1. Making sure baby was warm enough on leaving the Maternity Ward
2. Worrying that the car seat was fitted properly
3. Working out how to get downstairs to answer the door with a newborn baby in tow
4. Hiding baby blues
5. Learning to change a nappy and to deal with poos of varying colours and consistency
6. Working out what different cries meant
7. Learning that sometimes eating has to wait whilst you deal with baby
8. Working out how to achieve simple things like a bath whilst looking after baby
9. Worrying that bringing back milk a little bit equated to projectile vomiting
10. Analysing whether it was a good or bad idea to go for the MMR jab
11. Frantic concern about whether I was sterilising things properly
12. Stressing about the right position for baby in the cot
13. Worrying when baby kicked off bedding in the night
14. Jumping up everytime baby snuffled
15. Constant checking for breathing when baby sleeping
16. Working out the "right" balance of work and childrearing for me
17. Thinking I was missing out when my Mum and Dad looked after baby so much better
18. Learning the hard way that if you leave a baby on a bed, it may well roll off
19. Learning the hard way that radiators are a danger to babies
20. Finding good childcare
21. Working out how to pay for said childcare
22. Worrying whether baby was meeting milestones such as walking, hopping, talking
23. Worrying about what to tell baby about his half-siblings
24. Never quite learning how to put up a pram/pushchair
25. Never quite being confident when bathing baby
26. Being upset when babysitter got first artistic effort from toddler
27. Coping with teething and then stressing when baby lost part of a tooth
28. Managing somehow to work throughout this period of being a new mum
29. Forgetting to get baby baptised
30. Knowing that loving baby is the easiest part of motherhood
Yesterday, a mum to a new baby reminded me via her blog what miracles mothers work and what an important role they play in a new person's life. It made me think about my first year of being a Mum and how I coped or didn't.
I look forward to having comments and learning about other mums' experiences of year one.
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God, the first year with the first baby was hard. The first year with the second baby was also hard, but after 18 months of sleep deprivation I did the controlled crying thing. It works.
ReplyDeleteBut not well enough to want to do it all again!
It gets easier, you never think it will, but it does.
R
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Having a baby came easy to me. I brought him into the world alone and raised him for the 1st yr alone.
ReplyDeleteKnowing that your soley responsible and have unconditional love out weighed any thing.
I just really hope i can have more.
In return to no 7 did you not learn how to eat one handed while jiggling said baby on lap or bouncing bouncer chair with foot!
ReplyDeleteI reckon the work doubles with each child so that having three is four times as hard as having one.
ReplyDeleteNot strong enough to leave my baby to cry ever. Not saying it is right or wrong just that it is not for me.
I admire all single parents. I guess if you have been around babies before it is that bit easier but I had absolutely no experience of younger siblings, cousins or whatever.
Also whether you have a job or not makes a difference too.
Yes, I did learn the tricks of the trade in time but still remember how baby woke up the instant I started eating my fish and chips on return from the hospital and at that moment, I realised life was going to change a whole lot.
I do some bits of motherhood well and others less so. I think that probably applies to all mums.
I love 29, we were offered an emergency baptism as Joseph was born at 27 weeks, but I felt like I was saying "I'm doing this because I seriously think my baby might die" so I declined.
ReplyDeleteHe's 20 months now and we still can't agree on how where and when to do it, so I wished I'd just had it done on the unit! Wouldn't have had to have a party afterwards or anything or organise anything at all really!
Mine would be learning why sleep deprivation is such an effective method of torture, and also that I will NEVER trust anyone completely to look after my child - not even my partner: her dad LOL
ReplyDelete@missielizzie ..... I'm the same with my partner lol!!
ReplyDeleteI must admit that the lack of sleep was probably the easiest bit for me...as a research student, we had experiments that ran all night and the best/worst run (depending on how you look at it) was a grand total of 13 hours of sleep over 5 days...in comparison a new baby was easy ;)
ReplyDeleteThat was all those years ago though...these days I do really like my sleep :)
Am tired just reading the list and we did it with twins. It is all a blur, the photos help to show me what I couldn't see at the time :)
ReplyDeleteI remember the first baby, or the 'crash test' dummy as my Mother so eloquently puts it.
I don't think number two is anywhere near as traumatic as the first one? After all, you are already broke with a wrecked house, sleep deprived, feigning a likeness for pureed gunk, why not prolong it a bit. :)
I certainly wasn't so precious with numbers 3 & 4. Twenty years ago, if number one was sick I was there with a complete change of clothes and a flannel with pure baby soap.
Forward to trying to feed two at once, if one threw up whilst I was seeing to either end of the other one I laughed. It may have been hysterical, my Husband could probably remember!
We are at nearly 10 months now, and if I'm honest I have found it a huge shock. Don't get me wrong, I adore our baby boy, he makes me so happy, and I love being his mummy BUT... the amount of stress, and tiredness, and constant planning and organisation, and skintness, and lack of personal space, and random worrying has made this year exhausting and wonderful in equal measure.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure if I would say I coped exactly, more that I muddled through and thankfully we are all still here! But I would kill for a long lie down in a dark silent room most days!
It flies by so quickly and our blogs are a perfect way of capturing those moments forever. Thanks for contributing to the Maternity Matters Meme xxx
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