In July Avery turned 6 months old. I can't even wrap my brain around how that is possible! So much has happened and changed in my life in the past 6 months. I wanted to share a few lessons (believe me there are many more than what I'll share here) that I've learned on this crazy journey of being a new mom.
1. You're not in control anymore.
You never were but you thought you were and you could control enough that you fooled yourself into thinking you were in control. But now there's no semblance of control left. You've got things planned out? LOL! Baby is in control now and you are just along for the ride.
2. You really do have to prioritize time with your husband.
You always hear this and thought "yeah maybe some people need to do that but we're so close we'll have no problems even with a baby in the mix". Again - LOL! Even when we're together we're focused on baby and everything we talk about and do is about her, as it should be, but it means we have to make time for just the two of us to talk about the things we used to talk about and focus solely on one another. It's so important to make time to do this.
3. Your heart can hardly handle the love.
The love you feel for your own child is truly like nothing else you've ever experienced. It is indescribable.
4. Mom guilt is real.
So real. It's not exactly how I thought it would be though. I thought I would feel bad leaving her because I would feel guilty having someone else care for her or feel like she wasn't going to be okay without me, but I'm so so lucky that my mom watches Avery for us so the only guilt I feel is all on me. Guilty that I'm missing out on this time with her. Guilty when I choose to do something (see #2) other than be with my baby because I miss her terribly. It's a never ending battle I guess.
5. You'll do disgusting things and not really care.
I've had poop all over me. I've had throw up IN my mouth. I've given birth aka had a large group of people see me with my legs in the air. Yep - fun stuff! But when you're a mom (or in the process of becoming one) you really just see that as small stuff, stuff that is forgotten as soon as the moments passed because you see the bigger picture now.
6. It's all worth it.
SO cliche it hurts to type it but, as with a lot of things people told me before I had a baby that I rolled my eyes at then, it's true. Every contraction, every sleepless night, every projectile vomit and blow out - all worth it for a 2 second giggle or a flash of that toothless smile. Who knew my heart could melt like that?
That was too easy - there's so many more I could share but those are some of the big ones. Let me know if you'd like another post like this and tell me your biggest lessons learned! I can't wait to see what I'll learn from my babe tomorrow!
Okay I have to include just one more because it's oh so important:
7. You'll never judge another mom again.
I'll admit, I had strong opinions and rules for how you should take care of a baby BEFORE I even had my own. Sounds crazy right? But my guess is, whether you'll admit it or not, you feel this way too about at least one topic. Well I learned my lesson QUICK and I now know that as a mother, you gotta do what you gotta do. And that may not always make sense from the outside looking in but I guarantee in any situation you do not see the whole story. So next time you see a mom (or a dad) doing something and you feel your eyebrow raising... calm that -ish down and move along. Nothing to see here! NEVER judge another mom!*
*obviously I am not referring to things like abuse of any kind, I'm talking about things like sleeping arrangements, discipline, breast vs bottle, etc.
So - what lessons did your little angel teach you? Comment below, I'd love to learn from you!
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