There are so many things you learn about yourself and life in general when becoming a parent. Just when you thought you read all the books, asked all your friends who had kids for advice, bought everything you need, you still are not quite prepared for the joys & challenges that await you once the baby is born.
A few things I learned right away when we became parents.
- Wow, the love. It is so deep there truly are no any words to describe it. Its incredible!!!
- Sleepless nights. This is common knowledge, but as a first time Mom it was a shock to the system. Nobody every tells you that you are feeding every 1-2 hours every single day all day for the first few months.
- Breastfeeding is hard and you never really hear about peoples challenges until you actually face them yourself. I know so many people who have babies and nobody every told me how hard it was.
- Trust your instincts. Accept advice from others if you seek it and in the end do whatever feels right, because you know your baby best.
- Be prepared to lose some friends. Especially those who do not have kids and do not want any. In addition some mothers completely change once they have kids and they are not the person you once knew. It is sad, but unfortunately thats part of life. Not to worry though as in the new life as a parent you will make new parent friends.
- Do not compare your baby to other babies. Every baby is different, learns different things at different times. Especially girls learn a lot faster than boys with many things so I would not worry. The health advisors review this during the 12 month check and will give their respective advice & suggestions.
- The dynamic of your marriage or partnership will change and you need to make sure you take time to focus on your relationship. After your baby is there thanks to the love you shared for each other. Therefore take time to go on dates.
- Stay in your lane when it comes to giving baby & mom advice. Only give it when asked.
- Baby Milestones. Attending baby & mom classes are extremely important for the Babies development. I initially thought I would attend one a week, but actually there are so many options available and it is recommended to go to a different class every single day to make sure they are developing according to the recommended milestones. These classes are there for a reason and it is definitely better for them than staying at home all day, unless you are a qualified childminder.
- Baby & mom activity classes helps them develop faster as babies learn from seeing other babies do something. It also makes them more outgoing as they are around people & babies.
- Baby & mom classes is excellent for new parents to meet other parents with babies at the same/similar age. Especially for new mothers it is important to have a support group, whether it is to discuss and obtain advice on certain topics, but also extremely important for your own sanity.
Again this is subjective blog and the last 3 comments might not be possible if you are a busy family, always on the go and/or constantly traveling. If that is the case and it applies to you there are so many other ways to make sure you keep up with the babies development while traveling which we will cover in a separate blog.
All in all our goal with this was to give a brief overview of the messy truth and things people do not normally tell you when you are an excepting mom.
xo
Marisa
