Coping with Sleep Deprivation

As you can see from the photo above, I’m about to enter the newborn stage again. While I still get excited folding teeny pink pajamas and putting the final touches on our master-closet-turned-nursery, I’ll admit that by the third baby it’s not all sweet anticipation. There’s a healthy dose of realism and – yup – a little bit of dread mixed in there.

Because the newborn stage is hard.

Each parenting phase brings with it a set of challenges, but I don’t know that any period of time is more physically demanding for moms than the first couple of months. Between recovering from delivery, postpartum hormones, lack of sleep and overall lifestyle adjustment it is, for many of us, a time of just barely surviving. Hopefully, as we’ve discussed here on the blog recently, the postpartum period is made a little easier with help from friends or family and some gentle self-care. But even in the most ideal circumstances, it’s no picnic.

More at TheHappiestHome.com.