simply just wanted someone there. I didn't care what we were doing. Just the presence and conversation of a good friend brightened my day. Bring a movie over, show up with Sonic drinks, have a happy hour, etc. Just be present!

However, be careful not to interfere with potential naps the new-mom could be taking. Even though  I loved having people around, there would be times that I really just wanted to sleep but felt like I couldn't ask the person to leave.

3. Clean

Want to really humble yourself and help a new-mom-friend out? Clean for them. I had a friend and some family do this and I can't tell you how blessed I felt. Especially in the beginning when I was still healing up from my C-Section, I couldn't hardly do anything. And with people coming over, I wanted my house to be somewhat in order. When my mother in-law vacuumed my whole house, I couldn't have been happier. When a friend showed up to clean my kitchen and bathrooms, I could have cried (tears of joy). Cleaning is where it's at. This one takes a bit more work and isn't as fun but I'm telling you- it's the thing to do!

4. Share Media

In the beginning (who am I kidding- even now!) there is so much down time spent nursing. I would get so bored! Seriously, you have to sit still for 30-40 minutes every 3 hours! For a busy-body like myself, this was quite an adjustment! That was until I figured out a way to be on my computer and blog stalk a bit. I also appreciated when a friend of mine dropped off two books that she really liked. It's super easy to read while nursing. I also used the time to listen to a few sermons on my ipod. So having people share things they read or listened to was really helpful.

5. Call or Text Frequently

I had a friend who seriously texted me almost every day for the first 3 weeks. Simply asking how the night went or how the day was going or how I was doing. I felt so loved by the fact that she thought to text me every day! Even if I couldn't answer texts or calls sometimes, the fact that people were reaching out to me meant so much. So don't hesitate to call. Even if a new mom can't talk at the moment, she will appreciate the gesture.

6. Pray

Sounds obvious and not very tangible but seriously, this is what I needed most from people. Being a new mom is hard. It's a huge transition. It's tiring and filled with crazy hormones. It's stressful at times and can wear a soul thin. What I needed more than any of the things above was strength from the Lord. I needed an eternal perspective of my new role as a mom. I needed truth in the hard moments. I needed the Holy Spirit's strength and guidance on an hourly basis. I needed prayer. So if you know a new mom, keep them in your prayers.