Tuesday, September 27, 2016

15 Mom Secrets

When I asked people what being a parent is like before I had a baby I heard a lot of "It's the hardest thing ever but its the best thing ever!" and "You get no sleep, but it's worth it!" or something else along those vague lines. I did have several people who were very helpful and gave me some of what I call "secrets to parenting". They gave me the real deal of what it's actually like and what to prepare for. 

Here are just 15 things either I am glad someone told me / the things I wish someone told me about being a new mom. 

1. Night Sweats- if you wake up drenched in sweat, its okay, you are not dying. Its just your hormones. 

2. 10 diapers a day- yep at first you are changing lots of diapers. If you breastfeed its a lot of poop at first. The diaper changes amount does slow down but I was shocked at first. Also with boys just surrender that you will get pee on you. It is sterile. I got this wipeable changing pad cover. Time saver! Also I am glad someone told me about target up and up brand diapers. Cheap, just like pampers and fit (at least my baby) super well. We seemed to always have explosions with Huggies...guess they didn't hug him right. hehe

3. Rock'n Play- We were struggling getting our little guy to sleep anywhere other than our arms the first month. Our friends let us borrow their Rock'n Play and we all started sleeping. We used it for 3 months than transitioned him to the crib. I had no idea about these things but then I went to a new moms group- all the moms seemed to know about it and rave about it. 

4. Books- So I tried a couple books but I really didn't understand them or like them for the first 4 months. Also many of them seem to just say for the first 4 months just survive. I just got The Happy Sleeper and I wish I started this before baby or when he was a newbie. Its simple to understand and has suggestions to do in the first 4 month window as well to develop good sleep habits. I have not finished the book but so far it just makes sense to me. This was another thing that most moms are like oh yeah that book is great when I ask them about it- but they didn't tell me about it before baby.

5. Breastfeeding- I already decided I will have a whole post about breastfeeding because it has been the most surprising aspect of being a new mom to me. So I will save it till then. Just know that secretly its super hard and there are a lot of things they don't tell you about it. 

6. Newborns have days and nights confused (most of the time)- yep. Its rough. We felt like the day seemed pretty good, then the night came and we felt like he turned on us and was now a terrorist trying to destroy us. 


7. Hunger- after labor and delivery. So much hunger.  I delivered at 2am then breakfast wasn't served till 6am. As if labor wasn't hard enough.  I brought snacks but I (and my husband) went through them all really quickly. So next time I am in labor I am gonna get a dozen bagels and pack it in my go bag. 


8. Go bag- I brought wayyyy too many things in in my go bag. Mostly way to many clothes. If I was to do it again

Bring: 
Yoga pants, stretchy shorts, nursing tank, t-shirt, sweater, slippers, nursing pillow (I used it mostly for me to sleep on- they had a pillow shortage at the hospital that day), blanket (also they had a blanket shortage too), small portable fan, toiletries, dozen bagels and other snacks

Don't bring:
Water bottle (they give you plenty), underwear (the mesh underwear really is great they give you), lots of other clothes, socks (they give you socks- unless you really like your fuzzy socks) 

9. Get a pedicure before labor- you feel nasty and gross during labor so its nice to look down at your feet and feel somewhat pretty. 


(Funny short story: I got a pedicure and at the end of my pregnancy my feet got super swollen and the lady who was doing my pedicure kept saying in her broken english "your feet so big!" over and over and pressing her finger into my basically tempurpedic feet.....She didn't get much of a tip.) 

This is a real picture of my feet. Those lines. From my scrappy sandals that I had someone else fasten for me because I couldn't reach. 

The glamour of pregnancy 

10. Take everything from the hospital- I am glad someone told me to do this. I took extra mesh undies, pads, socks, ice packs, baby diapers, vaseline tubes, wipes, baby t-shirts, pacifiers, nose suction thingy, nipple cream, nipple shield... I regret not taking the water jug they had for me. It mysteriously left my room somehow though. 

11. Video Monitor- You don't need to interrupt your babies sleep and you can still check on them! My brother and sister-in-law engrained in my mind the NEED for this and I fully agree now. I got this one baby monitor, it was the cheapest, highest rated video monitor I could find. I wish that I could turn off the video and just have sound sometimes but other than that it works great. 

12. Car seats/strollers- okay so I never really used one before so how was I supposed to know what I wanted?! So difficult to decide especially when there are a million ones to choose from and it's not just about color! A mommy friend told me she just went to the store and tried them out. So that is what we did and just found the lightest, easiest, most affordable one. 

13. Bouncers and exersaucers- I like to be practical with the things I purchase. These things baby will only use for a short time, so it seemed impractical to buy one or register for one so I didn't get one. But then some friends let us borrow theirs and its amazing!  But yeah its annoying they only last for a short time but it is worth it for just a couple minutes to be able to shower, make dinner, fold laundry! Because these things can only be used for a short time I recommend looking for them used or borrowing them from friends. 

14. If at first you don't succeed, try again- Baby J did not seem to like the baby carrier, pacifier, swaddle, bath time, or swing when we first tried them. I kept trying and trying and trying, and now he loves them all...sometimes. 

15. Exercise ball- great for pregnancy exercises and just a comfier place to sit when everything is uncomfortable when you are pregnant. It was my favorite place to labor before I got an epidural and great for bouncing a fussy baby. 





1 comment:

  1. Yasssss to these tips! The Rock n' Play is our fave. I'm hoping Baby #2 likes it as much as Theo did. And taking it all from the hospital - I share that with every new mom I can. Take it all. And ask for more. Those ice packs though! Breastfeeding - I wanted to punch all those "experts" who said that breastfeeding is the most "beautiful, wonderful experience." It's hard, it take a while to get used to, it hurts, but in the end, it was worth it for me. My fave advice is still that everything only lasts for a season. It might be a long season of sleepless nights, but it will pass.

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