Yes! You’re finally pregnant! After all the trying, you finally got it right. Now, you’re just so excited to learn about every single thing about pregnancy and having a baby.
So what do you do now? In your excitement to devour every bit of information there is about pregnancy and giving birth, you read every single book that’s available out there.
No one can blame you for that.
Most expecting moms usually do that. It is very convenient to read a book. You can do it anytime and anywhere.
However, you can’t really rely on all the baby books you read. Truth be told, they don’t tell you everything. The most they can do is to entertain you but they won’t tell you everything you need to know about the realities of post-birth.
So don’t expect to learn everything from all the baby books you’re reading. Chances are; they’re missing out on the 13 realities of post-birth.
Here the 13 realities of post-birth that most baby books don’t tackle.
13. How to function on little to no sleep. Between 3 a.m. feedings and hours spent coaxing the little one to bed, new moms are lucky if they get a solid hour of shut-eye.
11. How to go to the bathroom after giving birth. Whether you suffer from epidural side effects or pain in your pelvis, your first few trips to the commode will be a challenge. To make the “movement” easier, eat high-fiber foods, drink plenty of water, and take comfort in the fact that it does get easier.
10. How to look put together after giving birth. Your baby won’t be the only one getting her photo taken that day.
9. How to take the best baby photos. We know what types of photos to take, but there is only so much you can do with an iPhone.
8. How to decipher your baby’s cries. It would be so much easier to deal with their tears if we knew what our babies wanted.
7. How to change a diaper without getting peed or pooped on. Because no parent should have to stop and change themselves.
6. When to call the doctor and when to deal with it yourself. It’s easy for new moms to turn into hypochondriacs … especially with WebMD. But sometimes a cough is just a cough.
5. How to move a sleeping baby from the car to the house without waking him. All it takes is a tiny shake to wake a baby from his slumber.
4. How to ignore judgmental moms. There will be plenty of them in your parks, playgrounds, and playgroups. And while a witty comeback may seem like the best approach, sometimes it’s best to just let it go.
3. How to get your partner to help more. They helped make the baby, so it’s only fair that they help take care of her, too.
2. How to cope with mom guilt. No woman should ever think she’s the worst mother.
1. How much life will change after baby arrives. Actually, this may be the one thing a book can’t prepare you for. But we promise that it’s all (mostly) amazing.
This doesn’t mean that you should put that baby book down now. Oh, not at all. You can still go on reading.
However, don’t expect the find the 13 realities of post birth within the pages of the baby book you’re presently reading.
Chances are the baby books you’ve read have already warned you about the sleepless nights ahead. Well, that’s a given fact.
There will definitely be a lot of sleepless nights ahead. However no baby book will ever give you tips on how to stay awake. You just have to figure that out yourself.
Unless you’re reading the book of life, don’t expect to learn, from the pages of a baby book, about the changes that will happen after giving birth. Baby books don’t tackle that kind of heavy stuff.
So the bottom line is that no baby book can ever prepare you for motherhood. Thanks to this post birth reality-checking article, you now know that you shouldn’t expect too much from that baby book you’re reading.
Can you think of other post birth realities that you might have to figure out yourself?
