Quiz: Are you spending enough time with grown-ups?

Inviting over couples who were in your Lamaze class is a good way to stay in touch with other grown-ups, with the added benefit that you all have new babies. That means you can sympathize and swap stories with each other, without the risk of boring an uninterested audience with baby gossip. Also consider Mommy-and-Me-style playgroups as a way to meet other new parents.

It might have been a while since you've gotten much time out of the house and had meaningful interactions with other adults, what with the unending cycle of meals, diapers, naps and bottles, but unless it's for a joke (a funny joke!), you'll probably want to avoid baby talk around other grown-ups. Your baby might enjoy it; your dry cleaner likely won't.

If you start to consider baby poop a scintillating conversational topic, make sure you only bring it up around people who share your interest in debating diaper contents. Many grown-ups won't consider the things coming out that end of your baby quite as fascinating as you might assume.

If you've got parents who live nearby, ask them to babysit once and a while so you and your spouse can have a night off. Chances are they'll jump at an opportunity to watch the little one, and then the pair of you can spend some quality time together or hang out with friends so your social skills don't get too rusty.

While other moms might be able to relate, your childless friends will probably have a tough time chatting with you if your side of the conversation consists solely of topics like the latest "Dora the Explorer" episode and the baby food flavor du jour. To get around this, try listening to news radio, popular audio books or interesting podcasts while you're doing chores or driving. That'll give you some conversational ammo the next time you hang out with friends.

If you get the urge to spit on your palm and help someone out with a smudge on his or her face, take a deep breath and lower your hand. Adults do not generally appreciate spit baths from other grown-ups. Just let them know it's there so they can take care of it.

It's likely your childless friends don't want to listen to an endless tirade of "baby this" and "baby that," but that hardly means they don't ever want to see the baby or hear a couple of cute stories. So get some quality grown-up time and catch up on what they've been up to while your newborn is napping, then you can share all your updates once the little one wakes up happy and refreshed.

Everyone knows it typically takes time to lose pregnancy weight, so don't be embarrassed by it. If you're worried people won't make the connection, find a gym that has a great daycare facility so the little one can come along. Then everyone will know it's baby weight you're looking to lose, and you can take classes to befriend fellow gym patrons and score some grown-up gossip time. Plus, lots of gyms also offer special postpartum exercise classes -- another great way to meet new moms.