23 MORE Things Nobody Tells You About Having a Baby

You loved 23 Things Nobody Tells You About Having a Baby, and I promised you that as time passed and I delved deeper into the realm of Motherhood I would share more observations. Well, Baby Luca just hit his 10 months mark and let’s just say if I thought I knew anything before, I knew nothing. Here are 23 More Things No Baby App, mother friend or anyone else for that matter will tell you about having a baby…

1. That first smile, that awkward toothless smile, will make your heart do a dance, and just like that, every little pain and woe you’ve felt in the first couple of months will disappear into thin air.

2. You will become addicted to your baby’s scent , like a junkie to his fix, a mere whiff of your baby will send shots of dopamine in your system. And you will keep coming back for more..

3. You will go from getting scared to handle your newborn baby in the shower to having him/her on your hip, while you make lunch, chat on the phone and have a coffee, yes all at once. Queen of Multitask

4.The profound love. This infinite, heart wrenching, deep,immeasurable love. *Sigh*

5. Tears.Lots of them. Happy tears, sad tears, confused tears, tired tears, satisfied tears, blessed tears. No these are not your baby’s tears, these are all your tears.

6.Vaccines are like self-inflicted torture. You take a perfectly fine baby out of your home only to bring a fussy feverish one back. As necessary as they are, you can’t help but resent them.

7.Teething is the evil force always lurking in the shadows. Just when everything is perfect and baby is sleeping through the night, teething steps in to turn your happy go-lucky baby into the Grinch.

8.Not everyone will comprehend this life-changing, challenging phase you’re going through and everything it entails, and that’s okay. People will comment on your absence and say things like “Where have you been?” when they know EXACTLY where you’ve been, as though to undermine the fact that you’ve just had a baby.
What’s not okay is to surround yourself with people who just don’t care and still expect out of you the time and company they had from you pre-baby. Let those ones go.

9.No you won’t MISS OUT on everything. You will just substitute one type of activity with another, that can be just as fun, way more tiring, and a lot more rewarding. It doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy or come to really appreciate those carefree nights out again or a vacation alone with the hubby, it just means what was enjoyable before isn’t so much anymore, because you changed and it’s a great change so embrace it.

10. It sounds very cliché but the truth is no job, no success, no vacation, no award can be more fulfilling and satisfying as having your baby fall asleep on your chest, because those little hands clenching you and that warm soft breath has entrusted you with everything. Nothing can ever come close. Period.

11. This one is for working mothers. Don’t apologize because your new status as a mother is suddenly inconvenient at the workplace, or you can’t go the extra mile to over-perform like you used to. As long as you’re fulfilling your job obligations and duties, it’s perfectly fine, in fact it’s recommended to give your baby those extra hours for the time being. Stop feeling bad.

12. There are days were you just want to collapse. Like literally just pass out. If it’s not the physical exhaustion that will get you then it’s the mental worry that has overtaken you since baby was born that will get to you. It’s won’t be easy but just give yourself a break.

13. You will go from wanting to do it all on your own, to accepting all the help you can get. Some mothers will understand this from the get-go and save themselves the trouble and others will keep resisting to the point of desperation. Just accept the help. And don’t be ashamed to admit it.

14.You’ve suddenly developed the hearing capabilities of a fox, that hunter has nothing on you. You can recognize your baby’s whimper in a room full of noise, and while everyone else didn’t hear nothing, you’re already by your baby’s side. Call it a sixth sense, call it paranoia, all you know is since you’ve had the baby you’ve developed blue tooth pairing.

15. You’ve never prayed more for your child to sleep through the night and when he does, you will still suddenly wake up in three times a night just to check on them. Go figure…

16.You will stare. Stare at your baby playing, stare at your baby eating, stare at your baby doing just about anything. The simple act of your baby being, just fills your heart with sheer joy.

17. Even if you weren’t a baby person before, your own baby will make you fall in love with all babies to the point where you are unable to handle yourself when you encounter one when you’re alone at the mall. Like seriously. Take. It . Easy. You are Scaring the Parents.

18. You will show and tell them about your baby even when they don’t ask. You will slowly come to the realization that not everyone thinks your baby is Amazeballs. Doesn’t matter, you’ll still do it anyway.

19.You will come to hate the doorbell and the house phone, and anything else that can interrupt your baby’s nap time. You know it’s not personal but it is, so if you can gather everyone and trap them in a soundproof room until baby awakens you would, but people will think you’re nuts so you just continue wish for it silently.

20. And suddenly you and your husband are humming nursery rhymes and Chantal Goya tunes, even when the baby is not there. At first you feel a little self-conscience but when you truly embrace it, that’s when all the fun begins.

21. Your first trip sans baby will send you into full out panic-attack mode. We’re talking hyperventilating, erratic Whatsapp messaging to whomever is babysitting, scrolling through your babies photos every hour or 4am demands for proof of life. If the worry isn’t enough to ruin your trip than the dreadful guilt will.

22. Speaking of guilt, accept it, because apparently it will also never go away. Maybe you’re working too hard, not spending enough time with baby, not looking hard enough for organic veggies, not planning enough outdoor activities, whatever it is, that nagging feeling will accompany you throughout the rest of your life. Thanks Motherhood.

23.It’s true when they say “Enjoy it, they’re only babies for a little while.” Just when you were dreading the thought that this was going to be your life forever, you look at your baby and suddenly he’s standing upright in his crib getting ready to jump and all you wish for at that moment is for time to just slow down and your baby to be a baby for a little while longer. Ok I lie. Forever. Because that smell…