2. Having a doula is so helpful. I really wish I would have had a doula for my first labor. My husband though he could be a coach during the labor as well as the husband. When it came time, he just could not do it. I did not know what do and neither did he. I needed someone to tell me what to do to help my labor progress and someone who could help me know what to expect.
3. Your baby weight will not just fall off a couple weeks after you have your baby. After I had my first son I was talking with a mom who had older children and feeling discouraged that I had not lost that much of my baby weight yet, my son was a couple months old and I was expecting to have lost most of my weight by then. I'm not sure what I was thinking. This seasoned mom told me it takes 9 months to put the weight on and it takes 9 months to get the weight off. This has been so true! It helped me so much to hear that. I am thankful to have gotten close to my pre-pregnancy weight after 9 months of having each of my babies. It does take work to get the baby weight off!! I have worked out and watched what I ate to help me make my goal of getting close to my desired weight. (even though my body does not look quite the same as it did before I had children, but that's ok)
4. Labor is painful and hard. Before I had my first son I had a few people pray for me saying that they did not have any pain during labor and they wanted to pray that over me. I agreed and let them, I thought a pain free labor sounded awesome! I think it would have helped me prepare better for my labor if I expected pain during my labor. I think that it doesn't hurt to ask the Lord for a pain free labor, but I would not assume yours will be pain free. I have delivered 4 children (3 naturally and 1 with and epidural) and ALL my labors were painful and hard, but I will say that they have been some of the best, most gratifying experiences in my life!
5. You will be sleep deprived for the first few weeks and possibly until the first year of your baby's life. I have always been a lover of sleep, I enjoy a comfy bed and feeling refreshed in the morning. Having my first newborn was hard for me because I hardly got any sleep. I did get some good advice from people bringing me meals when my first baby was born. They told me to sleep when my baby slept, it didn't matter what time it was, but if I wanted to get any sleep, I needed to sleep when he did, that was some helpful advice! My first son was a good sleeper and I have had other sons who were not as good of sleepers, a couple of them did not sleep through the night until they were about a year old! So prepare your heart that as a mew mommy, you will not be getting much sleep. A mommy friend of mine who has 7 children told me that it takes about a year for her to fully recover from labor and lack of sleep and feel normal again. Newborns are a lot of work, they are so cute but they are always needing something, to eat, to sleep, to be changed, to be held. Having a newborn is a full time job in itself, then it gets a bit crazy when you throw in all the other children and chores needing to be done too! It is a time to cry out to the Lord and ask for help, it is such a refining time, I have had numerous issues in my heart brought up during those sleepless nights. The Lord has always been faithful to me and helped me through. I have realized that I cannot do motherhood in my own strength, I need help from the Lord and need to be filled with more of the indwelling Spirit. I have also realized that in the midst of being tired and busy I cannot afford to neglect my time with the Lord. It is important to make time for reading the Bible and praying, even in the midst of the craziness of life with a newborn.
For all you seasoned mamas, what 5 things do you wish you would have known before you had your first baby?
3. Your baby weight will not just fall off a couple weeks after you have your baby. After I had my first son I was talking with a mom who had older children and feeling discouraged that I had not lost that much of my baby weight yet, my son was a couple months old and I was expecting to have lost most of my weight by then. I'm not sure what I was thinking. This seasoned mom told me it takes 9 months to put the weight on and it takes 9 months to get the weight off. This has been so true! It helped me so much to hear that. I am thankful to have gotten close to my pre-pregnancy weight after 9 months of having each of my babies. It does take work to get the baby weight off!! I have worked out and watched what I ate to help me make my goal of getting close to my desired weight. (even though my body does not look quite the same as it did before I had children, but that's ok)
4. Labor is painful and hard. Before I had my first son I had a few people pray for me saying that they did not have any pain during labor and they wanted to pray that over me. I agreed and let them, I thought a pain free labor sounded awesome! I think it would have helped me prepare better for my labor if I expected pain during my labor. I think that it doesn't hurt to ask the Lord for a pain free labor, but I would not assume yours will be pain free. I have delivered 4 children (3 naturally and 1 with and epidural) and ALL my labors were painful and hard, but I will say that they have been some of the best, most gratifying experiences in my life!
5. You will be sleep deprived for the first few weeks and possibly until the first year of your baby's life. I have always been a lover of sleep, I enjoy a comfy bed and feeling refreshed in the morning. Having my first newborn was hard for me because I hardly got any sleep. I did get some good advice from people bringing me meals when my first baby was born. They told me to sleep when my baby slept, it didn't matter what time it was, but if I wanted to get any sleep, I needed to sleep when he did, that was some helpful advice! My first son was a good sleeper and I have had other sons who were not as good of sleepers, a couple of them did not sleep through the night until they were about a year old! So prepare your heart that as a mew mommy, you will not be getting much sleep. A mommy friend of mine who has 7 children told me that it takes about a year for her to fully recover from labor and lack of sleep and feel normal again. Newborns are a lot of work, they are so cute but they are always needing something, to eat, to sleep, to be changed, to be held. Having a newborn is a full time job in itself, then it gets a bit crazy when you throw in all the other children and chores needing to be done too! It is a time to cry out to the Lord and ask for help, it is such a refining time, I have had numerous issues in my heart brought up during those sleepless nights. The Lord has always been faithful to me and helped me through. I have realized that I cannot do motherhood in my own strength, I need help from the Lord and need to be filled with more of the indwelling Spirit. I have also realized that in the midst of being tired and busy I cannot afford to neglect my time with the Lord. It is important to make time for reading the Bible and praying, even in the midst of the craziness of life with a newborn.
For all you seasoned mamas, what 5 things do you wish you would have known before you had your first baby?
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