What I Wish I Knew

They say time flies when you’re having fun. The saying should be Time flies when you’re raising children. My oldest son, Ayden, turned 5 in May and on Friday we celebrated his Pre-K graduation. It probably seems like a silly milestone for most, but for me it marked the start of his whole career as a student; a chance to make good choices that was going to shape the rest of his life. My little one is about to be 2 months old. This one I can’t believe. Two months of life for my littlest nugget. And as I sit here and reflect back on the last two months (and 5 years) of experience as a mom I can’t help but think about all the things I wish I knew before going into motherhood. I could probably write a whole book just with my experiences thus far, but for the purposes of this blog I’ll stick to pregnancy and labor. I know this has been done before but here you have it folks. Here are things I wish I knew and my tips about pregnancy and labor.

1. Be ready, or Atleast as ready as you can be. – I think that I overdid it on the reading and hearing about all the stories of how long it can take to get pregnant that I didnt think about the opposite, which was that I might get pregnant right away. I had been on birth control since I was a teenager and since for a lot of women it can take up to a year to get pregnant, I I thought I had time to “practice”. Boy was I wrong! With both my pregnancies I conceived almost right away and I don’t think I was mentally prepared. And if it takes a little longer, don’t fret mama. Stay strong because your baby is coming. Trust in yourself, in God, and the powers of modern medicine because there’s a lot that can be done to help. Just be ready, for that little moment when the line appears on that stick your life is about to change forever.

2. Find a doctor that you really love. – this one is a must. With Ayden I picked someone out of convenience. I worked in Connecticut at the time and the doctor office was centrally located between my house and the train station. She was also affiliated with the hospital that I wanted to deliver in. Visiting this office turned out to be a nightmare. I waited almost 3 hours for my first appointment, they were rude to me when I told them how sick I was, and to top it off, they didn’t even run the proper tests that you run during the first visit. I was so sick in the beginning that I ended up going to my moms OBYG for help, and he ended being the one that delivered my baby. This brings me to my next thing.

3. You might get sick. Really sick. Some people are lucky to go through their pregnancies like glowing goddesses. That was not me. I had something called Hyperemesis Gravidarum with both my pregnancies. It’s basically severe morning sickness. And don’t let the name fool you. You’re not just sick in the morning. I was sick all day. Every day. For the majority of both pregnancies.

4. Labor is tough. No matter whether you deliver vaginally or by c-section, it is hard getting that little one out of your body. And the recovery is not so easy either. Remember that, because you will want to be a superstar and do things that you probably shouldn’t be doing. So just ask for help if you need it. It’s ok. You have permission.

I’m sure there’s so much more. But that’s all for now. The most important thing to remember is that pregnancy is a miracle and blessing from God. So now matter how you got there, enjoy the experience.