The Reality of Having a Newborn
Being pregnant is a very magical time in a woman’s life. The first few months are filled with an excitement that most women can’t describe, and after a baby is born the new mom can expect to feel like she won’t ever be able to accomplish anything again. It seems almost like a curse as she struggles to find time even to shower, clothe herself and feed her family. In fact most new mothers find that they are lucky if they manage one of these things each day, and some can’t even manage one.
The reality of having a newborn baby brings about many changes for the woman who has just given birth. She will be forced to accept the fact that she will never again have any privacy or alone time, and that her body will never be the same again. Some people look forward to the changes their bodies go through during pregnancy, but most dread them until they have actually experienced them firsthand. A new mother finds that her body doesn’t return to its pre-pregnancy state right away; instead it goes through many different changes before it finally reverts back to its normal shape, size and appearance.*
I think as a society, we expect too much of our new moms. We expect them to be happy, but to also continue doing their normal activities. They’re supposed to be Martha Stewart and supermom, but at the same time, they should still be themselves. We expect them to be on top of their game 24/7, but when there are so many things that need to be done for a newborn baby, there is no way a mom can possibly keep her house clean and cook dinner at night and work full-time and get a good night’s sleep every single day.
There is so much pressure our new moms face every day from family members and coworkers that it’s not fair. It’s not fair to ask anyone to take care of a newborn baby AND balance everything else in their life. It’s just not possible.
It can be hard living with all of the chaos that comes with having a newborn baby. But the reality is that it’s even harder when the new parents have visitors or go out because they feel bad turning people down, they feel like they should be able to do it all, or maybe they just don’t want to deal with being judged by others.
People forget that raising babies is one of the most difficult jobs in the
The first few weeks of having a newborn baby is hard.It’s easy to feel like you’re missing out on the fun of your old life, when you could hang out with friends whenever you wanted.
But you can’t. You can’t hang out with your friends because you have a newborn baby who needs constant attention and care.
When I was pregnant, I thought that anything bad that happened would be made up for by having a baby, and anything good would be better than before. But that’s not how it works. You have a baby, and it’s a lot harder than you expected.
I thought I knew what to expect after giving birth. I was wrong. Within hours of giving birth to my son, I had a moment of clarity that turned my life upside down.
The hospital room where I stayed for three days was not the place for me to be. It was a place where I learned how to take care of my newborn baby, and it is a beautiful thing that the nurses and doctors there do that job so well. But it is a place you go through on your way out, not in.
There are new parents who stay at the hospital to learn how to take care of their child, and then transfer to a new facility where they can begin learning how to be a family with their newborn baby. For me this did not happen until weeks later, when I went home with my new baby boy.
When you have a newborn baby, you will be overwhelmed by the responsibility and awed by the fact that this tiny little being depends on you for everything. You will learn what it takes to be the best possible parent for your child, and you will become a better version of yourself, which means you will know yourself better than ever before. This is an extraordinary thing; there are few people who know themselves as well as good parents do
~I am writing this blog because I have received many emails from readers who are pregnant or who have newborn babies and they have questions.
I am not a doctor or a medical professional, so please ask your doctor any specific medical questions relating to your pregnancy and baby. Also, if you are planning to get pregnant and you want tips on how to become pregnant quickly, there is information in my book that can help you attain your goal of becoming pregnant faster by eating the right foods and avoiding foods that may be preventing you from getting pregnant.
Think of this blog as an online magazine with articles relating to pregnancy and newborns.
I didn’t know what to expect in the weeks after having a baby. I certainly didn’t know what to do with my body or my mind. I was underprepared for the exhaustion, the lack of sleep, and the constant crying.
I had no idea about skin-to-skin contact and so for the first few days I never held her against my bare chest. I didn’t have a name ready for her.
For the first several days she wasn’t even placed in her crib but just slept with me in bed, because that’s how hospitals are set up. She slept with me, on top of me, underneath me — wherever I happened to be when she fell asleep. And because she was on top of me, it became very hard to breathe.
The nurses and doctors warned me that this would happen, but they didn’t warn me enough. They said it would feel like she was crushing my stomach; they should have said that it would feel like she was crushing my lungs and heart and all of the space around them as well.
I have been pregnant twice and both times I wanted to be a super mom. I wanted to breastfeed, co-sleep, cloth diaper, and not use any baby products with my children. My first child was born in the winter so I never got the chance to experience summer with her. I was constantly hot the entire pregnancy and for the first few months after she was born. After about two months, she stopped sleeping through the night and my husband and I were sleep deprived. We were over exhausted from taking care of our new baby and on top of that we had two dogs and two cats. We decided to put our first baby in daycare so that we could get some rest.
Tears filled my eyes when she walked out of the house for her first day in daycare, but it was for her own good because we were too exhausted to take care of her anymore. We had another child five years later, who is now a toddler. This time around I had a completely different mindset on having a newborn. You see, I am a stay at home mom who has time to do whatever she wants when her kids aren’t around. My husband works full time which leaves me all alone with my kids.
Besides being alone with my kids all day,