I was introduced to motherhood in a very round-about way. First, with the adoption (and he was 7–so the learning-curve was different than babies), then my baby came home (both of them) from the NICU, where they’d been the ones in charge and I’d just been in the passenger seat. I was so scared. So worried I’d “do something wrong”. Man, I really, really, really needed a tutorial (ahem, a blog post from someone would have done) so I knew these 5 Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Brought Home Baby. Seriously. I was tragically misinformed. Heh.
5 Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Brought Home Baby
- She’s Not THAT Fragile. It was like 4 months in when I went to visit my friend Jamie…and she picked my baby up, flipped her around and cuddled her back-to-front with her legs dangling. And I froze. “You can hold a baby like that?!” I asked…Jamie laughed at me. Yep. Apparently, you don’t have to handle them like they’re made of glass…they won’t fall apart.
- You Can Hold Baby As Much As You Want. This was a big problem for me. I genuinely thought I had to nap when she napped and put her down for a few mintues to do chores–that I could only hold her for a few minutes every hour or so. I’d been told that if I held her too much she’d get sore or spoiled (which I know is silly now). And, while baby was in NICU, no touching except every 4 hours was the rule…so I just thought I had to go with that. Made my cuddles more precious–but also bittersweet. I know better now…I could have carried those babies EVERYWHERE and done ANYTHING. LOL!
- You Can Change Diapers As Often as You Want. Ok, so in the NICU, they only changed diapers every 4 hours. Basically, the baby could only be TOUCHED every 4 hours. It was miserable. That meant that if baby was hungry an hour after eating–nope. If baby had a poop 2 hours in–nope. I thought I had to do the same at home…I was an idiot. You can put a new Huggies on them anytime you want. Seriously. Even if they’re not wet or dirty. Heh.
- You Don’t Have to Bathe Them Every Day. Right. Because in the NICU, they did that. Like EVERY day. So baby had dry skin and just was miserable when we’d bathe her. After I moved to a 2 times a week bath? So. Much. Better.
- No One Is Going to Take Them Away. This was a huge thing for me. I don’t know if other moms are this insecure, but I think it came from not having the control following their birth…I seriously felt like someone was going to say: “You’re not responsible enough, so we’re picking the baby up this afternoon.” Like for reals, I had nightmares and would spend days worried. I think it was party postpartum depression (and anxiety), but I also just didn’t feel prepared. Either time.
The other little thing I wish I’d known? These 5 crazy baby hacks, for one, but seriously, I think I’d like to have known about how diapers are not created equal…or maybe it’s babies’ butts that aren’t all the same. For reals, I found that Huggies fit our bottoms best–making every hug as good as the first…
We pick up our Huggies in a month’s supply at Sam’s Club. Pretty much seals the deal that I can save so much money on something we HAVE to have. LOL!
Even better? You can buy any two packages of Little Snugglers diapers and/or Natural Care wipes between 5/9/16-6/30/16, snap a photo of your receipt and email/text it to Huggies@uploadreceipt.com by 7/15/16 and they’ll send you a code and instructions within minutes for a $10 Sam’s Club e-gift card! And, you’ll also get $3 in instant savings off Huggies Diapers at Sam’s Club from 5/11-6/4. Nice, huh?
Did you have anything you wished you knew before baby came home? Leave me a comment below or hit me up on Facebook! I’d love to hear if anyone else was as clueless as I felt! LOL!
