Thirty-two happens to be my favorite number. Think Duke’s Fabulous Five and Christian Laettner. What can I say, some things from my middle school days stick. So, in honor of Jacob being 32 days old, I thought I’d share these 32 facts that many a mother has shared before me, but I didn’t believe until going through this myself. I write this one-handed as I rock him, nurse him and make a silent prayer that he takes an afternoon nap. Despite that, I wouldn’t change this for anything. Even at 32-days, he is still my miracle baby.
- Newborns are extraordinarily resilient. Mothers (especially first time moms) are not.
- Tears. There will be lots of tears. They will not be from your child. You think you can control them. You can’t.
- Diapers. So many diapers. With so many various surprises that leave you talking a lot about poop. That is all.
- Those first smiles – just signaling the need to use more diapers. It is not your child being a genius.
- Breastfeeding is not this beautiful and easy part of motherhood. Your child does not make sweet sounds while you sit back and relax knowing you are nourishing your baby. It is work.
- You will make mistakes. Daily.
- You will take shortcuts. The sooner you accept this doesn’t make you a bad mom, the better.
- There is no such thing as supermom. Just being a mom, is frankly super enough.
- Some friends will be annoyed by your constant baby talk or just check-out of your life. Guess what – they were never your friends to begin with. It has nothing to do with you changing. Life events should change you.
- Raising a puppy is not the same as raising a child. Duh. Should have figured that out sooner.
- You will be very tired. Very, very tired. Even if you sleep when he does. It doesn’t matter. Your very strong friendship with coffee will be reunited.
- Stalking old friends on Facebook will be a regular occurrence during your endless feedings.
- You will spend all day running around like crazy but get to the end of the day and discover you’ve accomplished nothing but surviving.
- Life will be measured in ounces, number of wet diapers, and minutes sleeping. Everything else is just details.
- You will quickly learn how to eat one handed while rocking. Those who can’t, will perish.
- You’ll gain perspective on what matters in life. Guess what? It isn’t the new car you bought. (Even though I still do love my new Forester).
- Car seat buckles suck.
- Someone needs to invent an inexpensive solution to hands free pumping without having to change, create a homemade bra or sit hunched over like a cow being milked.
- The overpriced swing that you thought you didn’t need—be really glad you have it.
- The swaddle swoosh route will only take you so far.
- You can never have enough burp rags. But, you can in fact have too many newborn onesies that he will outgrow before he even gets a chance to wear them.
- Your eardrums will learn to tune out or turn down your child’s moments of rage.
- Your nose will learn to ignore the smell of sour formula.
- You will learn to shower in under 10-minutes with one ear tuned in for crying. This will be the closest thing to “getting ready” you’ll do for a while.
- Even the best baby in the world has bad days. Moms who tell you differently either have selective memory or are liars.
- The good moments outweigh the bad.
- You’ll find yourself obsessed with baby photos and overwhelmed with love for any and all of your friends who are having, had or thinking about having babies.
- You’ll have a new gratitude for other friends who are willing to talk candidly about makeshift solutions for parenting.
- The first time he grabs your finger, looks into your eyes and babbles to you, life will never be the same.
- It is an overwhelming and awesome sense of responsibility to have someone so innocent rely on you for everything.
- There is a special zen that happens every time he nestles on you, grabs your shirt and falls into a deep sleep. These are the moments you will never get back.
Despite every day being so incredibly long, before you know it, your little guy won’t be so little so take everyone’s advice to just cherish every moment – good and bad. It is a lot to take in, so quickly. But, like millions of mothers before me, this too shall pass. And, before I know it, there will be a whole new set of wisdom to acknowledge.