What do you wish you’d been told?

I wish someone would have told me how easy it is to forget to do things for yourself. Not so much with my third but with my first two children i was so busy being their mum i would often forget to eat or drink

How ridiculously demanding breast feeding can be😰I’ve chosen to ebf and it is absolutely exhausting (physically and mentally), I literally feel like a human cow🐮 even though my little one is in a reasonably good routine of feeding every 3 hours (with the occasional day/night when she still cluster feeds) I still just feel like I do nothing in my day but feed her!

How hard it is getting anything done with a new born baby in the house! I'm lucky if I'm dressed by 10am! And Dr's giving me antibiotics that have to be taken 1 hr before or 2 hrs after eating is almost impossible, if I'm not feeding I'm working out if I can eat when I get a chance 🤣🤣

When I was reading this at first I was thinking the fuzzy head /brain fog !!!
I remember after birth I couldn’t even type text a message because I couldn’t think straight!! X

How much you bleed after birth, (I had an emergency section and didn’t know you bled after sections) and night sweats, didn’t know that was a thing either, woke up and thought I was getting sick one night, also postpartum anxiety and not feeling like yourself

That you know best for your baby! You are with them 24/7 so the Norms or the expected isn’t a one fits all… you know what you are doing and you love your baby more than anyone so you will ALWAYS do a fab job

Also… it’s tough the first month but things honestly do get much better - I promise! X

How you will be starving but with zero time to prep food, so preplan meals, freeze them in advance, pack your fridge with easy to grab items, get others to cook for you and bring it round etc

That and a massive reminder that every single baby is unique and not one is the same. When comparing your baby to others (especially when it comes to how long they sleep or if they sleep in their crib) remember it is all about luck. You could be doing the same exact thing as a parent with another baby, but the outcome could be totally different. If your baby isn't doing something at the same pace as others' on the internet, it's not your failure as a parent. I did this a lot in my early days and wisened up during week 6. That's been transformative for me.

That you need to lower your expectations of what will be normal, it’s okay if the only thing you do is keep you and baby l, happy, fed and rested. Every day will be different and the laundry will wait another day ❤️

That you won't be able to make decisions during labour, I was exhausted and in so much pain that I ended up taking drugs recommended by midwife that were awful. Wish I'd have told my partner to ask for an epidural for me