Parents, you’ve got questions, we’ve got answers.

Or just as likely, we’ve got questions and you’ve got answers.

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

Starting a Club

0
Vote up!
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email this article

Looking for members...

With my first child (who is now 3 1/2) our new life was a struggle. It took some serious getting used to. Talk about an adjustment...babies crashing into your life was no joke. Throw in some colic and you have a real good time going on. Those first 3 months were hard and we were living in pure survival mode. But then it got more fun...still hard but more fun. And now we are in an entirely different world of challenges with our little threenager.

When I got pregnant with our second child (now 3 months) I was in full on baby fever mode. I was SO excited to hold a sweet little newborn, smell their head, snuggle with them on the couch etc etc. Apparently I completely forgot what life with a newborn was really like. The Mom brain strikes again!

Then Ellie was born. We had a wonderful birth and a beautiful healthy baby girl. She was tiny, cute, snuggly and so so sleepy. I was soaking up this little newborn girl and it was awesome...

that lasted for about a week. And then the "honeymoon" phase wore off and the real world of having a newborn in our lives again kicked in.

b33e1b3c07c5c541b69e5ac867913c201eb70bc9.jpg

The world of nursing non-stop (whilst praying that your nipples don't actually get yanked off!), the world of sleeping in small increments, the world of diaper changes and spit up, the world of crying babies who can't tell you what they want (made me love my threenager even more!), the world of being stuck in the house in your dirty pjs all day, the world of swaddling and rocking, the world of crazy Google searches, the world of new parenthood. All over again.

b68ee5248f0f8c149542eaf9012dcb720ace84b5.jpg

eca0943f438ffb6a601b0689592500bf3134495a.jpg

That is when I decided two things: 1. We are SO DONE having kids and 2. I really don't like newborns

Of course I LOVE my baby girl but this phase just isn't for me. A friend of mine coined the term "the 100 days of hell" and its so true. That first 100 days is tough! That is, of course, unless you love the newborn phase. Which a lot of Moms do. But I am definitely not one of them.

So lets start a club. A club of Moms who don't like the lack of sleep, the walking circles around the house trying to calm a screaming baby, the endless game of keep the pacifier in your mouth, the sitting on the couch with your shirt off and baby attached to your boob all day. Lets start a club for those of us who are ready to admit that we want 6 month old babies. Babies who smile and coo, babies who sleep, babies who sit up and play, babies who hold their own bottles...those babies. Those babies are MY FAVORITE!

So lets start a club. We will drink wine (lots of wine), talk about all the ridiculous and crazy things we have done for our sweet little newborns and toast to the days ahead. The days with 6 month old babies and sleep!

And if anyone...anyone says "cherish these moments, it goes by so fast" -- I will slap them. For real.

Join the club!

b7d6c2fb1404564b09c208a3965225f9591d93a4.jpg

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.