by Sara Gaviria
Plenty of guides exist on how to take care of a new baby. Sensing a lack of support for stay-at-home moms who want to maintain their sense of self, feel their best and actually make a little time to focus on their development in this new phase of life, Sara Gaviria, author of The Happy Stay-At-Home Mom: How to Look & Feel Amazing After Having Your Baby, shares tips around everything from skincare to staying present, and more. Sara shares her research on healthy eating, exercising and also highlights how important is that stay-at-home moms look for their passion, and most importantly, find time for it.
For moms who have struggled to find themselves after baby arrives, the answer is here. The Happy Stay-at-Home Mom: How to Look & Feel Amazing After Having Your Baby is loaded with advice about how to care for mom. I wrote the book because I wanted to help other moms feel more inspired, healthy, beautiful and happy. After working all my life, I wanted to find joy with my decision to be a stay-at-home mom. Writing this book was a gift to myself and serves as a reminder that I’m on a wonderful journey, where I can dream big and achieve success – even while raising kids!
My goal is to inspire other stay-at-home moms to do the same. Having a child doesn’t mean the end of your path, the baby is the strength, this is just the beginning.
On Motherhood…
Be prepared…Things rarely go according to plan. No matter how well new moms prepare for the arrival of their little bundle of joy, they often discover that the reality is far less dreamy than the Hallmark image they envision. From the day that my son was born, I realized it’s impossible to control everything, and it’s better to let go, and be engaged with life as it happens. I always strived to do things both with my baby, and on my own, this gave me a sense of fulfillment.
Making Priorities… Maintaining Sanity
It’s important for moms to make time for self-care. My mantra is “happy mom, happy baby.” When my son was younger, it was difficult to make time for myself but I made it a priority after my husband would get home from work, I would do things such as meeting a friend for a cup of coffee, attend a yoga class or just spend time alone.
I relied on “mommy groups” to help get through the day. Before I had a baby, “I didn’t think I needed them, but in reality, those groups were such a blessing. The meetings gave me much needed structure, giving me a reason to get out of the house, make myself feel presentable and of course introducing me to mommy friends which was by far the most important. You and other new moms are going through the same things and everyone is eager to share advice and just talk.
Sara Gaviria is a Colombian journalist with an MA in Marketing and Communications from Westminster University, U.K. She has lived in London and California, working as an advertising executive for media publications such as The San Diego Union-Tribune, serving in her last position as a Manager of Hispanic Publications. She now makes it her mission to help other mothers take care of themselves post pregnancy through her writing. Sara currently lives in Houston with her husband and son.
