Welcome to Motherhood

Hi, and welcome to being a Mum. It is a great job. The pay sucks, the rewards are great, there arent any holidays, but you wont care so much. 

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It is ok to mourn life before you became a mother. You may find that you arent the same person any more. That may be sort of true, but you are still you. 

I wasnt prepared for a few things, and that is what I wanted to share with you. 

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Lots of people have opinions on pregancy and giving birth, on feeding on using a dummy, on swaddling, on screen time, on sleep routines. The list is endless. Here is the thing. You dont have to take that advice if you dont want to. Sometimes when you are tired and overwhelmed you may feel like you should be taking other peoples advice. You dont though. One time I was walking to baby gymbaroo with my bub, a friend from mums group and her bub. This little sweet lady came over to look at our babies, only to tell both my friend and I that we were bad mothers because our babies were not wearing a hat. 

Well, gee, thank you sweet lady. 

One woman in a lift, looked at my baby in a stroller and said in a sarcastic voice "Cant She Walk?" I turned and said "No, but she can run, to evil bitches like you, now mind your own business" ok I didnt really say that. I cried and thought I was a terrible mother. 

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So you are free to read the advice on this website. You are free (and I encourage you) to actively ignore everything I write. Except for one thing. It is Ok. 

Give yourself permission right now to fail. If you find yourself with vomit on your shoulder, poo in your hair, and you are eating cookies from the packet. It is OK. 

Everything is a phase. Good and Bad. 

Mums like to tell new mums that they are never going to sleep again once the baby is born so you should sleep now. You are heavily pregnant so you cant sleep. 

Dont worry, its ok. You will sleep again. I dont know why women say these things to each other. 

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Be kind to yourself. No one gets it perfect, and we arent supposed to get it perfect.

Have some idea on what you want to be as a mother, but give yourself permission to change that plan. 

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Slow down Mumma. Enjoy your baby when you can. Take photos of bad days, because you wont remember them (and you will think I am insane for saying that). I only remember one bad night. I know there were heaps of bad nights. I only vividly recall one. 

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For all the hard times, and everything I did wrong, I look back on that phase and smile. 

You are going to do a great job, just remember, it is OK. 

All My Love

Amy