With just fifteen weeks to go until the arrival of baby number two, I have been thinking a lot about the arrival of number one just lately.
I was recently asked what were the things I wish I had known whilst pregnant that first time.
I could dwell on the fact that W’s birth was long, complicated, traumatic and still ultimately the best thing I have ever managed but is that going to help anyone? Nope. So…the stuff you really need to know and I wish that I had…
- …that when my first contractions started but I still felt ok enough to take the time to apply my make-up AND straighten my hair before leaving the house it was probably too soon to go to hospital.
- …that when I arrived for the fifth and final time at the labour ward make-up free, frizzy-haired, red-faced and sobbing wearing an old pair of surgery scrubs and UGG boots it was the right time to go to hospital…and I really wouldn’t give a hoot how I looked.
- …that A LOT of hospital-people were going to get to see my bits…and I was actually quite grateful for the bikini wax I had the week before.
- …that I really can survive on very little sleep.
- …that I was about to spend an inordinate amount of time thinking, and talking, about poo.
- …that it is apparently quite normal for a baby to go for days without poo-ing. This one would have been VERY good to know and would perhaps have spared me from a few grey hairs along with the next one. Really folks, if you take no other piece advice from me please heed the following…
- …that it is NEVER, I repeat NEVER, a good idea to randomly google your baby’s symptoms at 3am. The chances are they do not have Kawasaki disease.
- …that Calpol was about to become my new best friend.
- …that I would not get to finish a still-hot cup of tea for months.
- …that it is amazing how adept you can become at sourcing meals that can be eaten with one hand only.
- …that milk stains do eventually come out of most clothes.
- …that when they said you should start doing your pelvic floor exercises they were actually right.
- …that the e-mails from all those clubs you joined when pregnant stating that ‘this week your child will…’ were actually wrong.
- …that I really needn’t have bought ANY baby clothes. I was about to be given a houseful.
- …that a 7am wake-up was forever more to be deemed a ‘lie-in’.
- …that spontaneously leaving the house would actually now require at least ninety minutes of preparation, or one weeks notice.
- …that despite all of the above I wouldn’t change a thing and, finally…
- …that there is NOTHING more peaceful than watching your baby sleep.
How about you? What do you wish you had known prior to mother/fatherhood?
Awww, bless.
Number one made me laugh.
Number three made me slightly ill.
Yep, number three was no picnic for anyone 😉
and not only does it take 90mins to get ready to out you feel like a pack donkey with the amount of stuff you feel you need to take with you just to pop to the corner shop
Absolutely, it’s like mobilizing a small army!
So true. Never a good idea to google symptoms. I could identify with most of those too.
Ah thank you!
Brilliant! Love the first two, I kept phoning the hospital and they kept saying I didn’t need to go in yet but I thought I did and went anyway. I wasn’t even in proper pain at that point! Hoping I have a better idea of real labour second time round! X
Me too! Although they say the 2nd can pop out pretty quick so may be just as paranoid!
From a dad’s point of view, I agree with all of those points 🙂 Have to watch though, as an adult I still have cravings for Calpol whenever I smell it. I also remember the heartbreak when I was moved onto the 6+ stuff that tasted of orange. I just might have been addicted to it as a child 🙂
It is rather delicious!
All very true! I’m going to have a go at writing my own “if only I’d known” 😉
I look forward to reading it! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
I am now kind of obsessed with talking about poo. Not deliberately, I just end up talking about poo at some point every day. Like now.
Well I am glad I gave you somewhere to do it today! 😉
That you wouldn’t be going to the loo on your own for a good five years – which’ll now stretch into longer with the arrival of baby number two!
Eeek, so very true!
What IS Kawasaki Disease? Should I Google it? *Frets*
Great post. And hope you’re all well.
We are all good thanks. Kawasaki-free! Hope you had a nice Easter 🙂
I’m with you on the hospital thing. They told me that if they see someone can walk unaided down the corridor it’s too soon for them to be there. However second time around, I could walk happily unaided and the baby was still born an hour later…so really you just don’t know. xx
I have heard this a lot about second babies. Feel pretty much as unsure about when to go in this time as I did last time. The above could be repeating itself very soon LOL!
I walked unaided both times to the hospital. With my first my water had already broken and my contractions were hard and close together. With my second I was more aware about what to look for as far as labor and “when to go to the hospital”
It is easier the second time I believe. You know more about what is going on and going to happen with your body. I’m sure you will be fine!
Thanks Frances, fingers are firmly crossed 😉
That worry is your new best friend! I found this at a very opportune moment.
Let me tell you, knowing all of that actually will make your second baby a breeze, I promise. You will wonder how it was possible that you never got to drink that tea hot, and why you were ever still in your dressing gown at 2.30pm. It’s all good from here on in. 🙂
Thanks Actually Mummy. It has got to be easier second time around….right? 😉