you might think.

Dear Mommy-to-Be:

You might be scared to death of giving birth.

But millions of women have done this before you.  Your body was built to accomplish this scary feat.  You might not know what to do, but your body already does.  And so does your baby. 

You might worry about your recovery and how much it will hurt afterwards. 

You’re right, it will hurt.  But not for long.  In a few weeks, you’ll be saying “was I ever even pregnant?”

You might think there's no way you can get pregnant while you're nursing, and not having your period.

That's a lie.  

You might think you already know it all, but you don’t.

You might think you don’t have a clue how to care for a tiny helpless baby, but much of it will come naturally.

You might think you can do it all on your own and it might be hard to ask for help.

And you really might be able to do it on your own, but 90% of the people that offer to help really do want to.  So let them.

You might think that your baby will never smile.  But then one day she will and you’ll know she’s smiling because she loves you and then?  Then your heart will melt into a puddle at your feet. 

There will be nights when you wonder if you even deserve to have become a parent because it is too hard and you are too frustrated and this baby stays up way too long in the middle of the night.

But this (like everything with babies, good and bad) is just a phase and it will be a memory in the blink of an eye.

Your back might be tired from carrying the baby that has NOT LET YOU put him down for the last 12 hours.  You might want to put him in the crib the second he falls asleep.  But don’t. 

Sit there, with him in your arms, and look at that perfect, innocent face.  Stare at him.  Memorize the curve of his cheeks and the tip of his nose.  Listen to him breathing and fall into rhythm with the rise and fall of his chest.  Because before long, that tiny baby won’t want to be held much at all. 

You might panic when other babies are teething and crawling and cruising and eating solids and _______ (enter every other milestone known to woman) before your baby does.  But try not to place yourself under that unnecessary stress.  Your baby is an individual and he will do what he’s supposed to do on his own time.  He’s just perfect. 

You might find yourself saying over and over I can’t believe she’s ____ (insert age of child by days, weeks, months, then YEARS) old already!  Because even though it’s cliché, these little ones really do grow like weeds and time really does fly when you’re having fun.  Turns out, it even flies when you’re not having fun. 

So try to enjoy every moment as much as you can.  And when you find yourself in a particularly un-enjoyable moment, just remember “it’s just a phase it’s just a phase it’s just a phase it’s just a phase.”  Think about it this way.  You’ll remember the good times.  The bad moments are just moments.  They will fade and become blurry in your memory.  The smiles, the daily joys of parenthood, the wonderful memories – that’s what you’ll remember. 

Love,

~C~

I'm linking up with Mama G at Growing Up Geeky for the Toddle Along Tuesday blog hop.  Today's topic?  Advice for mommies-to-be.  Click the link to see what other mamas have to say.

What would you add?