The Fourth Trimester.

Everyone that knows at least a bit about pregnancy knows about the first, second & third trimester. But not very many people know about the fourth trimester. YES it is a real thing & in my opinion, it is the most important trimester of all four.

The fourth trimester is the transition period for you & baby. For baby, it's learning to live in the world, instead of the womb. for mum's it's about life with a new baby, learning about parenting choices, postpartum life; etc. But it's also much more than that. If you've read my blog post about growth spurts vs. mental leaps (if you haven't I'll link it at the end of this post), you'll know that a baby goes through their first leap just 4 weeks after their due date. They react so terribly to the first leap as they aren't even quite sure where they are or whats going on, the world is still SO new to them.

This is one of the reasons why I truly believe in what's called 'the fourth trimester project' & attachment parenting. Your baby needs you the MOST the first 3 months of their life (They are considered a newborn untill the beginning of the third month for this reason). They are lost, confused & need the person they have known for the past 9 months to help them adjust, learn, discover. & to be held, loved and reassured during those time periods.

I firmly believe because of this, the first three months you really shouldn't leave your baby in 'baby containers' for long periods of time (bouncers, swings, etc, & I mean like, hours). & should try to give them skin to skin as much as possible. This also helps create a very important bond between mother & baby that will last a lifetime. It's the transition period, everything changes for the both of you, it's the first bonding period outside of the womb.

For mum's, the fourth trimester is a bit different. It's learning your baby's patterns, living with barely any sleep, learning to love your postpartum body that carried the little human you love dearly. Multitasking, learning to live in a messy environment at times. Breastfeeding issues, or learning which formula is best. What kind of parenting approach you want to take, & constantly taking care of your little. My best advice, take time out of every day to just watch your baby, whatever their doing. Thanks to baby blues (thank god it only lasted about 3 weeks for me), I would watch Knox in his crib every night & cry my eyes out.

I would cry because I couldn't believe how much more I loved him, I felt like my chest cavity would explode; because he would never ever, be that small again. That I made him. Time is so, so precious. You never get it back. & boy, pregnancy seems like forever but once you have that baby, time goes by so fast sometimes it feels like it's all happened in one day. Soon, they'll be going to daycare, school, everything. This is the time they need you most, so be available to your little ones. Because there will come a day, that they will be a young adult. & you'll barely see them anymore. (& great, I'm crying).

Being a mom is never wanting them to grow up, but you know they have to. & it also makes you unbelievably happy to watch & help them do just that. & then you realize you dont just have a baby. That baby is going to be a full grown adult that day. & for a human to be capable of many emotions & hit certain milestones, they need their mother close at an early age. That's the fourth trimester. The final trimester. It's so far been the most emotional heart wrenching period of time in my life. But it's beautiful, complicated & so much more. So hold your little one close. Be there for them. Because what they need most in that period of time, is you. Welcome to the fourth trimester.

Growth Spurt Vs. Mental Leap: http://youngmumunplugged.wixsite.com/youngmomunplugged/single-post/2016/12/06/Growth-Spurt-Vs-Mental-Leap

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