What is it like to be a new mum?

Me and A - 3 days old #nofilter

Nothing can prepare you for it. I remember attending the last NCT class with three of us huddled round before the start of the session saying, 'You don't have time to shower? Really? I just can't believe that'

But you don't! Or at least you do but you're very quick about it and you're dependant on a) your baby being asleep (on someone else...) and b) a partner/parent/friend/helper to keep a watchful eye on said baby and bang on the door at the first sign of her/him needing anything.

I wrote a few blogs a while back for Mrs Mummypenny's website (which I've included links to below). The skeleton ideas for these blogs were scribbled on bits of paper, at the back of a notebook in which I was meticulously tracking feeding and sleep times. They were written often in the darkest hours of a winters day that had slipped into a long winters night on the rolling circuit that was breastfeeding my baby.

A routine of napping...

It wasn't until I emerged blinking into the bright white days of January, when I'd managed (much to my own disbelief!) to settle A into a routine of napping 2 - 3 times per day (she was still NOT going to bed till 11pm mind for her night time sleep!) that I could finally dig out these worn bits of paper, decipher the words and form them into posts.

Reading back over them now, I'm glad I did because already those days have fallen away into the recesses of a nostalgic winter past; they've become golden days and nights, cosied up in our little nest, lit and warmed by the glow from the wood burner.

Though I remember the not knowing, the worry and the concern about keeping this gorgeous bundle of snuggly inquisitiveness alive, it's indistinct and I suspect that had I not scribbled those odd chaotic words down at the time I would not now be able to recall much of what I'm suggesting in these posts.

Rollercoaster ride

So what is it like to be a new mum? I think only new mums really know! You have to be on the rollercoaster ride of exquisite highs and soul searching lows to really answer that question. But here are some things I thought every new mum (and dad) should know when I was in that particular part of the funfair that is parenthood....

Happy reading, happy parenting and let me know if you find any of these useful!

7 things I wish someone had told me before giving birth

Your 8 point survival guide to breastfeeding

5 things every dad needs to know before the birth of their child

What really changes when you have a 3 month old baby

#amblogging, #amwriting, #baby #motherhood #motherhoodunplugged #newmum #advice