After spending a ravishing week with one of my bestest friends in the world, Veronica, I realized how much new-mom-mumbo-jumbo I have stored in my brain. It's the kind of info that no one typically warns you about, but would be MUCH appreciated if known BEFORE the baby is born. And so, this blog post is born. If you are a male reader, continue at your own discretion.
* Wearing Depends for the first couple of days after birth is easier/less hassle than trying to wash and rewash your favorite Victoria's Secret undies.
* Constipation may settle in after birth. And by constipation, I mean a-week-without-going. Your brain knows exactly what happened "down there" and might not want your body to do anything that reminds it of "pushing". Hint: eat a lot of fiber.
* I am not an emotional or overly sensitive woman. I did not think the Baby Blues would affect me. I was wrong. You may be wrong if you think this too. (More on this in a detailed post in the future)
* When your baby is nursing, the milk doesn't flow from one stream. You have about 5-10 streams in each nipple. Crazy, right?! They squirt in all directions and can cause blinding if not careful (just kidding about the last part).
* Nursing pads. When I would have let-down, I would leak. I thought leaking would occur for the first month or two of nursing. It didn't. It continued for the 13 months that I nursed my daughter. Leaking equals wearing nursing pads for 13 months. Not sexy and not fun.
* At the beginning of each nursing session a thirst will overtake you, as if you've just run a 5K in the Sahara. Always have a water bottle or husband nearby.
* For me, nursing felt like being stabbed with a knife for the first 6 weeks of my baby's life. I read a lot of advice, including, "Sleep without a bra on to allow nipples to be exposed to air and heal faster". I tried this. I woke up with milk soaked UFO circles on my sheets. Perfect circles. They were probably the size of basketballs. Two of them. This was a bad idea.
* We tried everything to get Eva to love a pacifier. She wanted to suck all the time and I wasn't able to be the "sucker" around the clock when nursing sessions were already taking at least 45 minutes every 2 hours. The remedy that finally worked: put the pacifier between your boobs (you, being the mom). Let it sit there for a few minutes and it will remind your baby of mama.
Have a Lovely Weekend.
22 hours ago
2 comments:
You should compile your blog someday, and write a book. Thanks to you, I'll have some super awesome tips to make my pregnancy/baby life easier. I bet you would help out a lot of girls :)
I'd like to add to the constipation section. My first midwife, Sarah, gave me an awesome tip. Put a warm washcloth over the part that your child just passed through (no big deal that 8 lbs just came out of there!) and apply gentle pressure as you push! Worked like a charm both times!:)
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