On my mind: 10 things I’ve learned about motherhood

Earlier this week, Theodore turned one month old! What!? That’s crazy. He still feels so brand new, yet at the same time, I feel as though he’s been with us forever. It’s hard to believe that just over a month ago, Peter and I were waiting expectantly for his arrival.

They say nothing can prepare you for having a baby and that has certainly proved to be true in our case! I don’t know what I thought the early days of parenting would be like, but it’s definitely been a period of adjustment!

I think it’s different for everyone, and there is SO MUCH TO LEARN, but here’s what I’ve taken away from one month of being a mum…

1. Newborn parenting is no joke!! After one night in hospital getting the midwife to help me feed him every hour, all of a sudden Peter and I were just let loose with this tiny little creature to take care of. He’s amazing, but, like every newborn in history, he cries a lot, he’s very needy, and it’s not always obvious what his needs are. Sometimes he cries with no discernible reason. That’s a very scary sound! But we’re doing the best we can to figure him out and while we definitely don’t always get it right, it does feel less terrifying than it did, so that’s got to be a step in the right direction!
2. Every piece of advice you receive contradicts every other piece of advice. I’ve had contradictory advice from different midwives, from friends, from the Internet, and from the few parenting books I’ve read (started reading, at least!). I think the takeaway for me is: Screw advice, do what makes sense.
3. Breastfeeding is super hard. How have we survived as a species!? It didn’t come naturally to either me or the baby. Luckily we got past it and now he eats like a little champion and is gaining loads of weight (too much, some might say – I’m worried I won’t be able to carry him soon at this rate!)
4. Your hormones make you kind of crazy. For example: the video for Avacii’s The Nights makes me cry every time it comes on. Which, if you have 4Music in the background like I do, is quite often. It’s the bits where he’s with his dad and particularly the bit where he is reading old letters from his dad where his dad writes how proud he is of him. Gets me every time! I’d like to think that our son won’t be a long-haired, extreme sports graffiti artist, but if he is, I’ll still be proud of him, and whatever he does I hope he lives a life he will remember. (This is all a roundabout way of saying I cry a lot these days!)
5. Single parents should be celebrated like rock stars. I could NEVER have got this far without the help and support of my husband. How the hell do people do this on their own!?
6. There is NO TIME. Between feeding 9/10 times a day (each time taking up to an hour, sometimes more), and trying to get sleep in wherever I can, the day is over before you know it and I have done nothing. Nothing! It’s quite a strange experience…
7. You will have at least 2/3 conversations about poo every day.
8. It gets easier. And then harder. And then easier again. And then harder again. I guess what I’m saying is: no two days are the same. Life becomes very unpredictable!
9. Every time they do something for the first time, your heart will burst with pride. I swear, no baby has ever smiled before. On his one month birthday, he imitated me doing a kissy face at him, complete with noise, as if he was blowing me a kiss and I almost died of cute.
10. You learn something new every day, do here’s to a month of intense learning so far, and much more to come!

Also on my mind this week:

• This video of men accidentally catcalling their mothers
• The value of remembering the ordinary

What’s been on your brain lately?