This weekend I attended a friends baby shower.
As part of the usual games we were each given a little card to write on, sharing our advice for the mum to be.
It got me thinking.....
What do you wish someone had told you before you became a mama?
1. You will never sleep soundly again. But don't worry there is nothing a good cup of coffee can't fix and your body will eventually adjust to this new frame of being, allowing 20 minutes of uninterrupted sleep to feel like hours!
2. Accept that you can not control everything. Let go, give in, adapt. Your child will at some stage spew over you when you have just showered and changed, burp loudly when all is quiet in church, have a tantrum in a shopping centre and sleep when you need them awake and be awake when you need them to sleep. But they will also smile when you are down, call your name when you least expect it and giggle at the strangest things!
3. You are both learners. Do what is best for you and your baby. Nobody, regardless of what they believe is the "PERFECT" mother. Listen to all the advice given, and yes there will be plenty, but take only what you need. You and your baby are learning together, it takes time, 4 years on I am still learning every day!
Really I could write forever, you learn so much in those first few years of motherhood! But ultimately at the end of 9 months of impatiently waiting for your baby to arrive, you just want to know what your story will be. You don't want to hear about the lack of sleep, or the spew, or the tantrums. You just want to meet YOUR baby. You want to count the toes that have been kicking you and stare into those eyes searching for whether they take after you or him. So my best piece of advice is savour every moment, breathe in that milky baby smell, cuddle that soft skin. Your life is about to change as you know it. Your heart will grow like you could have never dreamed possible. This is the moment you have been waiting for, take it in and enjoy the miraculous ride!
