Over five years ago, I became a mother. It's been a challenging, rewarding and mind-blowing experience. The only thing that makes me an expert on motherhood is that I am living it. I don't have any degrees in it, I had no training for it and I certainly make my share of mistakes along the way, but I know so much more now than I did on that very first morning when I held my first born.
I was clueless even though I had read books and talked to people. Ahhh, if I could go back and give myself a bit of advice it would be wonderful. I may not have taken all of my own advice, but at least it would have been there somewhere in my psyche. So what advice would I give myself right before becoming a mother?
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Oh man, I have all kinds of tid bits of wisdom, too bad it is all in hindsight, but here are six pieces of advice I would give myself right before I became a mother:
1. Install that infant car seat about a month before you are due because no matter how easy the instructions are, you are going to have difficulties and they won't let you bring that baby home from the hospital without a car seat and your hubby will make a scene cursing in the hospital parking lot trying to get that seat installed.
2. Get rid of half the stuff you put in the bag you packed for the hospital. I hate to break it to you, but you will not have time to read those magazines because you will be busy giving birth and then figuring out how to poop after you give birth. Oh yeah, and there's the whole you'll have a baby to deal with.
3. If you are scared and need help, get help! While you are at the hospital, go ahead and ask the nurses to help you. When you're home, ask your partner or your other family members. I promise, they will not revoke your mami license.
4. When you actually get time to take a shower, lock the door! If you don't, your husband will come in with a screaming baby EVERY SINGLE TIME because he thinks you have magical baby soothing powers. You don't, but he won't believe you.
5. Stop trying to do everything you did before you became a mother. It's natural that you want to default to what you know, but your new baby calls the shots now and the sooner you get used to that the better.
6. Let yourself be photographed. Yes, you will think you look a mess and maybe you do, but you are not in the professional model business at the moment. You are in the business of being a new mother and those moments are precious, let them be documented.
I have so much more that I could share with myself, but no one wants to bombard a soon to be mother with too much advice.
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