A Special Note From Martha Sears on the Baby Shower Celebrating Daughter Erin
Saturday, December 1st, was a special day for the Sears women to celebrate middle daughter, Erin Elizabeth. We celebrated her (and baby) with a baby shower with family and friends. Oldest and youngest daughters, Hayden and Lauren, are part of this group hug along with senior mom, Martha, and two granddaughters, Ashton and Morgan. We were quite busy showering Erin and I wanted to feature one of my gifts for Erin: a copy of 25 Things Every New Mom Should Know published by Harvard Common Press. Here is an excerpt from the Introduction:
“This is not a traditional baby-care book. You won’t find anything in it about diaper rash, cord care, or how to give a bath. You can get that information from a lot of other sources. Instead, this book is a guide to mothering your baby, and it is as much about the process of becoming a mother as it is about babies. It will help you to get to know your baby better, and we hope that it will also help you understand yourself as you take on this new, motherly role.”
Preparation for Bumps in the Road
We believe that babies have a lot to teach mothers. Listening to your baby and responding to his or her cues will lead you into a parenting style that will help both of you to thrive. Biology and infant behavior will help you get started and build your confidence as you and your baby develop a two-way trusting relationship. But this is not an ideal world we live in, and there are forces you’ll meet along the way that can make you doubt your mothering intuition. We hope that this book will prepare you for some of those bumps in the road, and will help you meet the challenges and changes ahead.
Mothering and fathering eight children has taught us a lot. We are very different persons from the ones we were before we had children, and most, if not all, of these differences are for the better. Although personal growth is sometimes hard, we’ve had a lot of fun along the way. Fun in your life with your baby is what will convince you and the baby that life is good. Enjoy your baby!
First Seven “Things” for a Busy New Mom
Here is a list of the first seven “Things”: (each chapter is only 4-5 pages, easy read for busy new mom)
- Giving birth is a complex emotional experience.
- A newborn baby is already a person.
- You and your baby need to stay together.
- Breastfeeding really is better than bottle-feeding.
- You can solve breastfeeding problems.
- New mothers need special care.
- All your energy goes to the baby.
Fun Baby Shower Gift Idea!
One last note about the baby shower and the gifts we showered Erin with: Instead of a gift card or baby shower card, we asked our guests to bring specific children’s storybooks to start Erin and John’s library for reading to their little one. My book for little Baby Basile is titled Grandma Loves You Because You’re You. The book from the Sears Siblings was Just Go To Bed! One gift book from me was specifically for John: 25 Things Every New Dad Should Know, the companion book written by our sons who are also dads, Dr. Jim, and Dr. Bob. Their book is funnier than mine, lots of dad humor to keep the nuggets of Dad Wisdom entertaining. So, there is an idea for the next time you get invited to a baby shower.
You can follow Erin’s pregnancy tips in the T5 Wellness section here.
Written by: Martha Sears, R.N.
Martha is the mother of Dr. Bill’s eight children, a registered nurse, a former childbirth educator, a La Leche League leader, and a lactation consultant. Martha is the co-author of 25 parenting books and is a popular lecturer and media guest drawing on her 18 years of breastfeeding experience with her eight children (including Stephen with Down Syndrome and Lauren, her adopted daughter). Martha speaks frequently at national parenting conferences and is noted for her advice on how to handle the most common problems facing today’s mothers with their changing lifestyles. Martha is able to connect with both full-time, stay-at-home mothers and working mothers because she herself has experienced both styles of parenting. Martha takes great pride in referring to herself as a “professional mother” and one of her favorite quips when someone voices their concern about her having eight children in an already populated world is: “The world needs my children.”