Hellobee Boards Topic: How hard was the first month of motherhood?

Hellobee Boards Topic: How hard was the first month of motherhood? https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Wed, 13 May 2026 00:57:43 +0000 Mrs. High Heels on "How hard was the first month of motherhood?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-hard-was-the-first-month-of-motherhood/page/2#post-1263724 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 18:57:40 +0000 Mrs. High Heels 1263724@https://boards.hellobee.com/ the 1st month was hard with DD, but it was sooo easy with DS! i still thought the 2nd month was the hardest with both kids though - the sleep deprivation was getting to me, they were staying awake longer, and i think there were a couple growth spurts in there too. SleepyMonkey on "How hard was the first month of motherhood?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-hard-was-the-first-month-of-motherhood/page/2#post-1263711 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 18:47:56 +0000 SleepyMonkey 1263711@https://boards.hellobee.com/ most difficult period of my entire life. oh it was horrific. MsMini on "How hard was the first month of motherhood?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-hard-was-the-first-month-of-motherhood/page/2#post-1263681 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 18:33:24 +0000 MsMini 1263681@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I found the first month to be awesome! I had a section, but I was really comfortable, I felt like I really knew what I was doing (I am an NICU nurse though LOL), and I was loving all the lay down and snuggle time! Even though I struggled with inverted nipples, latch problems and over supply I felt like I had it all under control. I found 6-9 months way harder than the first 3! Running Elley on "How hard was the first month of motherhood?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-hard-was-the-first-month-of-motherhood/page/2#post-1263675 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 18:29:08 +0000 Running Elley 1263675@https://boards.hellobee.com/ With #1 I remember it being a really hard adjustment. I had serious problems with breastfeeding and that caused the most stress. I was attempting to nurse him and then pumping/bottle feeding him, cleaning parts, etc. He woke up to eat every 1-2 hours. I was absolutely exhausted and completely emotional. I was also a nervous wreck- convinced that every breath would be his last and just...terrified. With #2 (currently 2 weeks in) it's been MUCH easier. She nurses like a champ which has cut down on my stress level. She sleeps well and doesn't have the colic/gas issues that DS had. I'm handling the sleep deprivation really well. The adjustment to 2 has been fairly seamless. It definitely has it's struggles (most of them centering around the fact that it's HARD to juggle a toddler and a newborn when they both need something RIGHT AWAY) but I'm kind of loving it :) twoofeverything on "How hard was the first month of motherhood?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-hard-was-the-first-month-of-motherhood/page/2#post-1263658 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 18:24:04 +0000 twoofeverything 1263658@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Let's just say that at 6 weeks postpartum, I slammed the door to the nursery, holding both of our babies, and rocked in the rocking chair until my DH came in. That's when I told him it was the biggest mistake of our lives. Yeah...it gets better. I both laugh and am humiliated by that moment, but it happens, and NO ONE talks about it. I had already given up breastfeeding at the point, but the sleep deprivation, constant worry, and knowledge that it would be a LOOOOONG time before things ever seemed normal again was killer. I wanted a shower! My old body! The freedom to go to bed and wake up whenever I wanted! I felt so selfish, clueless, and bone-tired. FWIW, they just turned one year, sleep like rockstars, have personalities that charm the world, and only occasionally make me rip my hair out. It doesn't get perfect, but it gets a damn sight better than those first few weeks. HUGS <3 twoofeverything on "How hard was the first month of motherhood?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-hard-was-the-first-month-of-motherhood/page/2#post-1263655 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 18:22:27 +0000 twoofeverything 1263655@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Let's just say that 6 weeks postpartum, I slammed the door to the nursery, holding both of our babies, and rocked in the rocking chair until my DH came in. That's when I told him it was the biggest mistake of our lives. Yeah...it gets better. I both laugh and am humiliated by that moment, but it happens. I had already given up breastfeeding at the point, but the sleep deprivation, constant worry, and knowledge that it would be a LOOOOONG time before things ever seemed normal again was killer. FWIW, they just turned one year, sleep like rockstars, have personalities that charm the world, and only occasionally make me rip my hair out. It doesn't get perfect, but it gets a damn sight better than those first few weeks. HUGS <3 deerylou on "How hard was the first month of motherhood?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-hard-was-the-first-month-of-motherhood/page/2#post-1263654 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 18:21:25 +0000 deerylou 1263654@https://boards.hellobee.com/ It was mixed. The first two weeks were very tough, as I was dealing with severe spinal headaches, and chronic low supply. Breastfeeding was heartbreaking, and my daughter lost way too much of her birth weight, and developed jaundice. Once we healed up, and started a feeding plan that actually worked, things got so much better. My husband took three weeks off from work, and that last week as a family of three was really special. I had a little trouble adjusting once he first went back, but hit a grove pretty quick. We got lucky with an amazing sleeper, which lent itself to a happier first month, and beyond. chopsuey on "How hard was the first month of motherhood?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-hard-was-the-first-month-of-motherhood/page/2#post-1263651 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 18:19:24 +0000 chopsuey 1263651@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I honestly don't remember. I don't remember it being crazy hard, but it wasn't easy either! MsMamaBear on "How hard was the first month of motherhood?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-hard-was-the-first-month-of-motherhood/page/2#post-1263642 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 18:15:31 +0000 MsMamaBear 1263642@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Hell. No other ay to describe it. I knew babies were hard and I didn't think I'd just know what to do, but it was worse than I could ever imagine. Nighttime with no sleep, waking up at all hours of the night, THEN having to go to work and deal with 22 kids, I'm surprised I made it. Month 5 and later were great though. heartonastring on "How hard was the first month of motherhood?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-hard-was-the-first-month-of-motherhood/page/2#post-1263079 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 15:32:48 +0000 heartonastring 1263079@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Hardest month of my life, hands down. BFing was a major struggle for us. That, along with sleep deprivation and hormones made it fairly awful. illumina on "How hard was the first month of motherhood?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-hard-was-the-first-month-of-motherhood/page/2#post-1262963 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 15:13:11 +0000 illumina 1262963@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Easier than months 2 and 3! yin on "How hard was the first month of motherhood?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-hard-was-the-first-month-of-motherhood#post-1262033 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 12:17:05 +0000 yin 1262033@https://boards.hellobee.com/ With DS1 it was the most difficult time of my life. I was exclusively pumping, and we were supplementing with formula. He was eating every 2 hours and I just couldn't keep up. The second time around is sooo different. I'm successfully breastfeeding and can tolerate frequent feedings and lack of sleep. I don't have to follow up with pumping and washing bottles. Feels like complete freedom to me! Of course adding in a toddler to the mix and cooking dinner every night is pretty hard to juggle. septca on "How hard was the first month of motherhood?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-hard-was-the-first-month-of-motherhood#post-1262011 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 12:11:14 +0000 septca 1262011@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Difficult, but not because of DD. She took to BFing really easily and was a great newborn. I also felt like I took to motherhood well. The hardest parts were my pp recovery (AWFUL!), dealing with family expectations (I really didn't like having a lot of visitors or people trying to "help" when I was trying to learn my DD's rhythms), and finding a balance between being a mom and a wife - on too little sleep. coopsmama on "How hard was the first month of motherhood?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-hard-was-the-first-month-of-motherhood#post-1261992 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 12:06:38 +0000 coopsmama 1261992@https://boards.hellobee.com/ The first month was actually pretty easy -- DS had an easy time with breastfeeding, and he slept incredibly well for a newborn. Because he regained his birth weight and packed on lbs early (went from 9.3 at birth to over 12 at 6 weeks) we were given the green light to let him sleep as long as he wanted so I got lots of rest. Additionally, I recovered fairly easily. I will say that weeks 6-8 were pretty awful though, and this past month (a late 4 month sleep regression and/or teething) has been our hardest time with him! We are exhausted. tysonja on "How hard was the first month of motherhood?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-hard-was-the-first-month-of-motherhood#post-1261985 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 12:05:36 +0000 tysonja 1261985@https://boards.hellobee.com/ the first 4 months with LO#1 were pretty hard. LO#2 is 2 months old now, and seriously a trillion times easier! i don't know how that works! Boheme on "How hard was the first month of motherhood?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-hard-was-the-first-month-of-motherhood#post-1261970 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 12:03:03 +0000 Boheme 1261970@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I sort of don't remember. I was exhausted. And I was incredibly mean, anxious, and hormonal with everyone but my baby. jedeve on "How hard was the first month of motherhood?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-hard-was-the-first-month-of-motherhood#post-1261734 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 11:29:01 +0000 jedeve 1261734@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I found 6-8 weeks a lot harder than the first month. The exhaustion had kicked in, help was gone, DH was back at work, DH threw out his back and couldn't pick up the baby or get out of bed at night because his pain meds conked him out. At around 7 weeks I got on anti-depressants and around 8 weeks he started sleeping in 4 hour stretches and I felt human again. sandy on "How hard was the first month of motherhood?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-hard-was-the-first-month-of-motherhood#post-1261723 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 11:25:38 +0000 sandy 1261723@https://boards.hellobee.com/ So incredibly difficult - mentally/emotionally and physically! I felt like I was on the brink of a nervous breakdown...my milk didn't come in for about a week and breast feeding was so hard at first. I'm really hoping everything is easier the second time around Lindsay05 on "How hard was the first month of motherhood?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-hard-was-the-first-month-of-motherhood#post-1261702 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 11:22:34 +0000 Lindsay05 1261702@https://boards.hellobee.com/ OH the hormones. I would cry at the drop of a hat as well. And the constant guilt of doing something wrong like eating the wrong foods or unable to get LO to nap. It was just a mess. sorrycharlie on "How hard was the first month of motherhood?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-hard-was-the-first-month-of-motherhood#post-1261501 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 10:44:38 +0000 sorrycharlie 1261501@https://boards.hellobee.com/ breastfeeding was rough..we couldn't get her to latch correctly. aside from that, it was fine. my husband caused more strain than the baby. lawbee11 on "How hard was the first month of motherhood?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-hard-was-the-first-month-of-motherhood#post-1261491 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 10:42:53 +0000 lawbee11 1261491@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @Foodnerd81: I was going to write the exact same thing. Month 3 was way harder than month 1 for me. Month 1 I was still on that high of having a newborn and I didn't sleep but I also didn't expect to sleep. I was naive and thought she'd be STTN by month 3, and that's when the sleep deprivation and short naps really caught up with me (she napped all the time in month 1)! SugarplumsMom on "How hard was the first month of motherhood?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-hard-was-the-first-month-of-motherhood#post-1261472 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 10:38:58 +0000 SugarplumsMom 1261472@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Hardest month of my life! mrsjyw on "How hard was the first month of motherhood?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-hard-was-the-first-month-of-motherhood#post-1261454 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 10:35:49 +0000 mrsjyw 1261454@https://boards.hellobee.com/ it wasn't as daunting or as hard as i'd imagined it, but it was also the hardest adjustment period of my life: emotionally, physically, and with DH too. meredithNYC on "How hard was the first month of motherhood?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-hard-was-the-first-month-of-motherhood#post-1261453 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 10:35:35 +0000 meredithNYC 1261453@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Hands down, worst month of my life. I had serious regrets about having had a baby and my hormones were ALL over the place. It scares me so much whenever I think about having another baby, but I just hope that at least I'll be more mentally prepared? Modern Daisy on "How hard was the first month of motherhood?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-hard-was-the-first-month-of-motherhood#post-1261445 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 10:33:41 +0000 Modern Daisy 1261445@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I cried constantly the first two weeks of DS's life. It took about 6 weeks for me to establish a real bond with him above and beyond my instincts to care for him. Rubies on "How hard was the first month of motherhood?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-hard-was-the-first-month-of-motherhood#post-1261430 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 10:31:02 +0000 Rubies 1261430@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @hilsy85: I'm having breastfeeding issues with #2...So hard :( Bookish on "How hard was the first month of motherhood?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-hard-was-the-first-month-of-motherhood#post-1261405 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 10:24:54 +0000 Bookish 1261405@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I try not to think about it 0_0 Lindsay05 on "How hard was the first month of motherhood?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-hard-was-the-first-month-of-motherhood#post-1261404 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 10:24:22 +0000 Lindsay05 1261404@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @.twist.: @mjane: Good, i'm not the only one! All I need is someone to ask me if LO is fussy and it gets nasty. fairy on "How hard was the first month of motherhood?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-hard-was-the-first-month-of-motherhood#post-1261390 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 10:21:52 +0000 fairy 1261390@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I think the hardest part was the hormones, lack of sleep, and worrying about my post partum recovery. It honestly wasn't too terrible though! I felt like I took to motherhood pretty naturally. MapleMoose on "How hard was the first month of motherhood?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-hard-was-the-first-month-of-motherhood#post-1261384 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 10:20:51 +0000 MapleMoose 1261384@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Honestly it was quite a blur. My mom came over everyday for the first two weeks and DH had two weeks off. Mom let us nap during the day, brought us food, and cleaned the house for us. She spoiled us :wink: Surpringly I wasn't hormonal (wasn't during pregnancy either), just sleep deprived.