You’ve brought that fabulous bundle of joy home from the hospital and you and your partner both look at each other dumbfounded and think, “Oh my God, what have we done!”

You haven’t a clue what to do first, you think you’re going to lose your mind and never sleep or work again. Stop the mommy madness! We’ve got the tips you need to enjoy your new baby and adjust happily in your role as a new mom. If it was really that difficult, you wouldn’t be here today, right?

1) Career Girls, Never Fear—You Can Work Again

"When your first child arrives and you’re in a sleep-deprived, semi-conscious state most of the time, it’s hard to believe that you will be able to, or want to return to work," says Brenda Berg, Founder and President of Scandinavian Child (http://www.scichild.com/) and mother of two, who gave birth to her daughter and her company on the same day.

"This will pass all too quickly and, believe it or not, it will get easier. In fact, I find that motherhood brings with it a sense of purpose and organization that I did not have in the past. Working mothers are organized, they multitask, they problem solve and have a sense of purpose- whether they are working because they have to work, to make ends meet, or they have continued their career by choice. The lessons and love you experience as a mother will improve your ability at work a hundred fold”

2) Don’t Sweat the Small Advice & Get Help When You Need It

Bob Lancer, a parenting expert for over 25 years (parentingfortheplanet.com) and author of Parenting with Love, Without Anger or Stress says, “Don’t take anyone’s advice personally, especially the advice that comes from your parents and in-laws.

Everyone thinks they know best, but no one can make more informed decisions regarding YOUR child than you can, because you have the opportunity to spend the most time with your child, observing his/her every move. You will feel tempted to think that they are talking down to you, treating you like an incompetent, and begin feeling either resentful of them or unsure of yourself, or both. Let that go by taking every bit of advice with a grain of salt, and waste no thought thinking about what someone else thinks about you. At the same time, though, don’t automatically close your mind to what you hear. Consider the suggestion and experiment with it if it seems sensible.”

"What you really might need is someone to physically help you with the baby…and the best choice might not be family."

Though everyone is offering their help in the form of advice, what you really might need is someone to physically help you with the baby…and the best choice might not be family, explains Giuditta Tornetta, a birth and post-partum doula and author of Painless Childbirth: An Empowering Journey Through Pregnancy And Childbirth.

“Some of us have a lot of ‘emotional baggage’ with our mothers, in-laws etcetera and a neutral third party like a doula might be just the ticket for postpartum help," Tornetta says. "A doula is like a mother without the baggage. At home, a post partum doula can help the partner spend more quality time with mom and baby, cooking a meal, allowing them to take a nap, and helping mom with the sometimes challenging task of breastfeeding. She is a loving mentor who can show you ways to appease you baby, bathe him, burp him, swaddle her, and play with her. A Doula is the "village" support system revisited.”

3) Appreciate This Time

Think of how long you wanted a baby, and now the miracle is here. This time of exhaustion will pass soon enough and before you know it, your tot will be graduating from college! Enjoy everything that this time and experience brings you. Look into your baby’s eyes, notice his perfect feet, his ears, his mouth, the beauty of him resting in your arms. In the first six month of life, your baby is totally dependent on you, unable to do much of anything on her own…It’s this special–and limited time–when you get to give your everything and bond deeply with your baby. Snuggle up and be grateful that you were blessed with becoming a mom.

“Research shows that people who practice gratitude feel considerably happier than those who don’t. They feel more joyful, enthusiastic, interested, determined, and strong. Gratitude practitioners are also more likely to be both kind and helpful to others,” says sociologist Christine Carter, Executive Director of Greater Good Science Center, UC Berkeley, and creator of the “Science for Raising Happy Kids” website. (Greatergoodparents.org) Go to the site to sign up for the free Half-Full Blog newsletter on raising happy kids.

4) Don’t Neglect Your Physical Health

“If you are finding the last thing on your list as a new parent is taking care of your exercise and dietary needs, take a 30-minute break to rejuvenate,” says fitness and nutrition expert, Kellie Blackburn. Within 30 days, even a new mom can make health a habit and lose a few pounds. A thirty-minute workout three times per week will boost your endurance and energize you for the rest of the day. Of course, it’s tough to even think about a workout when you have a new baby in the house, but put those nap times to good use.

"You don’t have to do it all at once to make a difference in how you look and feel."

Break out the hand weights and do a quickie full body routine. Start with jogging in place for a couple minutes to warm up then push ups on your knees, abdominal crunches, walking lunges and bicep curls, repeat 3 times. Do all of the exercises until you start to feel your muscles engage, about twenty reps. If your baby wakes up after fifteen minutes, don’t worry all is not lost, do the rest of your workout the next time your baby goes down. You don’t have to do it all at once to make a difference in how you look and feel.

If you’re too tired from being up and down all night with your newborn to eat healthy and all you crave is junk to stay awake, good nutrition is the remedy–and the blender is your best friend. Easy, quick to consume, healthy meals can be made in minutes even in zombie mode. Start your day with a brain boosting fruit protein smoothie: one banana, a handful of strawberries and blueberries, one scoop of protein powder, a little ice and skim milk. For more time saving workouts and simple healthy meals for new parents, visit fitness Kellie Blackburn’s website: 30Days30Minutes.com.

5) Don’t Forget About Your Mate

“The quality of your relationship with your mate exerts a profound influence on the quality of how your child feels and behaves. A quarrelsome couple fills the home with stress, stress that the child absorbs. As you relate kindly and sensitively with your mate, your child absorbs that harmonious influence, helping him/her to feel and to behave well,” says Bob Lancer.

“Additionally, give your husband a chance to find his own way of relating with the child. This permits the development of the bond between father and child. If you leave the child with your husband for a few hours, don’t offer any advice. Give him answers to his questions, but do not leave a laundry list of instructions. Allow his love, intuition and intelligence to connect with his child so that he will feel inspired and committed to maintaining a close relationship with his child. He is bound to have different ways of dealing with things, and though you may have a problem with those ways, they may still be sound. Of course, if you observe physical or emotional mistreatment, you need to intervene. But don’t jump to the conclusion that mistreatment is going on just because Dad relates to the child differently.”