A measly 3.5 weeks ago I was pregnant and oblivious.
I remember during the last few weeks of my pregnancy when some of the lovely ladies that I know who were lucky enough to already be mommies would say things to me like “Enjoy it while you can!”, “Sleep in before its too late!”, etc. etc. I know them all well enough to know that their requests of me were coming from a place of love, but I’ll tell you what- I wanted to punch them all in a hormonal rage! How could I possibly sleep with this baby torching my throat with a flamethrower and tap dancing on my bladder every night? How could I ‘enjoy’ the misery that I was going through? Surely those self-righteous Mommies had forgotten how awful the last few weeks of pregnancy were!
They say the grass is always greener, and I have learned that is especially true of pregnancy and motherhood so far. Now that I am newly crossed over to the other side, I want to (and have!) grab every pregnant woman that I can by the shoulders, shake them, and yell “ENJOY IT WHILE YOU CAN!” “SLEEP IN BEFORE ITS TOO LATE!” ETC. ETC!
I am suddenly, simply by default of having experienced childbirth and caring for a newborn, one of those aforementioned self-righteous mom-bitches, too.
I spent so much time toward the end of my pregnancy wishing time away. I didn’t revel in the relative ease with which I could run out the door on a whim to go grab a quick bite to eat. I didn’t close my eyes and breathe in the peace and comfort of relaxing on the couch with my husband watching marathon of our favorite TV show without interruption. I did not appreciate the last few mornings I was able to sleep in past 6am or nights where I could sleep for stretches longer than 3 hours. I feel I did not spend an appropriate amount of time sorting through my feelings about ending the previous chapter of my life, and I don’t want to start this leg of the journey the same way.
I am happy to bring you along as I begin to stumble, milk drunkenly, into the realm of Mommyhood.
Style & Heart 
It’s so true, hey? Very well written. I remember being just as frustrated at people who would give me the same advice. And even at those new moms who just didn’t seem to be enjoying their new stage of life with a newborn while I was excitedly waiting for my baby to arrive. Once the baby arrived the advice turned to “enjoy them while they are little because they grow up so fast” – that one still annoys me because being around a baby almost 24/7 is exhausting and there is no way to enjoy EVERY minute of it!
My daughter will be 11 months on Saturday and there have been many, many, many mornings where I have longed to be able to sleep in for as long as I want. To sleep without interruptions (I still wake to almost all of her little noises even though she is in another room). To be able to stay up late, knowing that I’ll be getting a solid night’s sleep.
All that being said though, congratulations on your new baby! So cute!
Thank you for the congratulations! I just find myself always looking forward to the next best part, instead of recognizing that TODAY is the best part. It is hard to keep perspective when you’re in the thick of it, so I am hoping to help myself remember the importance of every experience through this blog. If anyone else decides to follow it and I can do the same for them, that would be great too 🙂
I think it is a great idea! It will help keep you focused on all the good and fun things that are happening in the midst of all the sleep loss, spit ups, and diaper changes. 🙂
Beautifully written! It’s hard to enjoy every moment when they are riddled with challenges and when we look back it does look relatively easy but in the midst of it, it’s challenging. Looking forward to reading more x
It’s so crazy! The last weeks of pregnancy, you’re super uncomfortable and also anxious to meet your baby, and then the first weeks WITH the baby are so tiring that you wonder if pregnancy was *really* so bad. LOL
Congratulations!! 😀