New mom wisdom

I know, I know. There are too many baby "experts" in the world, and a lot of baby wisdom turns out to be common sense or hogwash. Do people my age say hogwash? But I digress. I have learned a few things in the past few months, and I think moms are the real experts. Each mom is an expert on her baby/babies.

So, here are five things I never knew or wish someone would have told me before I became a mom.

1. All the well meaning people say to sleep while the baby sleeps. Sometimes that is impossible. While hyped up on postpartum hormones/new baby euphoria, I couldn't sleep. And, trust me, I wanted to with all my being. My mom and Husband had the baby completely cared for while she slept peacefully, and I just couldn't sleep. I was expecting to be exhausted because I had to be up at all hours of the night taking care of the baby, but I didn't expect to not physically be able to sleep when she was asleep.

2. Little girls pee while their diapers are off, too. And it goes everywhere. Like, up her back and sometimes even into her hair. There have been a few "emergency" baths because of this phenomenon.

3. Expectations are sometimes much more stressful than reality. I have gotten worked up about almost every big milestone that involves leaving home: her first road trip, shots, plane ride, etc. And she has been wonderful for every big event. She takes things in stride that I spend weeks planning for and imagining the worst case scenarios. And if any of those worst case scenarios were to come to pass, we would still survive.

4. A baby requires going with the flow. Or, as Husband put it, you can't manipulate a baby. She wants to do things in her own time, and we are on her schedule. Life is much smoother that way for now. When she needs to eat/sleep/bathe/be diapered, that is what we need to be doing. Being on time places is an overweening western notion anyway, right?

5. I have a love/hate relationship with how much she needs me. I love that some of her first smiles were directed at me and that sometimes the only way she will calm down is with her head resting on my shoulder. But, at the end of a long day or week, I just want someone else to stand in for me. And no one else is her momma, so sometimes I'm the only one who can make her world right. How awesome/exhausting is that!

Some of this may seem obvious or be common knowledge, but the extremes of the newborn stage were news to me. Hopefully this will help some new momma-to-be or at least be a testament of solidarity with other moms in the same phase of life. Have a blessed day!

Bonus: Showers are wonderful for so many reasons. The hot water feels good after having a baby, being clean makes you feel like yourself, and, as I told my mom, no one can hand you a crying baby while you're in the shower. :)