Well I promised you part II and here it is, more of the things I learnt in my first year of being a mum! (although I am sure I could do about 5 parts for this post haha)
When people say “sleep when the baby sleeps” seriously do it! you will be seriously tired, like you have never been tired before. No matter how many all nighters you have pulled whilst clubbing or staying up until ungodly hours on tumblr or whatever, nothing will prepare you for waking up every 3-4 hours to feed the baby. People say “oh yeah sleep when the baby sleeps, but I have so much cleaning and washing to do etc”. The cleaning and washing and dishes aren’t going anywhere, plus babies don’t wake up that much through the night forever, you will survive but just take the time to sleep when the baby sleeps, even if its just one nap a day. Snuggle your new bubba its the best feeling ever and trust me “sleep when the baby sleeps” only applies when you have 1 hahahahaha, as soon as you have another one that goes out the window so take advantage of it while you can!
Even if you are the least maternal person in the world you have a motherly instinct as soon as you connect with you baby, so use it! People think that a motherly instinct is a myth but I promise it isn’t. You will know what is best for your baby so just do it! You will learn your babies different cries, you will get gut instincts when you think they are unwell or unhappy or scared and you will know what to do to settle your baby. It all comes very naturally, it is ingrained in us.
Also going a long these lines… it’s YOUR baby, you make the decisions! Don’t let anyone else try and parent your baby, don’t let anyone else try and make decisions for your babies life. It’s YOUR baby, you will have your own way of parenting and parenting is like snowflakes, no two styles are the same. Not everyone is going to agree with your choices or parenting style and you know what? Fuck em. Lucky it’s not their kid hey?
You do whatever works for you mumma bear.
Before you have kids everyone has a million theories about parenting and an idea in their mind as what they are going to do and not do. A lot of the things you say you aren’t going to do when you become a parent, you will most likely do hahah (but it wont be that much of a big deal).
I said I would breastfeed and I ended up formula feeding because I just couldn’t do it!
I said my baby would always sleep in their own bed, more often than not she was in with us (she still wakes up and gets in with us now).
I said I would never give into my childs tantrums and bribe them to do things, bribery is the BOMB!
I thought my kid was only going to eat super healthy and organic good for you food, she gets sugar and cake sometimes because I am human.
Honestly the list goes on and on, as soon as you have your baby everything changes, nothing is the same anymore and you form new opinions on parenting, you do what works for you.
And you know what? My kids are both alive, happy and healthy, loved and love me back. None of these change of decisions on parenting have affected how I feel about myself. I am a great mother, doing things my way and my kids are perfect!
Now a few quick points:
- You are doing fantastic no matter how much you think you aren’t, it is a hard job and all so very new to you. Go easy on yourself.
- Take time for yourself! To be the best mother you can be you need to be the best YOU you can be. Even if it’s just having a long bath, going to the hair dresser, having a quiet cup of tea alone etc.
- You will never get tired of hearing people tell you how cute your baby is!
- If your baby is born with a lot of hair you are going to hear about it ALL DAY LONG! hahah (we had this with Layla)
- You will never truly be ready for their first poo explosion.
- You will never truly be ready for their first projective vomit.
- Whilst on the topic, you will get used to poo an vomit quickly! The smell and the cleaning aspect will not worry you anymore.
- As soon as they start eating regular food, you will never eat a full meal again.
- If you want to eat something without sharing it, you will most likely have to hide somewhere in the house away from your children.
- YOU ARE VERY VERY FERTILE AFTER YOU GIVE BIRTH!!!! this is a big one hahah (the story of how Hendrix came about.)
- Make time for you and your partner to be together without the baby, it is important to keep your relationship strong as you are now a team!
Most of all the first year of your babies life goes quicker than anything you could ever experience! If you thought that your pregnancy went quickly this is going to hit you like a tonne of bricks…
It’s scary because you beautiful little baby disappears before your eyes and it feels like only yesterday you were bringing them home from the hospital, but honestly watching your amazing little creature grow and learn and experience life is just completely breath taking!
They get crazy, get their own personality, get cheeky and learn new things everyday and it is the most amazing thing in the world. Savour every moment because it will go as quick as a flash and you will regret letting it slip through your fingers.
Be that mum that always has her camera out, be that mum bragging about their kids on facebook or Instagram and posting 100000 photos a day, be that mum that documents everything because it is so worth it! You will have all these memories to look back on and you will be glad you did it. Plus this little human is your whole world now, what else do you have to talk about hahah.
as always don’t forget to follow the instagrams
@elevenmonthsapart
@tattooed.mumma
Bon xo