https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 23 Jun 2026 14:48:48 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-was-harder-then-you-expected/page/2#post-1348260 Wed, 15 Jan 2014 02:00:52 +0000 MamaMagpie 1348260@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Breastfeeding for sure, and the anxiety that went along with having supply issues. It was the hardest thing I've ever done, and I'm amazed we've made it to four months (although we so have to supplement some now that I've gone back to work and can't pump enough to keep up with him).</p> <p>PPD...I got through it and feel better now but I still have days that are pretty low. I can remember the first time I felt bonded to him and it was a lot later than I would've expected, at 3.5 weeks.</p> <p>The balance of caretaking between DH and I. He wasn't as hands on as I'd thought he'd be and I was devastated. He thought he was helping enough, but just had no idea. He went back to work just 6 days after DS was born and I think he just literally didn't get how much work went into taking care of the baby. I started to feel like a single parent, and it absolutely affected our marriage. However, now that I've gone back to work and DH has the baby three days a week on his own, it's like night and day and I finally feel the joy everyone talks about! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-was-harder-then-you-expected/page/2#post-1348242 Wed, 15 Jan 2014 01:18:14 +0000 dojo 1348242@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Breastfeeding for sure. I had no idea. It's great now and we are going strong at nearly 11 months but the first 6 weeks or so were horrendous and I don't know why I didn't get any help. Also the pumping and the pressure to keep my supply up. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-was-harder-then-you-expected/page/2#post-1348213 Wed, 15 Jan 2014 00:46:04 +0000 Running Elley 1348213@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@HLK208: Seriously. The guilt is ridiculous! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-was-harder-then-you-expected/page/2#post-1348210 Wed, 15 Jan 2014 00:44:23 +0000 HLK208 1348210@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Guilt. I even feel guilty when DH plays with them while I get ready for the day, which is crazy since they are his kids too!</p> <p>Time for myself is more rare than I ever expected. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-was-harder-then-you-expected/page/2#post-1348193 Wed, 15 Jan 2014 00:26:54 +0000 DigAPony 1348193@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>How hard it is to get him to sleep and then STAY asleep. Ugh. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-was-harder-then-you-expected/page/2#post-1348188 Wed, 15 Jan 2014 00:20:25 +0000 CupQuakeWalk 1348188@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Nursing<br /> The anxiety &amp; worry<br /> The inability to go anywhere without packing and planning<br /> Having the energy and mental capacity to do my classwork </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-was-harder-then-you-expected/page/2#post-1348178 Wed, 15 Jan 2014 00:14:58 +0000 Rainbow Sprinkles 1348178@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Hmm...i guess sleep.</p> <p>I am adjusted to being sleep deprived now, but it is crazy having a twenty-month old who still wakes 2-3 times at night.</p> <p>Honestly, i think the hardest part of parenting is being 37-40 weeks pregnant. The end friggin' blows. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-was-harder-then-you-expected/page/2#post-1348169 Wed, 15 Jan 2014 00:09:51 +0000 Arden 1348169@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The PPD/PTSD as a result of her birth. I really didn't think I'd get PPD at all and here I am still struggling 10 months later.</p> <p>Insomnia. </p> <p>Also driving anywhere - she HATES the car seat. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-was-harder-then-you-expected/page/2#post-1348150 Wed, 15 Jan 2014 00:01:26 +0000 Corduroy 1348150@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Sex! DH &amp; I were not prepared to go 10 months pp without. It put more strain on our marriage than we needed. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-was-harder-then-you-expected/page/2#post-1348127 Tue, 14 Jan 2014 23:46:25 +0000 Kimberlybee 1348127@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Insomnia...everyone would tell me to sleep when the baby sleeps but I just can not fall asleep right away like I use to. It's getting better now though, finally! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-was-harder-then-you-expected/page/2#post-1348070 Tue, 14 Jan 2014 23:05:24 +0000 mrs.shinerbock 1348070@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Breastfeeding - I knew it would be hard, but I didn't really realize what being the only person who could feed her meant. </p> <p>Also- being the only person who can get her to sleep, once she's there, she sleeps, but getting there is difficult for anyone else to do, including DH. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-was-harder-then-you-expected/page/2#post-1348053 Tue, 14 Jan 2014 22:51:41 +0000 autumnlove 1348053@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Naps and breastfeeding for the first month with LO 1. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-was-harder-then-you-expected/page/2#post-1348052 Tue, 14 Jan 2014 22:51:27 +0000 Espion 1348052@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Breastfeeding. Having no supply makes me feel like a failure. :(</p> <p>And naps, well, we can almost never get him to nap, but we live with it because he has been sleeping pretty great at night lately knockonwood. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-was-harder-then-you-expected/page/2#post-1348042 Tue, 14 Jan 2014 22:43:30 +0000 lawbee11 1348042@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Naps. They're great now, but they were awful for months no matter what I did. </p> <p>Breastfeeding. Physically it was easier than I expected (she latched on great, milk came in early, etc.) but it's so hard being the only one that can feed her (bottle strike) and just not being able to have a night away or only being able to go out for a few hours after she goes to sleep cause she may wake up to nurse. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-was-harder-then-you-expected/page/2#post-1348031 Tue, 14 Jan 2014 22:35:27 +0000 shopaholic 1348031@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Naps, hands down! People always told me babies slept so much, basically just eat, sleep, poop. So not true for our little life of the party! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-was-harder-then-you-expected/page/2#post-1348002 Tue, 14 Jan 2014 22:21:45 +0000 .twist. 1348002@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Sleep. I have always been so good with children, I took for granted that I wasn't the one training them and staying up with them and I thought I could take it on easily. Not so. It's the hardest thing I've ever done and I've since realized I have little patience for it. The next person who asks if my baby is sleeping through the night yet is going to get knocked out. Not really, but that's how I feel. That's how bad it is. </p> <p>Also the isolation.... That + no sleep = paranoia and self doubt. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-was-harder-then-you-expected/page/2#post-1347950 Tue, 14 Jan 2014 21:56:55 +0000 Mrs. Tiger 1347950@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Cutting nails! DS1 had eczema and I had to cut his nails so short so he couldnt scratch as much, and it drove me insane. With DS2, nothing has been easy :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-was-harder-then-you-expected/page/2#post-1347940 Tue, 14 Jan 2014 21:53:32 +0000 mrsbookworm 1347940@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Sleeping and not knowing what he wants when he's whining. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-was-harder-then-you-expected/page/2#post-1347418 Tue, 14 Jan 2014 18:51:42 +0000 Grace 1347418@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Definitely the isolation. That shocked me so much and i was not prepared. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-was-harder-then-you-expected/page/2#post-1347395 Tue, 14 Jan 2014 18:34:53 +0000 Running Elley 1347395@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Mommy guilt (about everything) and the worry. It's constant. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-was-harder-then-you-expected#post-1347350 Tue, 14 Jan 2014 18:17:57 +0000 sarah.clarisse 1347350@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Naps! Almost three months in and it's the one thing that frustrates me. Every day I spend so much time hoping for and trying to coax a nap out of him! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-was-harder-then-you-expected#post-1347343 Tue, 14 Jan 2014 18:13:41 +0000 twoofeverything 1347343@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Feeding. We were committed to keeping them on the same schedule, which meant feeding them (more-or-less) simultaneously. I stopped breastfeeding at 3 weeks and was by myself 10-11 hours/day, so figuring out the mechanics (without resorting to backbreaking measures) was tricky. Thank goodness DS figured out how to hold a bottle very early, and in the meantime, we invented some very clever techniques!</p> <p>Sleep. We especially struggled with the crib transition, naps, and swaddle weaning. It wasn't so much the how-to...but the emotional stress was tough on each of us and our marriage. I knew that DH needed a good night of sleep to be able to function at work, and I felt that I should do the MOTN wakeups as the SAH parent. But with twins, that was nearly impossible. I secretly felt a lot of pressure to get them to STTN because I knew how much of a toll the wakeups had on DH. We got them there at about 5 months and have never looked back, but I think it's 50% stubbornness (mine, especially), and 50% luck. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-was-harder-then-you-expected#post-1346968 Tue, 14 Jan 2014 16:19:44 +0000 Foodnerd81 1346968@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Sleep. We are at a tolerable place now but for a while I really never thought we'd make it. I expected that right away but got lulled into a false sense of security when she was doing OK early one, then it all hit the fan at 2.5 months. That's when I truly wondered what we were thinking, and how on earth anyone in their right mind would have a second. </p> <p>Luckily C was a pretty good, discreet breastfeeder early on, when she was eating all the time. I could just throw a blanket over my shoulder, tuck her under there with a boob, and eat an entire meal one handed, so that helped so much with the isolation. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-was-harder-then-you-expected#post-1346948 Tue, 14 Jan 2014 16:12:21 +0000 MapleMoose 1346948@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Breastfeeding. I ended up pumping and supplementing. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-was-harder-then-you-expected#post-1346878 Tue, 14 Jan 2014 15:55:28 +0000 daniellemybelle 1346878@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The transition to being a parent - it felt like a crash landing. No one can prepare you for how much your life changes.</p> <p>Nursing has been harder than I expected, too. I expected sleep deprivation so while that has really sucked, I wouldn't say it was harder. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-was-harder-then-you-expected#post-1346849 Tue, 14 Jan 2014 15:45:47 +0000 babypugs 1346849@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The fear of germs! I have a great immune system, so I was surprised how icked out I got about exposing LO to anything! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-was-harder-then-you-expected#post-1346732 Tue, 14 Jan 2014 15:16:46 +0000 yellowbird 1346732@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The isolation. Definitely. Especially learning how to breastfeed and people would come over in the early days and I had to lock myself in the bedroom so I could get her to latch. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-was-harder-then-you-expected#post-1346509 Tue, 14 Jan 2014 14:32:02 +0000 doodlepoodle 1346509@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Aside from nursing/newborn phase...the anxiety I have. I am in a constant state of fear that something will happen to one of the three of us. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-was-harder-then-you-expected#post-1346496 Tue, 14 Jan 2014 14:29:43 +0000 Purpledaisy 1346496@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Post partum hormones. I didn't even have ppd and I was a mess! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-was-harder-then-you-expected#post-1346430 Tue, 14 Jan 2014 14:16:52 +0000 Chocoholic 1346430@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DS is only 2 weeks but so far I would say breastfeeding. I knew it wasn't going to be easy but I had no idea it would be so difficult! </p>