Being new to parenting is a whole new world full of adventures and things you had no idea about. No matter how much reading and research you do, motherhood will always surprise you. We’re here to let you in on the stuff nobody tells you about when you become a first-time mum.
- Being pregnant feels surprisingly freeing. Sure, you’ll feel sick and permanently exhausted but there’s definitely something liberating about feeling and watching your body change each week. It’s the same feeling you get when you get a drastic new hair cut or reinvent your entire wardrobe, but for a whole nine months.
- You’ll start spending time with a whole new squad of ‘mum friends’ even though you said to yourself that you’d never use the term ‘mum friends’.
- You might find that complete strangers are kind to you – they offer you seats, open doors and even at the most ask you how you’re feeling. Enjoy this time. Because those same people will be giving you serious side-eye in a few months when you’re wrestling a screaming baby.
- You won’t want to spend a lot of money on yourself because you’ll know every penny spent on yourself is a penny you could’ve spent on your family.
- You’ll probably come across one of your child’s dolls randomly in the middle of the night and it will shake you to the core.
- You’ll do things you swore you’d never do. ‘Those airy-fairy baby massage classes aren’t for me’ you’ll say. Then you’ll end up at one of those airy-fairy baby massage classes. Most likely because there’s nothing else to do and the nice lady who runs it might give you a free hot cup of tea. ‘You’ll never see me at one of those happy-clappy sing-song classes’ you’ll say. Then you will end up going to one of those classes, and who knows, you might even enjoy it. Who knew baby shark would be so addictive to sing?
- Hair bands will never leave your side. If you’re not using one to control your messy ‘mum bun’, then you’ll have it around your wrist reminding you which side you need to breastfeed from next.
- Baby fancy dress is the most amusing, fun thing in the world.
- Your primal instinct to protect your baby from all badness will be surprising to you at first.
- You will eat 95% of your meals either incredibly fast or with one hand. Or both. There will be no time for a three course meal when your baby is crying to be fed.
- You’ll become obsessed and attached to your nursing bra. Say goodbye to those underwires, expensive silk, matching sets and any bra that ever made you feel confident and excited. It’s now about comfort, not style.
- Timing is everything. From the moment you bring your bundle of joy home, you’re a slave to the schedule.
- Breastfeeding might not go as smoothly as you imagined. You might find it extremely painful. Your baby might have trouble latching or your supply might be low. Even if everything goes smoothly, early on, when you are your child’s sole source of nourishment and they’re eating every couple hours, nursing (or pumping)/ preparing bottles is pretty much all you’ll be doing.
- You will be completely biased about the beauty of your baby.
- Going to the bathroom in peace will become a thing of the past.
- If you’re lucky enough to have your own mother around, you’ll use that luxury at every chance you get. Allowing her to clean your house, do your washing and even feed you while you feed your baby.
- You’ll get overly anxious that you’re being “too mum” around your friends without children.
- You’ll get overly anxious that you’re not being ‘mum enough’ around your friends with children.
- You will develop an unhealthy attachment to your phone or any electronic device as it’s one of the only things you can do one handed that doesn’t take up too much effort.
- Folding little human clothes is torture. No matter how tiny the clothes are, they all need to be sorted, washed and folded several times a day.
At an unpredictable time, maybe in two months, maybe in six months or even maybe in a year or two, all this new, terrifying, crazy stuff will become your new normal. And then your kid will do something hilarious and you’ll look back and think, wow, look what we created.
Do you have anything you wish you had known about motherhood? Share with us in the comments!
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