There were hundreds of stories and multiple pieces of advice given to me when I was pregnant. I read dozens of blogs and articles about childbirth and post-pregnancy. To say I didn't have an abundance of information on what to expect when I was expecting would be a false statement; and yet, there were still things that caught me off guard. After 6 weeks of taking care of my newborn, here are the most prominent unexpected surprises I have encountered:
The hospital bag
I packed pretty conservatively, and still I hardly used anything I brought. Next time I have a baby, I will be taking the following:
I packed pretty conservatively, and still I hardly used anything I brought. Next time I have a baby, I will be taking the following:
- Phone/charger
- An outfit for baby
- Toothbrush/toothpaste
- A few snacks for husband
- Carseat
Something I didn't bring that I wish I had and that I definitely will be taking next time around is a gift for the nurses. The nurses were absolutely amazing. I love nurses.
That's really it though. I mean, I spent 99.9% of the time in bed. I had no desire to even shower until I got home anyway, and the nurses were checking up on me and Oliver was nursing so often that it would have been pointless for me to wear anything other than the hospital gown. I heard arguments that people want to look nice for their visitors, but really, if my family and the few close friends that did visit me did care about my appearance, I would have told them to go have a baby and then look like a million bucks 2 hours later. For real guys, they'll understand.
The emotional roller coaster
This is something I knew was coming but oh. My. Goodness. It was so much more intense than I imagined. I felt like the worst mother in the world because leading up to having Oliver everyone was saying how the second you have the baby it all feels worth it, the sickness, the being fat, the heartburn. The second you see your little bundle of joy all the negativity disappears. You can imagine my disappointment when I got home and for a week was so sad and depressed. Wasn't I supposed to be overjoyed? Glowing? Feeling so blessed to have this amazing miracle in my life? Don't get me wrong, I loved him from the second I laid eyes on him but that first week was, well, hellish. It was hard emotionally and physically, which leads me to surprise #3.
The "life changer"
They say having a baby will change your life, and it did, but not in the way I expected it to. They say parenting is a full time job, but that is baloney. Parenting is 3 full time day jobs, plus the graveyard shift. Everyone goes on and on about how the lack of sleep is the worst part. Quite frankly for me, I can handle the lack of sleep. In the weeks before delivery I had to get up to use the bathroom like 5 times a night, and before that had 5 years of living in student housing with roommates; staying up and watching movies, you know how it is. I have been sleep deprived since high school. No, the biggest shocker for me was the time commitment. Of course I wasn't expecting to be able to get tons done, like clean my whole house in one day, but when I didn't even have 5 minutes to do things like my hair or put on mascara in the morning, that was a game changer. Just be prepared to not get anything done for the first few weeks except nurture and love your little baby.
The bodily fluids
It is amazing to me how much I don't get grossed out when my baby barfs on me, or when he has a particularly nasty diaper, or when he pees on me as I am changing his diaper. I mean having to change my shirt twice a day isn't super fun, but man it just doesn't bother me. Maybe it's because I made him so somehow it came from me? I don't know. But I'm grateful for it because otherwise I'd be disgusted with my own baby, well, all of the time. He spits up a lot.
The showing off
I love to show off my baby. When people call or text and ask if they can come see him but don't want to be a bother it makes me so happy, I tell them I'd love that! Maybe I'm biased, but man he is a cutie and I love when people ooh and aah over him :)
The love
The last thing that I wasn't expecting is how much love I have for this beautiful guy. I knew I would love him of course, but I didn't think it possible to love another human as much as I love my husband. This baby sure proved me wrong. I love them in different ways, but equally, and I am so happy to have my little family.
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