Issue link: https://www.hub.camaf.co.za/i/595176
In order to do this very important job, you need to have regular and dependable breaks from the baby - to sleep, to have time to yourself, to visit a friend, to go to gym, to go for a walk, to do whatever is nurturing to you. in order to nurture the baby, you need to see that you are nurtured and happy. Caring for a baby is incredibly physically and emotionally demanding. it also takes time to get used to yourself as a mother and to combine that with the non-mother side of yourself, the lover, the friend, the person in the workplace. in the early months you will be mostly conscious of the mother side of yourself but you need to keep a balance and remember the other aspects of your life. TAKING CARE OF YOUR rELAtionShiP with your PArtnEr you need to have time alone with your partner (without the baby) on a regular basis so that you can keep in touch with each other. Breakfast or an early morning walk on weekends is good, as it is hopefully at a time when you are not too tired. your lives have both changed drastically, but in different ways. you have the intense responsibility and connection to the baby day and night. Although your partner's work world has likely stayed the same, their emotional life has changed completely. they were probably the centre of your focus night and day. now you are totally focused on the baby and they have to learn to get used to that - it's necessary for the baby's survival - but not easy to be on the outside. All these changes need working through. you are now a family and that is a wonder and a miracle that is difficult to describe, but wonderful to share! CHAPTER 4: TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF 16