People who are already parents or caretakers of children would usually provide you ample of advise and tips about parenthood until you would feel that you are ready for everything and nothing unexpected would happen being as a new parent.
How wrong was I. Here is a list of things which I did not expect to happen:
1. I stink most of the time. The stink mainly comes from my baby's pee, poop stains, vomit & my own sweat. Until now, I don't really have time to shower until my husband comes home to take over.
2. Breastfeeding sucks. People usually encourage you to breastfeed but they never tell you how inconvenient and troublesome it could be. So if you are breastfeeding, stay strong and hold on for as long as you can.
3. People interfere, especially family members, especially ladies family members, especially your mom & your mother in law. Your whole life you always felt, your mom knows best, especially about childcare. But when it comes to your own child, you will be surprise how different you want to raise them and when your parents or parents in law interferes, conflict happens.
4. I became more observant, more safety conscious, more alert. Before this, I just couldn't be bothered with anything. Now, I have a watchful eye on my baby. Everything that goes near him will be scanned by my eyes.
5. I can actually cope with less sleep surprisingly! Before this, I was sleeping 8-9 hours each night. Now I sleep 4 hours in the night and short naps at odd hours during the day.
6. I feel proud of my child even though all he can do it shit, pee, fart, smile, babble, swipe his arms and hit my face, cry and many other less amusing 'talents.'
7. I didn't expect that some of my friends would feel uncomfortable that I'm now a mother =(
8. I didn't expect that some of my friends would embrace the fact that I'm a mother and willing to listen to my stories about my new joy in life.
9. I didn't expect that being a mother would give me so much more confidence in myself.
10. I didn't expect that taking care of my baby would give me so much frustrations and even though many have told me it is not easy, IT IS REALLY NOT AN EASY JOB. It made me admire full time moms.
11. I didn't expect that having a baby would change the relationship between my husband and I. It feels very different before as compared to now.
12. Suddenly, I feel the need and urgency to take care of myself because I have a life depending on me. Before this, I wouldn't care much about my health and safety.
13. Having the conflict of choosing between my baby or work. It is still a battle between myself and my family members.
14. I feel spiritually happy even though there are times I feel a bit lost, sad and sometimes depressed.
15. Before I had my baby, I always like to stay home. Socialising with my friends was quite a chore to me. Now, I can't wait to meet up with my friends whenever I can!
16. I was not interested in any thing related to parenting and babyhood, now I'm so interested to learn so much about it!
Conclusion, having a baby really changes you, your perspective of the world and your relationship with other people. I don't think you can really be ready for this until you are in it.
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