... the things they DON'T tell you.
I was absolutely blown away by the lovely welcome back I received from all the lovely listeners of the Early Breakfast on Monday morning – massive thank you to Pamela Joyce for minding the show so well during my Maternity Leave. What a woman!
While I was away, I missed marriages, babies… new milking parlours!! And loads of people have been asking what I’ve learned in the last year.
I’m not sure where to start but there are some things you just cannot prepare for after having your first baby.
Here are some of my experiences:
- You will cry. A LOT. Possibly every single day, possibly on the hour. You’ll cry because you are tired and you’ll cry because you’re so overwhelmingly happy and you’ll cry because you misplaced the remote control. There will also come a day where it will dawn on you that you haven’t And you’ll probably start crying upon that realisation too.
- You won’t mind the poop (the baby’s.) You really, really won’t. You know that expression: they have to be your own? Well, THAT. You will probably actually celebrate poop and you will discuss it in detail. Every day.
- The tiredness is so real but it’s not like normal-tired. It’s hard to explain – time seems to stay still when you’re staring down at the face of your precious bundleen at 3am. Those are the moments you’ll end up missing (and when people tell you that when you’re that tired, you won’t believe them!)
- You might not want visitors. AT ALL. That’s fine. You might want everyone around to cuddle your newbie and that’s fine too (I personally hibernated… took to the bed and fed my baby for a month… bliss!)
- The first time you drive with them in the back is terrifying
- The first time you go anywhere is comical – you’ll be late, you’ll forget things whilst also bringing far too much stuff. My first venture out was to Blanchardstown and I bought dinner in the butchers to bring home and cook because I was ON TOP OF MY GAME. Until I got home and realised I had left the bag of food on top of the car while organising the pram and the car seat and the baby bag, and I had driven off, completely unawares. I hope whomever found that chicken and garlic potatoes enjoyed it.
- People LOVE a baby. Be prepared if you’re scared of germs around your newborn (me) that people will want to touch your baby. Yikes!
- Just when things start to settle down, the goalposts will move… watch out for the teething fairy. She’s a weapon!
- You’ll put your baby to bed and spend hours on the couch looking at photos and videos of him/her on your phone.
- As soon as normality resumes and you think about going back to work, people will start asking when you’re having Baby Number Two. Eat them for breakfast.
