The Little Things I Wish I Had Known Before Becoming a Mummy

Becoming a parent is life changing in ways you can’t even imagine. I can remember my mum telling me on countless occasions during my pregnancy that the love I would have for Sienna would surpass the love I had for any other human being, and that it would happen instantly. Well, as much as I hate to admit it, and I didn’t doubt her for a second, she was absolutely spot on. The second that crying bundle of beautiful-ness was placed into my arms I was well and truly head over heels in love, wrapped around her little finger, smitten. You name it and that was (still is) me!

Of course I received many other titbits of advice but during the last 15 weeks (how is Sienna even 15 weeks old already?!?) I’ve found myself thinking “I wish someone had warned me about that”. So I thought I’d list out a few of the less important things (important relative to, you know, becoming a parent), but are important nonetheless as they make up the tiny moments of each and every day.

1.       Your baby will have this uncanny ability to know the exact moment you are about to sit down and eat. Despite the fact they were asleep/preoccupied/the happiest baby on the planet a millisecond prior, the moment you go to sit yourself down to enjoy a cup of tea and some toast, they will cry. They will want your undivided attention. They will not be willing to share your attentions with a slice of toast and a cuppa.

2.      Talking of tea; finishing a cup of tea before it goes lukewarm, in peace and quiet, will be a thing of the past. I have found myself on the sofa cradling Sienna with a freshly made cup of steaming hot tea just ever so slightly our of arm’s reach. I can’t even tell you the number of half cups of tea I’ve poured down the sink. Be prepared for that is all I’m saying.

3.      Something no one told me about was the guilt I would feel when deleting pictures of Sienna - even the ugly ones; you know the ones when she’s mid-cry/sneeze/burp and not looking her “best”. Yep I felt terrible deleting those even though I had downloaded them to my laptop! Mum guilt is a real thing and I could really do without it.

4.      Whilst we’re on the topic of pictures I highly recommend transferring your pictures to your PC/Mac regularly. You’ll take so many more pics than you think you will and if you don’t transfer them regularly you’re in for a long old session when you decide to do it for the first time. I don’t even know how long it was since I last transferred pictures to my laptop but I do know that it took me ages to sort through the ones I didn’t want etc...

5.      A final tip related to pictures: make sure you have ample space on your phone. Buy more memory/space (whatever the technical name for it is!) if needs be. Better to have too much and not need it than the other way round.

6.      Cutting your baby’s finger nails is probably one of the scariest things you will ever do in your entire life. I was convinced I would end up chopping the tip of her finger off. I left it for as long as I could before I couldn’t stand the scratching any longer and knew that I had to bite the bullet and get it over and done with. Turns out it’s not too bad a task if you do it while they’re sleeping!

7.      Breaking their wind doesn’t have to be done in the traditional “sit them on your lap and rub/pat their back” style. Over the shoulder and rubbing/patting their back also works. So does the motion of them just being moved from the laying back position they’re in while they’re drinking to being sat up in readiness for winding time. Also, placing the palm of your hand on their chest/tummy with your other hand on their back (so they’re kind of sandwiched between your hands) and gently move them in a circular motion so they’re pivoting on their bottom - this works wonders!

These are just a few things that spring to mind and with baby brain still running riot it’s all I can think of but I’ll be sure to update you all as and when I think of any more observations/I-wish-I-had-been-told-that tips and pointers.

What do you wish you had been warned about before having your baby? I’d love to hear about them.