Meals for New Moms
Posted under: It doesn’t matter to me if it’s your first baby, or your 7th. Anytime you have a baby, you are a new mom all over again. Recovering from childbirth and caring for a newborn doesn’t get any easier the more times you do it. If anything, it’s more difficult! You have other children running around who have their own needs. The only benefit a 2nd, 3rd or 10th time mom has over a first time mom is that she knows what to expect. For these wonderful women who just endured the pain of childbirth, I believe the most wonderful thing you can do for them is cook for them!
One item on today’s checklist is to plan a meal to take my friend who just had her second baby, a precious little girl. This morning, I was trying to think what I should take them, and it made me think about when my two kids were born. With my son, we lived two hours away from my family and we didn’t really have any friends in the area. I was a member of a mom’s group there, and they had a program where they’d take meals to new moms for 3 days, but that was it. I was very appreciative of those 3 meals, but in the grand scheme of things, I was up in the kitchen cooking right after those meals were over. I was still exhausted and wished I had more time off from the household duties, even just cooking! My husband, bless his heart, made me a delicious home cooked breakfast every morning, but his culinary experience is limited to breakfast foods like scrambled eggs, grits and pancakes. If we wanted dinner, I had to cook it myself!
With my daughter, it was a little different because we moved at the beginning of that pregnancy and had family all around. Family and friends brought us food for several days and it was wonderful to not worry about cooking! I also spent time during the pregnancy planning for my postpartum time, including our meals. I visited a dinner prep place where I purchased pre-assembled meals that could be frozen and later prepared very simply, allowing my husband to prepare dinner with minimal time or frustration on his part. That worked out very well and I’m thankful that I had roughly 2 weeks without the chore of cooking.
Ideally, I think a two week time period is nice to relieve a new mom from her cooking duties. Taking meals to these families is also helpful to the husband who may not want to, or like to cook. Remember when you prepare food for these moms, it’s helpful to take them in disposable containers so the family doesn’t have to worry about returning your dish. Take paper plates, cups and forks to eliminate the need to do dishes as well. Finally, don’t forget that most people like to eat more than once a day, so if you’re taking dinner, think about their breakfast the next morning. Yes, it’s more of a time commitment on your part, making two meals instead of one, and it may cost you a few dollars more, but I assure you that the family will appreciate it more than you know!
For help scheduling meals for new moms, my sister introduced me to a website called Take Them A Meal where family and friends choose a day and can even enter their chosen dish to avoid repeats! It’s a pretty handy tool, so be sure to check that out!
