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As your baby’s first birthday approaches, you plan well ahead of time to throw its birthday bash. What also rules your thoughts are the incredible episodes with your little ones that make up the wonderful first year. There will be a few misses too, though – things that came as revelations and lessons for the inexperienced first-time mommy you had been for quite a while.
All through the initial months, you had parenting advice pouring in from everywhere, but by the time you mark your first year as a mommy, you gather the wisdom of pretty much some things. Here’s how you might retrospect on your baby’s first year:
1. You realize that the love for you baby was not instant at birth
You are worn out, exhausted, and grateful that what you endured was worth it. But being overcome by immense love for your child might not be an instant thing. You do care. And the love grows day by day. This is something you learn with time. So when you hear about other mothers who shed tears of joy at the birth of their babies, you feel guilty. You wonder if you are normal. The reality is although you bore your baby for nine months in the womb, it might seem like a bit of the stranger right after birth. But you will end up loving the tiny being sooner or later.
2. Newborns are not always fun
It might seem to you like you will have a whale of a time with a newborn around – especially when it is your baby. But the truth is, playing with newborns of others might be a lot easier than spending time with yours. You are an exhausted mom who is nursing the little human, is sleep deprived most of the times and barely finds time to nourish herself well. Plus every feed might be followed by a diaper change session. So expect little fun times in the first few months.
3. Career might become a secondary thing
You will be surprised how your priorities change. The once-upon-a-time super-ambitious woman might suddenly want to put her career goals in the backend for some time. What’s more, she doesn’t want to switch over to her career goals anytime sooner. The more she cares for her child, the more of a home-dweller she becomes.
4. Your personality changes
You might become an entirely different person as a mother. The once carefree bird begins to get overly concerned – all for this tiny human she created. She comes to the point where she can sacrifice her interests for the well-being of her child. It can lead to a personality shift altogether.
5. Your baby will receive its food
A lot of new moms make a fuss about their babies receiving adequate milk. The anxiety is more common among C-section mommies who might have a few initial struggles to generate sufficient milk for their babies. They might resort to formula milk in the meanwhile thus leading to mommy guilt. What you need to understand is that your baby is receiving its nourishment one way or the other. If your body isn’t able to produce enough, you don’t have to be overcast by mommy guilt. Just be happy that your baby is being fed after all.
6. Asking for help doesn’t make you an inefficient mom
If you think by multi-tasking you are going to prove your ability as a mom, you are wrong. You need more stamina to feed your child, to recuperate and just be with your baby for most of the time. So asking help doesn’t make you any less of a mom. Just ask.
7. The time spent with your baby is precious
When you look back at the one year of your baby, you realize that no matter how tiring it could have been, the times you spent with your little one are precious. The worse part is that time flies off too fast. You won’t get the time back, so hang on to it.
The first year of your baby can be a bit challenging especially if you are a first time mom. But the minor struggles can be equally entertaining. So simply enjoy your first year into motherhood.
