Best Advice

Re: Best Advice

• Amstreagle member

  October 2014 edited October 2014

  Not really advice but while I was in labor my mom told me that once lo is born you will see the world through new eyes. It's so true. You have this perfect innocent baby and the center of your world completely shifts, you also see how beautiful life is.
  One from me is it will get easier and take lots of pictures!
  ETA: ignore other people's horror stories about birth. I found it to be the most amazing experience of my life.

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• JennaRaek member

  October 2014

  Not sure if I got this advice, but this is my advice to you. Go with the flow. Don't worry too much about your birth plan. If you want to go med free - try. If you can, awesome. If you can't - don't stress. Same with a C-section. The ultimate goal is a healthy mom and baby. Focus on that. Not necessarily how you get there. I went med free and wanted to, but I didn't stress over it. I had it in my head that if I wanted/needed an epidural or C-section everything would be fine. No big deal. I feel like too many moms put way too much pressure on themselves.

  I agree with the PP. Birth was the most painful, amazing, empowering experience of my life. I'm honestly kind of looking forward to it again. I felt like superwoman.

   

  

    

   

  
  

  
  

   

   

   

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• Katiegmiami member

  October 2014

  During delivery, just remember to BREATHE! 

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• ktlucas member

  October 2014

  Best advice given to me for raising my child was love and common sense, it's that easy.

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• Beevol member

  October 2014

  Be good to your self. This is a whole new thing and there is nothing that will prepare you for how it's going to impact your life - it could be the biggest thing or just another thing, what matters is that you wont have much control over what's happening or how you feel so try not to worry so much about what's "supposed to happen" or how "you're supposed to feel." 

  
  

  If it's not the way you thought it would be, then that is OK. If you don't have a perfect, orgasmic, painfree, med free birth that left you feeling like an Amazonian warrior Earth mother goddess, it's probably not because you did something wrong (in fact, you might have done something terribly right). If you don't fall madly in love with your baby or you're scared out of your mind and get home thinking "OMG. What did I just do?!?!" Then that's OK, you're normal. If you spend the first few weeks of your baby's life dreading the sound of her cry, crying constantly for no reason, etc etc. That's OK, you're normal (make sure to pay attention to your feelings though, a couple weeks of crying for no reason is "baby blues" and can clear up on its own, make sure you talk to your doctor about how you're feeling though - just like a cold or a rash, if it sticks around for longer than a week or two, it could be a sign of a medical problem for which there are treatments). If you want to breastfeed and it's not working, talk to your doctor to make sure nothing is wrong medically, but don't worry too much - my mantra in those first few weeks was "DH was formula fed and he had the highest SAT scores of his siblings, who were breastfed." If anyone tries to give you crap about your body or your choices, ignore them, and if you can't tell them to shove it where the sun don't shine. 

  
  

  You will not always like your kid, just like how you do not always like your SO or your parents. Your kid does not need to be in your presence constantly for bonding - you can be away from your SO for 8-10 hours a day and s/he still loves you, the same will be true of your baby if/when you go back to work.  

  
  

  It's OK and you're OK. 
  

  
  

  
  

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• merc5411 member

  October 2014

  Sleep when the baby sleep.
  
  Forget about laundry, housework, cooking dinner. Just sleep.

  
  

  
  

  
  

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• SanRemo member

  October 2014

  Kind of gross but truly helpful: Push like you are pooping. Until the nurse told me that I just could not figure out how to push.

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• dianeg1017 member

  October 2014

  If labor gets too hard and you think you can't push any more just remember you're gonna be a momma and amazing things are hard to accomplish sometimes. Just wait when that little one is out you will have a moment of euphoria. It will be amazing.

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• fletchtony12 member

  October 2014

  The best advice I was ever given was shortly after my first child was born and I was exhausted and overwhelmed. I had a lactation consultant tell me, "You are always going to be feeling guilty about something.  Motherhood is synonymous with guilt.  Either your baby is not eating enough, or eating too much, not pooping enough, etc.  Recognize the feeling for what it is and just get over it!"

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• JNU76 member

  October 2014

  This isn't profound, but I was told to wear socks that I'd be willing to throw out after delivery, and I was glad that I did.

  The advice that I wish I had taken earlier was to accept any offers of help that you get, even if you don't like asking for help. If a friend wants to come for a visit and asks if they can bring anything, say yes, please, something for dinner.

  Also, someone told me to take a picture of the baby each month with a sign in the picture of how many months old they are. I love those pictures now, and with the sign right in the picture, you don't have to check the date to try to figure it out.

   

   

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