TAKE A DEEP BREATH

It’s easier said than done, but if some of your friends don’t seem as taken with your baby as you are, try not to take it personally. It doesn’t mean they don’t like you, and it doesn’t mean that they dislike your baby, but for people without children, their priority isn’t necessarily spending their time being with or talking about a tiny human and everything it does. This is also a time that often reveals your insecurities about yourself and your parenting abilities, and with mommy hormones raging, you can be hypersensitive about any comments. A friend might think she’s being supportive by giving you space and not being in daily contact, while you might perceive that she’s disinterested in your life right now. Without being open about how you feel, these misaligned perceptions can damage – or even sink – a friendship. “When things are so hormonal, we do project a lot, so if someone is giving you space to be a mom, it could be perceived as, ‘She doesn’t like my child.’ We need to check those projections,” Jeanine says. So if you’re not communicating clearly with that person, you can easily get caught up in your own ball of internalised anxiety, while the reality might be quite different.