I have fallen deeply in love twice in my life. Once was 5 1/2 years ago with my husband. The second time was almost 5 months ago when I gave birth to my beautiful son Cooper.
As a first time mom myself, I realized and am realizing there are things people can tell you, but you will never understand until it happens. Your own mom can tell you how much she loves you, but you will never understand until you have your own child.
I can't tell you that your experience will be exactly the same. I can tell you what mine has been. The first time I heard and saw my son was the most amazing moment of my life. It surpassed, but didn't take away, the moment I found out I was pregnant, the first ultrasound, and the first kick. And holding him, kissing him, wow. I won't go on and on about that because like I said, you won't understand until it happens to you.
My water broke at 7 am, Cooper was born at 9:15 pm and I was awake all night staring at him most of the time. I was on a high. I will never forget our first night together. He slept, I didn't.
The first couple of months of Cooper's life were tough for me. As most of you know, I suffered from Post-Partum depression pretty severely. You also know that newborn babies eat frequently. It seemed like by the time I got to sleep, he was crying in hunger again. It was hard and exhausting. The best advice you will hear a million times truly is "Sleep when baby sleeps". Yes, there is laundry and dishes and the dog needs to be let out. But if you don't rest when you have a newborn, you will go bonkers. Also, cherish those 2 am feedings because it's special time that we don't get back.
This might sound confusing because of what I just said, but I would not go back to those every 2 hour feedings. I do some days miss my 8lb. newborn. But now, I have a kicking, rolling, laughing, cooing almost 5 month old who loves his rice cereal and applesauce.
Today I was feeling stressed and a little sad about going back to work part-time. So I took my baby boy and his bottle and laid in bed with him. After he ate, he started to drift off to sleep. I stroked his face and his eyes closed and he grinned. He fell asleep in my arms and then I proceeded to fall into a nap myself.
Just a few of the many things I could share...
- Kiss him/her often.
- Hold them while they sleep and close your eyes yourself.
- Keep a journal or blog about your days as a new mother.
- Write your little one letters and put them in his/her baby book to read later.
- Tell him/her you love them often.
- Show them you love them.
- Take a million pictures. And post as many as you want online.
- Get prints because in this digital age, our computers and phones can lose things.
- Don't feel bad for needing a mommy break. There is something great about a long shower.
- Make time for your partner. Being parents changes everything.
- Do what YOU think is right, YOU are his/her mother.
- Take others advice (especially unsolicited advice) lightly.
Sincerely,
A new mom just like you
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