The Cries No One Tells You About

I had a lot of baby experience pre-mommyhood and it makes things a whole lot easier. For me, there was no awkward first days of learning to diaper properly or learning to dress a delicate baby quickly and safely. I already had it all down. As far as the practical aspect of baby care, breastfeeding was the only thing I had to figure out and we were incredibly lucky to have a baby who was an expert at latching from birth. Truthfully, breastfeeding, although exhausting at times, came very naturally to me.

However, the way life changes when you have a baby is something nothing and no one can prepare you for. Even though I adore my son more than anything in this world and I’m more than happy to have these changes in my life; it’s been an adjustment to say the least.

Truth be told, I was a little unprepared for just how taxing it would be to try and recover from the physical trauma of childbirth while taking care of this new little person. From night one, he decided he does NOT sleep in the bassinet we so lovingly prepared for him. In fact, up until he was 2 weeks old, he didn’t even nap in it. He insists on being on my chest at all times which, no surprise is not the easiest thing to manage when you yourself would also like to sleep at some point.

When I was a nanny, I had the ability to always enforce what was best for the children long term. I could follow all the rules and provide top of the line care at all times. It’s not that my son doesn’t get the best care possible as well but there are huge differences in the way I meet my baby’s needs versus the way I took care of children that were not my own.