Ahh, a new baby! No, not for us! BUT a family member is having her first baby & I am sooo happy for her!
With her news I can’t help but reflect on my own feelings of my first arrival & all the advice people gave me. Of what helped or didn’t & what the biggest surprises were.
I don’t think telling people about the worst to come can ever really prepare a person for a child, so I don’t like to share unnecessary things that just scare a person.
I understand people’s intent sometimes to let you know the reality of raising kids but some stories are pointless. The thing that helped me prepare for raising a kid was helping to raise a kid when I was younger & even that is different when it’s your own kid throwing up on you versus someone else’s hahaha.
But if I could give a new mom some words from my experience, I would say;
1. Enjoy your pregnancy to the fullest!
Take pics, sleep, give in to your cravings sometimes. Don’t be afraid of labor;God MADE your body for this. Don’t worry if it doesn’t go to plan, just cherish your baby when they arrive.
2. You will be AMAZED at how much LOVE you can have for this little baby!
No one can tell you in words the utter & TOTAL love you will have for this baby & the more you bond…ahh, is amazing.
3. Know that it WILL change you & that’s ok, it should.
I don’t want to be the person I was before I had kids, not because I was a bad person but because of the things I’ve learned & grown in. Every experience we have shapes us into who we are, to be exactly who I was before kids would be as if I never had them. God has taught & showed me SO much through my children & i’m glad & grateful to have learned it.
4. It’s ok to feel WHATEVER you feel.
If you feel like crying, cry. After pregnancy, hormones are all over the place & you’re experiencing a flurry of new emotions & feelings. When my son would cry, it affected me physically. I couldn’t explain it but it just did. Yet the greatest gift my husband could give me was allowing me to just be me,
It’s also okay to feel sad. Most woman feel some sadness after having a baby for a VARIETY of reasons & all of those are normal to have. But if you can’t shake it & even begin to have dark thoughts find someone to talk to.
5. Go outside.There’s something about being in God made nature that calms us (& our babies too) & the change of scenery can really do a lot.
6. Time away. If you can find somebody to watch your baby while you get a breather, you can come back with fresh arms & a whole lot more patience for your little one. If you can’t get away just yet you feel like you’re going to lose it, put the baby in a safe place & walk away. We’ve ALL been there, i mean SHOOT, armies use baby crying to torture people to surrender so it shouldn’t surprise us that we don’t like it either.
Referring back to #5 grab your keys (so you don’t accidentally lock yourself out : P & step outside.
In some of my hardest times, I’ve laid the baby/babies in their cribs, went into the bathroom & turned on the fan just to get a minute away & recoup myself.
7. The days are long & the years are short. It won’t last forever, I know it feels impossible to fathom sometimes but it won’t. One day it will be your last with them. The last bottle, the last rocking to sleep, the last time you have to re swaddle them. All those things we love & hate about motherhood/raising kids will be gone one day.I say Pray. Pray for God to let you hold on to those sweet memories or to realize them as they happen. Pray for courage to stay, to be near & bond with them.
I could go on & on but I’ll stop right here & ask others what is the best thing they learned or would want others to know when a new baby comes around?
Family Day Out 