Hope for the Postpartum MomНамуна

The Importance of Rest 

Sleep is an important part of self care, and vital to the healing process. God wants us to be good stewards of our bodies, yet many of us struggle to identify and meet our self care needs. Adequate sleep is vital to our wellbeing, and sleep deprivation makes us feel fragile and vulnerable, prone to negative thoughts and false beliefs. Postpartum depression can create significant sleep disturbances, such as insomnia, excessive sleeping, or frequent awakenings. Add these symptoms to the sleeping habits of a newborn, and quality rest seems impossible. God wants us to dwell in Him, and the Hebrew translation of dwell is “to rest.” 

Most times, instead of resting, I think that we as moms feel like we need to be super mom. Social media does not help in that aspect. You deliver your baby. Arrive home. Are back in your skinny jeans. And back to your normal routine of grocery shopping, playdates, carpool line, etc. 

And you know what’s okay? To deliver your baby. Arrive home. Keep the pregnancy pants on. Have groceries delivered. See if your husband or friend can pick up your other kid(s). And lay in bed and rest. 

And you know what the Bible says? It talks about the importance of rest too. We will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty (Psalms 91:1). We can “be still and know that He is God.” God, the creator of the universe, made all of the delicate and inner parts of your baby. God knit him/her in your womb. God made him/her wonderfully complex (Psalms 139:19). This same God that created your perfect baby will continually take care of you while you rest during your postpartum season. 

One of my friends said she has a trigger when she knows she needs sleep. When she starts thinking irrational thoughts about her baby, she finds the help she needs so she can rest, take a nap, or get longer stretches of sleep at night. If you find yourself overly irritated, emotional, screaming, crying, angry, detached, disinterested, etc., it might be time to rest. And let’s be honest, you might be thinking, “that sounds good in theory, but due to my circumstance, there is no way that is happening.” My advice is that your mental and emotional health are too important to not find a way to get rest and/or sleep. 

I love when Exodus 14:14 says, “The LORD himself will fight for you. You need only to be still.” And yes, the context is a little different. Being delivered from the Egyptians is a little different than delivering a baby. But the same truth applies to us. The Israelites were in a position to deal with a lot of emotions. They were scared of what was happening. Verse 10 says that they were “terrified and cried out to the LORD.” They grumbled, saying, “it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert.” The Lord delivered them from the situation they were in. They could trust Him. 

The same is true for you in the postpartum season. It can feel scary at times. Thoughts may come to your mind out of nowhere. You may not know how to handle your new newborn. Or two under 2. Or two young kids and a baby. We can grumble about our situation: “this is so hard,” “I can’t do this,” “everything feels so hard right now,” etc. In all of the emotions, here is the truth: The Lord WILL deliver you. He is with you in this season and He will be with you out of this season. You can sleep. You can rest. You can trust that He is in control. 

Today’s Action Step:

Every day, we want to encourage you not only with truth, but also with an action step. 

Today’s action step is probably obvious: REST. Take a nap. Ask your husband to take one of the middle of the night feedings so you can get 6 hours of sleep instead of 3 hours. Call a friend or a family member and see if they can watch your baby/kids while you nap. Sleep is extremely crucial and it is important to be intentional about developing and maintaining healthy sleep habits. Make quality rest a priority, and if necessary, speak with your physician about your sleep patterns, possible caffeine use, and any other factors which could be an issue. 

Prayer for the Postpartum Mom

Lord, thank You that You are the Creator, not just of the world, but of my precious new baby. You formed him/her perfectly. I praise You for that. Thank You for providing rest. I ask for Your continuous provision. Provide rest. Provide sleep. Provide pockets of time where I can simply be. Today I choose to rest in the shadow of Your wings. Things can get done later. I simply want to be still and trust You throughout this tired season of my life. You will not fail me. Amen.