I turned 29 this year. And shortly before my 29th birthday I gave birth to my third son. As I look at the way that I care for my 3rd son I think about the things I did differently with DS #1 and #2, and the things I have learned over the years and wish I would have known from the beginning. So in an effort to help any new momma's or soon to be momma's here we go.
- Don't be afraid to speak up. At the doctors office, in the hospital, when you come home. There are so many great FREE resources. Your doctors and nurses are there to help you and no question is a stupid question.
- A pacifier can be a mommy's best friend. When I had my first son 5 1/2 years ago all the books said if you plan on Breastfeeding you should not give your baby a pacifier. About a week after we came home Brayden wanted to nurse all the time. He would nurse just to suck, so we tried to give a pacifier (5 different kinds actually) and he just wasn't having it. Caleb got a Pacifier shortly after we got home (about 4 days old) and Colton was given a pacifier after 48hours. If you are nursing establish a good latch and then don't be afraid to offer up the Paci!!
-Its ok for a baby to cry. No babies don't need to cry to strengthen their lungs, but sometimes they need to cry to give momma a few minutes to pull herself together. When my first baby would cry I came running. I carried him around the house, I would get out of the shower, I would go absolutely insane trying to attend to him immediately and sometimes I don't know how I did it. If it gets to be too much I now know that I can lay Colton down in a safe place (ie his crib) and take a shower to get just a few minutes of mommy time to bring myself back to sanity.
- It is worth it to breastfeed as long as you can. With Brayden and Caleb, I returned to work after just 8 weeks and more or less gave-up on nursing all together. Had I known that their were support groups out there and laws to protect nursing mom's I think I could have really nursed for much longer and my babies could have benefited from it.
- Cloth diapers aren't the cloth diapers that our parents used and they are super simple to use! I wish I would have known that cloth was an option with my first two children. I could have saved loads of money, and I could have saved lots of red bums on my little ones!
- A blow dryer (or vacuum) can be a life saver. I actually figured this one out by mistake with Caleb. The sound of a blow dryer or vacuum can calm even the crankiest of babies. The white noise has to be louder than the cry or it won't work and there will be times that it doesn't work, but I can say that 95% of the time it works every time!
-Just because your baby is born via C-Section doesn't mean that it should be any less special for you or that anyone should make you feel inferior for not having a vaginal birth. I had an unexpected c-section with my first child and was not able to have a Vbac with #2 so #3 and any future children will all be c-sections. After my first c-section I was devastated. I felt like less of a mom because I had to have a c-section, because my body couldn't do what its is supposed to be a natural process. By the time I had my second I came to terms with just because I didn't deliver vaginally doesn't mean that I'm a bad mom or that I did anything wrong. As long as I had happy and healthy babies it didn't matter how they got to me.
I'm sure over the next few months and years that there will be 100 more things that I will realize I have learned over the years. I guess it is part of being a parent. If we all knew everything from the start what fun would there be! =-)
What have you learned that you wish you knew when you had your first child?
I have learned that all babies are different and even though as parents we like to brag about the things our kids do we also need to remember that they all learn at their own rate! Something no one told me and since my son did everything early I was worried when my daughter took longer to do things.
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