Happy Woo Wednesdays! Mistakes I've made as a parent
Happy Woo Wednesdays!
It's another heat wave and I'm drippin sweat. Hope you are staying cool. I've been a parent for almost a year and a half. The last 6 months have been amazing! Piper has transformed from a baby to a kid. She's miss independent like her dad, wanting to do everything herself. Sometimes, she doesn't even like me carrying her, she will wiggle her way out to stand on her own too feet. They grow up fast.
Her vocabulary is picking up. Some of her fave words are "nose, mama, ama, dada, bye, hi, please, happy, dog". The other words are questionable.
Today I'm going to talk about 9 mistakes I've made as a parent. The first child is the guinea pig, right? We all make mistakes, learn and grow. I'm sure most of you moms reading this are smarted and more prepared than I am but this might help someone.
1. Get rid of the bottle at one year exactly
If you have been following my ig stories, you know I was panicking about taking away the bottle. I've been dreading this day for months and I finally did it. I'm so proud of Piper and so proud of myself. Piper would drink (4) 8 ox bottles a night! I had to change her nighttime diaper in the middle of the night so we wouldnt have a wet bed (she sleeps with me).
I was so terrified of taking the bottle away because she was so addicted to it. It's hard to see your child want something so bad and you can't give it to them.
So the first 2 nights were difficult but not as bad as I thought.
The outcome was amazing. Now she finally eats. I struggled with her eating and we always said she's on a liquid diet. Now she eats carrots, bananas and pretty much anything I give her. It's a miracle! It's such a good feeling to see your child eat. She's seems happiest and less fussy because she's not always thinking about the bottle.
2. Get a crib
My husband and I borrowed a crib from my sister and it still sits in the garage. My sis actually wants it back because she is pregnant. We were too lazy to set it up because we thought the playpen (pack and play) would be good enough. Stu was in Police academy for 6 months right after Piper was born so I put piper on a bobby next to me (0n the bed). We now co-sleep and it's becoming a problem now that Stu wants to come back in the bed. Spouses should sleep in the same bed but Piper is now the queen of the bed and won't let that happen. Who knew? Any advice is appreciated.
3. Encapsulate your placenta
I heard and hear so much good stuff about eating your placenta after birth. We lose pretty much all of our nutrients after birth and we need to get it back somehow. I felt so shitty after child brith, I asked for an IV but they wouldn't get it to me. I paid the deposit to encapsulate my placenta but the doctor told me she had to send my placenta off to get it tested (I call BS). My doctor was highly against doing this because she said it was a placebo effect and not scientifically proven. I suffered postpartum and I think most moms do to a certain extent. Many of my mom friends said that they encapsulated their placenta for their second child and they felt much better after giving birth. Next time!
4. Give yourself a maternity break
I know many boss-moms, like me, that can't turn work off. They go straight back to their inbox asap. I shot a wedding 2 weeks after giving birth. It was hard for me to grasp how life-changing having a baby is. The first 4 month are very stressful. Don't worry, you get your life back. Give yourself time to clear your calendar completely to focus on the baby and resting. If you don't, you will be overwhelmed and it's not fair for the baby. Budget, plan and clear your google cal.
5. Baby Station must be perfecto!
Have your baby room and diaper station examined and checked out by a veteran mom. Stu and I thought we were prepared but we were not. I thought I would have downtime when I came home from the hospital but that wasn't the case. We were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Piper was screaming as I tried to painfully breast feed her and Stu was running up and down the stairs bringing all the baby stuff up. Declutter and organize your house as much as possible. This will help you not feel so overwhelmed. You cannot be too prepared.
6. Hospital Bag
Comedian,
talks about how they give you mesh underwear at the hospital, similar to what they put on a pear. It's true! I didn't bring enough pants and the puppy pads and mesh undies were not good enough. I recommend bringing depends. (They actually work and are very comfortable). You might feel like a grandma but at least you won't be walking around the hospital with wet pants. Bring pedialyte too so you won't get dehydrated.
7. Don't be so hard on yourself
I was so hard on myself the first year of parenting. I didn't want to be forgotten in the wedding industry, I was super sensitive to any mommy-shame. I felt so ugly and big. That's not the way to live.
Give yourself grace and enjoy this precious time in your life. You body did an amazing thing so be proud.
8. Be there for your family, not everyone else
I felt so obligated to take on all visitors so soon, respond to text messages, social media comment. None of that stuff matters. Take care of yourself and family first. Everyone else will understand.
9. Never leave your child unintended
This is common sense, maybe. I left Piper alone for a couple minutes and she got in the Advil container and was sucking all of the dye off of the Advil. I freaked out but was lucky she didn't swallow one. Yikes.
See you all next week!
Here are some fun summer photos.
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