Postpartum gives you the perfect excuse to say no – to obligations, to surfing social media, to allowing negativity in your life. Do we need an excuse for this? Nope. But it definitely is easier to use the “I can’t, I have a newborn” line! For those of us that are people-pleasers, it can be hard to turn our focus inward. However, there’s just not time for worrying about everyone when you’ve got a new baby to take care of.

Sarah’s birth came with an unexpected surprise - a breech baby!

There are a ton of hospital bag checklists on the internet and for the most part they all list similar items. Some are more practical than others, and some are lists of things NOT to take, which can be really useful. Check out these 5 must-have’s from Linsay’s birth bag.

The last thing I remember clearly is the moment that I felt the transition phase begin. I immediately began filling in my eyebrows and telling my husband to remember to take off my earrings in case I had to get an emergency c-section, and to put them back on before our baby saw me for the first time. My doula helped me manage pain. I’ve been told that I may have cursed out a nurse for attempting to check my cervix. And I yelled at everyone to stop the *insert tons of cuss words* Pitocin drip.

When family planning before we became parents for the first time, my partner and I hoped that we would be able to have our first and second children approximately two years apart. We didn’t know, at the time, that this would mean I might be pregnant, and perhaps give birth, during a pandemic.

The book is at the same time hilarious, moving, lighthearted, and dark. You feel as though you’re sitting on her couch, surrounded by unfolded laundry, while she deliberates her predicament. O’Connell gives us a rare, honest, and important glance into what is normal for so many mothers, but often remains unspoken – the transformation from an independent being into a mother (or parent) is a deep, personal, and inherently difficult transition, no matter how much you adore the baby responsible for it.

When my daughter was born, I fully understood nothing would be the same. Raising and nurturing a newborn is quite time consuming, as you may have heard. At most, I had previously been responsible for the well-being of a rambunctious puppy. But a baby? It kinda sorta felt like more was going to go into this.

Life with your newborn is going to hit you like a ton of bricks no matter how prepared you are, but there are some things you can do now to make postpartum just a little bit easier. (Pro tip: take a childbirth ed course to get a jump start on planning, and make some new parent friends)