Babies are wonderful little creatures - I wouldn't trade my little guy for anything in the world!
But one thing I wished I had known prior to having him is how precious your personal time is. I took so much for granted - I did not travel like I could have, write more like I could have, spent more couple time with my hubby like I could have. And slept. Ahh, yes. Sleep. It is the one thing, besides laundry, that everyone jokes about. But no one really tells you how you will have to learn to function on less sleep and less time. But it's all worth it, right?
When your eight years-old kid is yelling at you (8 is the first puberty stage, I'm told) for "not listening to them," you may long for the baby days, so enjoy them. Still, most kids are a joy at other times, and I'm the first person to tell people to have children if they so desire. However, I will offer them the some ideas of things I wished I'd known while I was pregnant and had one last ditch effort to do them.
1) I wish I’d rested more.
Yes, you hear it all the time, but when you are pregnant, you’re so busy preparing for baby (especially if it’s your first one), that you forgot that you can’t do it all in one day.
2) I wish I’d worried less about the look of the baby room, and more about fixing up other things in the house.
We don’t do the home renovations that we have time for, as we’re wrapped up in fancy baby furniture, wallpaper, and blankets. If I had to do it over again, I’d put that money into renovating my house a little. After baby, doing things around the house can be... well, let's just say challenging.
3) I wish I'd worried less about the delivery.
It will be what it will be, and for the most part it’s out of your hands in the end. Take care of yourself as best as you can, and follow your doctors or your health practitioners’ orders. And be prepared. Your baby has a sense of humor when they decide to come out of you! Mine sure did, but that's another story altogether.
4) I wish I'd cooked more in advance.
You really, really don’t want to cook after the little one arrives. You simply want to sleep. (See also: point #1.)
5) I wish I'd spent more quality time with my partner doing non-baby things.
We did a few romantic dinners, (as romantic as you can get with a big belly), but I kind of wished we’d done a holiday away at a resort. Even with no alcohol, it would have still been nice.
Feel free to spread these words of wisdom to your friends contemplating children. It may possibly prevent some regrets of lost time when they are cradling that 10th cup of coffee to stay awake!
RELATED: Preparing for Baby #2 (or 3, or 4, or...)
Printer-friendly version