Being a new parent is probably one of the hardest things I've done in my short life. Don't get me wrong...it's wonderful...but hard! There is so much change in a short period of time. There is so much to learn in a short period of time. To be honest, there is nothing anyone can tell you when your pregnant that will really prepare you for those first couple weeks at home with baby. I thought I was going to be able to handle it well! How wrong I was! If I could tell myself 5 things I learned real quick during the first couple weeks as a parent here is what I'd say...
1. Get as much sleep as possible now.
It's hard to get sleep in the last trimester of pregnancy but it's even harder to get sleep once baby is here! You will be up every couple hours feeding the baby or just trying to soothe baby back to sleep. Eventually you will forget what it was like to sleep past 5 am and what it was like to not fall asleep while watching TV at night.
2. Do my research on breastfeeding.
I was totally unprepared for breastfeeding. I thought that it would be sooo easy because its a natural thing. BOY was i WRONG! It was sooo not easy! While Hunter did latch on quickly....it was difficult for me to get him in a good position for both of us...and he sucked sooo hard! My nipples looked like a war zone. I ended up stopping breastfeeding after 1 week and started pumping. I wish I had kept with it and tried harder...maybe doing more research would have helped me be better prepared.
3. You think you are worried now...just wait!
I'm a worry wart...i've been my whole life. I made a conscious decision when I found out I was pregnant to not worry and stress about being pregnant. I did a pretty good job of it and because of it I believe I had a good pregnancy. But that ALL changed once baby got here! It's like all the worrying I didn't do was bottled up and exploded once I had that baby! I was worried all the time the first couple of weeks!
4. Give your baby a paci!
Well this is my personal experience...but when I was doing my breastfeeding class I remember the lactation consultant saying that you can't give your baby a pacifier until after 2 weeks because it will cause nipple confusion. Well I absolutely wanted to follow that because that's what she said. I remember going to the pediatrician 3 days after Hunter was born and he was screaming and I was complaining about how my nipples hurt and i've been bleeding...she said "Why doesn't he have a pacifier? Babies like to suck...its calming for them". I told her what the lactation consultant said and she said it was fine and it wasn't going to mess with him. So I gave him the paci. Looking back I think that my breastfeeding experience would have been better if I had given him a paci since birth. Maybe my nipples would have felt a little better. lol
5. You cry at the drop of a hat but that's normal!
Hormones are crazy after birth. I was an emotional wreck after baby was here and would cry all the time. It didn't matter what it was...I would cry. My husband would look at me and I would cry. I remember sitting with Hunter while he was sleeping on me and I was telling him how much I loved him and sobbed through it all. LOL
