Five Things I Already Know and I'm a FTM (to-be)

This was written a few weeks ago when I was in the middle of my 14th week of pregnancy. We had already announced it to most of our family, some close friends, and most of our coworkers. And here's the thing, all of the "friendly advice" came from people who aren't very close to me. Surprise! 

Take a look.

I’m currently pregnant for the very first time and most days I feel like I’m completely in the dark about certain aspects of pregnancy, labor, and babies. Even though I’ve received some very useful advice, I have so many more questions that I could ask other mom friends or I could read about. But I just haven’t.

Insurance? I have no clue how this is going to work out.

When should I start showing? I feel like at 14+ weeks I should be already…

Why don’t I feel pregnant anymore? I just feel like my regular old self.

Diapers? When should I start stocking up?

Breastfeeding? Mastitis? Come again?

You said mesh underwear and adult diapers in the same sentence. For real?

Although my list could on and on and on...I really do know some things about pregnancy, labor, and babies, despite all of the “advice” I’ve already received.

I know that I won’t be able to sleep as much during my next pregnancy.

I take frequent naps after school and after supper. I do know that once I have one child and I’m pregnant with my second or third or fourth I won’t have the luxury of napping whenever I please.

What I really want to say to those moms giving advice is…

You mean I’m not going to be able to nap every day after school and eat cereal for every supper because my child(ren) will need to be supervised and will require a well rounded meal? Huh. Because I thought I’d have the leisure of napping and eating whatever I’d like for my next pregnancy.

I know that labor will be hard and exhaustive.

Labor is, by definition, meant to be a difficult task. If I were under the impression that labor was some simple task, I probably wouldn’t be mentally psyching myself up for the big event...even though it’s still 6 months away.

What I really want to say is…

Actually, I thought the definition of labor was something completely different. I’m so glad you cleared that up for me.

I know that babies are expensive and require a lot of work.
While we don’t have a ton of extra income right now, I know that our priorities for spending will change. Not only our priorities, but our budgeting will change too. And those priorities and budgeting aren’t the only things to worry about. I know that it’s going to be a lot of work and that we’ll be exhausted.

What I really want to say is…

You know, we decided to start a family because we thought we had too much excess income from both of our teaching salaries, so we needed to spend it somewhere. And we really only want to see our child(ren) for a few hours a day because daycare and school should be the ones raising them.

I do know that my alarm clock will not be going off at the same time it is now.
I know that my child(ren) will wake me up much earlier than I’m used to now. I don’t like mornings and I know I’m going to look like a hot mess (every day, if I’m being honest). I know that even though I’ll be waking up earlier, I still might have less time to get ready for my day.

What I really want to say is…

As a matter of fact, it’s a bummer my kid won’t wake up to my alarm clock because I have a ton of time in the morning the way it is. All of that extra time will now be spent caring for a child instead of showering for 4 minutes.

Most importantly, I do already know that this little child will change my life forever.
I know that my nights will be filled with feedings and diaper changes. I know that my days at work will be filled with counting down the minutes until I get to pick our little baby up from daycare. I know that my life will change drastically. 

What I really want to say is…

I know and I can't wait.