"I’d never heard the term “fourth trimester” until I became a mom. The fourth trimester is the time when your baby is learning to live in the world outside your womb. At the same time, you’re learning to become a mother. “Mothers need just as much care as newborns,” says Alexandra Sacks, M.D. “Because they too have just been born.”
The sentiment is enough to send this mother into nostalgic tears. Even though I’m now well out of the newborn stage, I can distinctly remember being in the thick of it because it’s not just a new world for your baby, it’s a new world for you too.
Of course, no one has the exact same journey into motherhood, but there are certain — ahem — rites of passage we all experience as new mothers. Like common elements of childbirth and postpartum healing (welcome back, maxi pads!) and other moments, you can’t really prepare for – like the frantic urgency of changing your first blow out to the pure bliss of seeing their first smile. Not to mention feeling overwhelming gratitude and understanding for the mothers who came before you.
Our editors at The Everymom got together to share some common moments (42 to be exact!) we, and many new mothers, went through in the fourth trimester. And, first-time mamas, we also made you a new mom bingo board to add a little fun to this special new phase. Check out the bingo board (and download a printable version!) below and keep scrolling for the 42 things every new mother experiences during the fourth trimester.
On Getting Acquainted With Your Postpartum Body:
1. Wondering if you’ll ever stop bleeding
2. Feeling confused about why you still look pregnant after the actual baby is out
3. Thanking the world for adult diapers and elastic waist pants
4. Not knowing which bodily fluid your sheets were soaked in
5. Trying on an old pair of jeans and crying when they don’t go past your knees (just don’t do it!)
On Breastfeeding:
6. Looking at your nipples and feeling afraid
7. Crying over spilled breast milk
8. Thinking about quitting breastfeeding
9. Accidentally sharing a baby pic with someone that also included a nip pic
10. Falling asleep while pumping and the bottles overflowed
11. Thinking about quitting breastfeeding again
On Newborn Care:
12. Googling to see if something was normal
13. Gagging as you change your first blowout
14. Later getting poop on your hand and not even flinching
15. Amazon Prime-ing stuff in the middle of the night…and forgetting what you ordered
16. Almost dying to hold in a sneeze and/or almost choking to death on a cough as to not wake up the baby
17. Army-crawling out of the baby’s room to avoid eye contact
18. Fearing the first time you have to clip their nails
19. Taping a “Do Not Ring Doorbell” sign to your front door
20. Asking the baby when they’ll stop crying
On Relationships:
21. Crying over any and all the things
22. Cringing at the touch of your partner
23. Screaming at your own mother and/or your partner and/or your mail carrier
24. Apologizing to your mom for screaming… and pretty much everything else
25. Sending your friend a pic of something to ask if it’s normal
26. Hugging the friend who brings you more than a frozen lasagna
On Adjusting to the New Normal of Motherhood:
27. Throwing your maternity leave to-do list out the window
28. Using dry shampoo three or more days in a row
29. Ordering take-out three or more days in a row
30. Dropping food on your baby’s head
31. Changing from pajamas into other pajamas
32. Taking a trip to Target that feels like a vacation
33. Accidentally shoplifting from Target because the car seat carrier was covering an item at the bottom of your cart
34, Getting puked on and not changing your clothes
35. Can’t imagine leaving your baby and going back to work
36. Can’t imagine NOT going back to work
37. Doing something you said you’d never do as a mother
On the Hours Spent:
38. Admiring their perfect eyelashes
39. Staring at them sleeping
40. Smelling their heads and snuggling their necks
41. Listening to their tiny baby noises
42. Wondering how you could ever love anyone so much