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Challenge: Bringing Home Baby: What Do You Wish You’d Known?

Let it Go: Top 5 things TODAY's Sh*tty Moms wish they'd known

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Welcome to the new Today Parenting Community! We are honored to be a part of this new and exciting team and hope you'll enjoy hanging out with all the wonderful women - and men - that have been invited to be a part of it.

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We are both producers for Today and have each been at NBC for more than 15 years. When we're not in the office we're home sneaking peaks at Instagram and Twitter, or checking Facebook or Pinterest while telling our kids just 'one more email to my boss and then I'm done’.

Our combined four children range in ages from 8 to 11, so we know a thing or two about this unbelievably wild - and beautiful - world of parenting. To celebrate, here is our top-five list of Things We Wish We Knew Before We Brought Our Babies Home.

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5. The New Sexy: Granny Panties & Nipple Cream

After having a baby, the lingerie world as you remembered it is over. Those adorable bra and panty sets that you saved up for months and months have quickly been replaced by something you grab and throw into your shopping cart at Target while on the way to the paper goods aisle. The term, 'three-pack' is now part of your vocabulary, along with other words like 'nipple cream,' which you can't get enough of. Don't worry there will be a day when you're back to those little La Perla pretties, but give it more time than you think you should.

4. You will kill ANYONE who spits out the following words: What-Did-You-Do-All-Day.

Staying home is not as glamorous as it sounds. When your spouse comes home and you still haven't showered, straigtened up the house or prepared a decent meal, the last thing you want is to hear something like, "What did you do all day?' (This also includes but is not limited to 'Isn’t it great to have time off?' or 'When are you having another baby?') Give yourself time to adjust to this new life you've created. Dinner, laundry and a clean home can wait. You and your baby are the priority.

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3. Bodily fluids will become a topic in every conversation, like, for the rest of your life.

Go ahead. We dare you to sneeze, laugh or run without an unfortunate series of events to follow. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

2. Your ovaries will scream internally anytime you see, hear, or look at adorable babies.

Take it from two mamas whose youngest are elementary school aged, when we see, smell or hear newborns we want run home and have 10 more of our own. Instead, we pull the alarm and call for backup. The cure for screaming ovaries? Chips and salsa, following by a margarita (or two). Editor's note: You might have to experiment a bit to find your own way to soothe the soul.

1. Your world will evolve entirely around a hot, crazy, burning desire... for sleep.

Sleep, for many parents, is exactly what recharges their batteries. Don't get enough shut eye and you might be forced to make decisions you don't want to. Take care of you and you will take care of your baby.

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This post comes from the TODAY Parenting Team community, where all members are welcome to post and discuss parenting solutions. Learn more and join us! Because we're all in this together.