Week 11: I said I would never….
As a young girl, then fiance, newlywed and finally pregnant fairy, I had so many views and opinions on babies and being a mom… Things that I had read, advice I had been given and opinions shared with me but I also had absolutely no idea about it all. Something I knew I would learn in time and most importantly when baby arrived…
As a young girl, then fiance, newlywed and finally pregnant fairy, I had so many views and opinions on babies and being a mom… Things that I had read, advice I had been given and opinions shared with me but I also had absolutely no idea about it all. Something I knew I would learn in time and most importantly when baby arrived…
This is a list of things, I always said I would never do…
Survive the first 6 weeks. Everyone tells you how hard it is. The sleepless nights, the hurdles of learning new things and getting to know each other and the nightmares of colic and reflux. We were blessed with an angel baby and I have an incredible husband that did the midnight feed and bath time every night for the first 6 weeks. Needless to say, I thought the first 6 weeks were truly amazing. I know this may not be the case with the second baby.
Allow my child to suck his/her thumb. SJ had a dummy for 2 whole months and she replaced her dummy with her thumb. I always thought this was a bad habit and bad for her teeth. But she has shown all the signs that dummy sucking is only for bedtime and only until she falls asleep so I am confident it will be easy enough to break this habit.
Express milk. I have to admit, I was never a fan of having to express milk into a little bottle after each feed. I didn’t want to feel like a cow with a machine attached to me. But I soon learnt that breast milk was important and that breastfeeding wasn’t always possible. It was also awesome for MC to do a night time feed with an expressed bottle (or a babysitter).
Breastfeed in public. Again, I wasn’t so happy with the idea of whipping out my breast in public and having to juggle a baby’s lips to latch properly, all in the view of complete strangers. Admittedly, I didn’t do this often but breastfeeding in public (in the beginning) wasn’t too bad or too difficult. I will definitely do more of this with our next baby.
Not sterilise. I was adamant that I would be the most hygienic mom ever. I would clean and rinse and sterlise all baby items. All. The. Time. That was until SJ decided to put everything off the floor into her mouth. And that was that. Time to build up her immune system with little bugs, leaves, sand and food that dropped on to the floor.
Lose my patience. I have yet to meet a mom who admits to ever expecting to lose their patience with their own child but as they grow and learn, they test the boundaries and can be difficult. This is so normal and I have not ever felt guilty for losing my patience, but I have learnt how to distract SJ and how to handle these situations better.
Allow my child to watch TV. I heard the constant moans about how bad TV is for children and what type of parent just dumped their child in front of the TV each day? I still agree that the big box isn’t a good source of entertainment for children but some programmes are educational and it is a good way allow young toddlers to sit still and calm down for a while. It does no harm if it is a rare occasion and it isn’t for long.
Allow my child to watch Teletubbies. Those silly colourful “things” were never my idea of fun until I noticed how they helped SJ to talk. She absolutely loves the Teletubbies now and as silly as they look to parents, they are wonderful for kids – full of colours, sounds and great repetition of single words. SJ now says hello, bye bye, no, baba, up and a few more words – all learnt from her Teletubbie friends.
Not get back to baby weight. I always had a feeling that I would gain quite a bit of weight during my pregnancy but I wasn’t expecting a whopping 22kgs!! And I thought that I would lose it quickly and that within 9 months, I would be back to my pre-pregnancy weight. How wrong I was! I am proud of how far I have come but still slightly disappointed that I couldn’t achieve my goal. I have no accepted that it is an on-going struggle and I am trying to be strong… One day!
What did you say you would never do?
x
Great post hun! I can relate to a lot of points, especially the sterilization haha. I was so "on the ball" at the beginning of Nolan's life. By the second child….ya hahaha!
Great post!! We are in the same boat with wanting our bodies to look the same as pre-pregnancy…it takes time. I've had four and my youngest is 17 months..I am still working on it. Keep it up…it will pay off!
My dear beautiful friend,
You are a perfect mama as is! As much as SJ should have come with an instruction manuel (can you request one with the next baby??!), every photo you ever post of her she's smiling and happy and so full of love. This is because of the example she's getting from you, hubs, and the people that you choose to surround her with. Be proud of who you are, how you've adapted and grown from these "I would never's" and know that you're doing an AMAZING job!!
Love you!!
xx
Yeah I swore I would not sit my Kenzie in front of the tv. But I have learnt that sometimes thats how I am able to get a few things done! 😛
Great post, I love learning about your pregnancy and it's good to know that some of the things I might have felt strongly about, are actually ok for little ones.