GTKY: FTM quiz

nda_roxybabe

So, I've been surprised lately IRL at some things that FTM's have no clue about. H has been reading his book and is so far proving to be very knowledgeable and I've been so obsessed with babies my whole life that I feel very knowledgeable. I am curious, what everyone's general knowledge is to see if I'm just too judgey (guess that's not a real word?) or if people are as ignorant as I think. I know I'm a judgey broad, so that could very well be the case

I'm wondering what you know at this stage, not what you've learned in the past months, but rather what you know right now at the end of pregnancy/ beginning of motherhood.

Do you know (of/ about)...

Colostrum?
That milk takes a couple days to come in?
Thrush? Would you be able to potentially identify it?
Baby's soft spot?
Meconium?
That baby boy (and girls!) can pee all over the place if you're not quick?
Lanugo?

inomniaparatus2

@nda_roxybabe TBH when I first got pregnant I didn't know most of those things but from baby classes, research/apps and most importantly, this board I know all about everything you listed. I think as a FTM this bump board and all the ST+M knowledge has been the most helpful/knowledgeable and I'm so happy to have found it. I am shocked by people who I've told the bump about but don't get it. They are very uneducated. 

jayandaplus

Yes to all of that @nda_roxybabe, but I also learned a lot years ago in nursing school, through nursing, and by being interested in all things biology, baby, and related over the last several years. I've read so many baby books over the last 9 months I can't even remember what I didn't know before I got pregnant, but we were reading books long before we conceived. At our baby classes (all of them) DH was flabberghasted at how little people knew. Sometimes he asked questions just to bring up a point he intuited people didn't know, and the teacher of the class hadn't covered yet. He was looking out for all the other first-timers, but there was nothing new to us in an of our baby classes at this point.

ETA: I don't judge people who don't know those things at the beginning/middle/etc, but if you're ready to pop, I'd hope you'd at least have a general concept of anatomy and physiology of pregnancy and birth, and newborn care. Please don't be pushing and ask what's all over your baby when you first see it.

thistlenweeds

Yes to all except thrush. I'll google that. When you say 'soft spot' do you mean the skull?.. They just seem soft all over. Lol.

nda_roxybabe

thistlenweeds said:

Yes to all except thrush. I'll google that. When you say 'soft spot' do you mean the skull?.. They just seem soft all over. Lol.

Haha yup, on their skull.

BabyMC517

I would say at the beginning I had a basic knowledge, but like @swe2 all of you have helped so much! So full of knowledge and experience! It's truly been a great place to learn and build some online friendships (hopefully not too creepy of ones). I always tell people to get on here! 

Not it sure I could identify thrush, but I know I've heard of it. Some sort of infection that can happen in different places (I.e. The mouth). Assuming it's kind of a white-ish spot sort of "rash" in the mouth...I'll google too  

Also, at the beginning, I didn't know your milk doesn't come in for a few days... but I do now (and have known for awhile)! Haha 

starphish18

At this point, I know all the things you listed. I didn't know about any of them pre-pregnancy except for the soft spot (but I know more about that now, too). This board taught me everything. I did find classes helpful, but I had at least heard about most things from this board first. If I didn't have you guys, I'm sure I would have gone through some books, but I don't think it would have been as helpful as this. But yeah, in regards to your actual question, I do know those now.

rebecca517-2

Yes to all for me. I, too, have been obsessed with babies my whole life. I've helped many friends through their first pregnancies. Most of my
friends have kids and I have a 2.5 yo niece that I spend a lot of time with and have her whole life. I have learned a lot of new things during my pregnancy. Mainly safe sleep and car seat safety. That was all pretty new to me. This group has been awesome. I love hearing stories from STMs and learning from their experiences. 

jayandaplus

I'll also add that this group has been insurmountably informative and helpful in navigating all that I didn't know. The books were great, but I think y'all here in May17 have been one of my biggest knowledge assets.

kat81

I'm a third time mom and forgot for a little bit what lanugo was. I was going to post to ask but then I remembered. I guess it is more relevant for babies born early anyhow, so it left my mind. I might have even known well before I was ever pregnant and my sister had preemie twins.

Most hospitals will tell you about meconium and what to expect from the poops and whatnot in the beginning in case you didn't already learn it from a class. They also usually tell you about colostrum and breastfeeding (though I think usually you find out about colostrum from prenatal care because you're usually leaking it by midway through the pregnancy.) You may or may not be warned that it takes a few days for the "real" milk to arrive and that it will be painful. And the peeing thing is not only common sense but also totally not a big deal at all. Let it happen once and then you've learned.

I do think it's weird to not know about soft spots because most people know that about babies in general. And as for thrush sounds like most people here didn't know about it. Just make sure that when breastfeeding is giving you trouble and hurting, you ask your health professionals! (and us and kellymom.com!) It could be thrush or a number of other things. Baby and I had thrush with both kids and it was really hard to beat. I actually expect it this time because it was listed as a side-effect for being treated with antibiotics for being GBS+, which makes sense--I always get yeast infections while on antibiotics. I'll remember to take probiotics this time and perhaps that will help.

pshaortao

STM but I did not know any of these until I got involved in my s14 group and I learned SO much from them. And I tried to read a whay to expect the first year book but conversations and hand on experience have proven to be much more informative.

nda_roxybabe

Okay sweet, this is what I expected from all of you. I totally get not knowing any of it before becoming pregnant, but by the time baby comes I would think most of this information is learned through reading, classes, blogs, etc. 

Louise_Belcher

STM and I still wouldn't be able to identify thrush. Despite being very familiar and interested in babies, prior to becoming pregnant with DS I think I would have only known soft spot and peeing everywhere. I had zero knowledge of breastfeeding, meconium would have just been weird new baby poop, and although at least a couple of my foster siblings had lanugo when they came to us I was too young for that word and they would have been "fuzzy". I remember H knowing the word lanugo when we were reading and going through classes last time, but in the context of malnutrition and eating disorders. 

MollyandD

I'm a first time mom, but I worked with infants for years. I've babysat, been around family members' babies, and worked in the infant room of a child care center through college. I know about each of those things, but wouldn't if I didn't have so much experience. I'll never forget my first experience with thrush. I though the baby was really sick, but she was so happy and playful.