Friday, August 20, 2010

Something new mamas need is....

friends!! Since Sarah was born (and honestly even a little before) I have been lonely. Being a stay at home mom means very little social interaction in the beginning stages. Sure you have your baby, but there's not much conversation to be had with a newborn. You also get lots of visitors in the beginning. whether they be helpers or people just dying to see the new squishy baby face! But eventually those visits dwindle and your day to day activities involve you and your little one.

 I struggled a lot in the beginning with having NO friends and shouldering all the new responsibilities of taking care of a baby. I have very few friends that are married and of those only one other couple has a child, and I don't get to see them much. Because of this I felt very isolated. My world revolved around diapers, pacifiers, bottles, breast pumps, and everything else baby. Unfortunately most of my friends are still in college or just graduated so their world doesn't include all that.

I began to feel really hermit-like after about two weeks. Fortunately my family lives close and I felt comfortable taking new baby Sarah to her grandparents' house. (Both sides of our family are REALLY close.) So I was able to get some adult interaction that way.

Sarah is now four and a half months old and I still haven't made any new mommy friends. I really want to have someone to talk all things baby with and not have them get tired of me. I would love to chat with someone else about introducing solid foods and have them really understand what I am going through/feeling! I have been big on following some blogs of other moms and they have been lifesavers sometimes. Even if all they do is reassure me that I am not the first mom to get frustrated or go through the crazy newborn phase.

So I joined MOPS (Moms of Preschoolers) at church. It starts in about two weeks and I am SO excited about it. It will be nice to have some mama friends and have real live social interaction with someone I am not related to! Here's hoping this can be all that I want and need it to be. Be on the lookout for an update after my first MOPS meeting.

So to all you new moms out there. Don't be shy!! Join a mommy group or do something to get you out there. You need friends and support!

3 comments:

Sarah Siders said...

Good advice. I'll be working and Josh will be working/staying home with our little dude. We have a couple friends who are either about to have a baby or just did so we are very fortunate. But I can see how easy it would be to get isolated. I'm excited that you're going to be finding some friends. :)

Nikki said...

I hear ya! The hospital where I delivered offers a free New Mommy class, and from there, a bunch of us made a playgroup...so that gave us all two times a week where we hung out with other moms and babies...I never would have survived the summer without them.

Lindsey said...

Yeah I had my sister here all summer and she practically lived at my place so it wasn't too lonely then. Now that school is back in session, I need to find some mama friends!