What in the first year was a lot easier then you expected?
I would say BF. I didn't love it but R took it really well. Latch issues for a couple days and then it was smooth sailing. Well besides her wanting to nurse 24/7.
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Cloth diapers, and after the first month, breastfeeding.
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I think being a parent in general! I thought it would be so stressful and I would fight with my husband all the time and we would never have any money, and that I would look like bag of shit all the time. And then it was... pleasant! Breast feeding went super well, recovery was great, baby was way cheaper than I thought she would be, we've had pretty much exactly the same lifestyle, and I look mostly normal. I like baby care and spending time with her. So I don't actually think there's one aspect that wasn't better than I thought it would be.
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Night sleep. She was a champ from the start and we never really had too many problems. She was sleeping 7-8 hour stretches at 2-3 weeks old and doing 14 hours straight through at 6 months old. She really never woke up more than every 3 hours.
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Nighttime feedings. Obviously, not my fave thing to do, but it wasn't as hard as I thought to do them. Maybe because they ended after 3 months?
Juggling two babies at once. But that's because they really are the most laidback babies ever. I got so blessed - twice.
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Hmmmm...... nothing! Lol.
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BF-ing was easier than I expected (I just wish we could have gone longer!), sleep (yes we have a magical unicorn baby), and honestly... the whole darn thing after 3 months. I was very nervous about my abilities as a mother, and I'm very happy that things are easier than I expected.
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@mskeee: you give me hope
do you think that you had particularly low expectations? Or do you think that you just have an easy baby + the right lifestyle/temperament to enjoy it more than you anticipated?
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BF was way easier than I expected (although I wasn't super into it and was really nervous!) LO still loves it though and even though we only do it once a day (he gets BM bottles at daycare) I actually enjoy my time with him. Its our snuggle baby and momma time!
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Cloth diapers, night sleep, teething, going back to work, daycare and time management.
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Sleep...I got real lucky with DS. I know I'm due for a insomniac baby, now.
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@yellowbird: haha, same!
Everything was much harder than expected, but well worth it!
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Going back to work!
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Post night feedings I think I dealt with sleep deprivation ok although I didn't have it nearly as bad as some of you ladies... But with my particular baby it was easier than I thought it'd be at the beginning of the first year.
Teething was easier to deal with... But again, the baby.
Most things were as hard and bf was harder and didn't work out.
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Parenting in general was easier as a FTM than I ever expected it to be-- DH and I are so eternally grateful that we were blessed with an "easy" baby. The first few weeks/months were an adjustment, but we've been super lucky with a sleeper, no issues BFing, and is now a great eater! I think we're in it for the toddler years though!
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I think that there's a lot of negative stuff out there that you read when you're pregnant about how terrible and hard it is to have a baby. I think that it absolutely has its challenges, but my expectations based on what I had read were quite low. I had numbers of lactation consultants and overnight nurses (and money set aside!) programmed into my phone to anticipate the horror and take care of myself. But then it was just not that bad! She doesn't have a particularly easy temperament, I wouldn't say, I think she's pretty average. She doesn't sleep through the night, she cried quite a bit when she was in the crying stages, and still has lengthy fussy periods at 6 months, and my husband doesn't help much with baby care. I just plain old haven't found it that bad to deal with. I think what I would say is easier than average is that we didn't have really any feeding problems, and we aren't super strapped for cash, although we def have less than we used to. She bring us a million times more joy than I anticipated, makes us closer as a couple in sharing her, and I enjoy hanging with her all the time, even when she's cranky or sobby or sick.
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The only thing I can think of is getting rid of her paci - she dropped it on her own around 9 months!
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Dealing with illnesses...granted my son hasn't been sick much, but it's okay for me.
Going back to work was also easier than I thought.
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DS2 and I have had a pretty easy BFing journey considering all of the transistions we've had to make. He started off getting formula through a tube in the NICU and was only getting colostrum swabbed into his mouth in the beginning. Once I started pumping enough, he got that in the tube instead of formula. We eventually introduced bottles and then breast first, then bottles to top off. We've come a long way. I was pumping all the time for the first couple of months. We now EBF with the occasional bottle and pump session. I'm so grateful it worked out!
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@MsLipGloss: jealous! DS1 was a paci addict! He hasn't had one in 6 months but I sometimes catch him trying to steal the baby's.
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Everything! Towards the end of my pregnancy/the early days with LO I was convinced everything would suck. Everything would be so hard, I would be terrible at it, DH would be a lazy jerk, I'd be so tired, etc but really, it's not so bad! LO is a great kid, sleeps good, plays good, etc.
Losing the baby weight. That is hard!
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Introducing solid food. She gobbles up all her food and opens her mouth for more!
Everything else was a thousand times harder. Birth, sleep, breastfeeding, colic..... it's been so, so hard!!!
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@MsLipGloss: DH and I hated in the beginning that she wouldn't take one but we are SO glad now. One less thing to break.
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Definitely going back to work. I was downright relieved.
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@mskeee: I agree with everything you said!
For me, the first month. She's only a month so I can't speak past that, but everyone prepared me for it being the worst month of my life, and it hasn't been bad at all! Sure, I feel like a milk machine and I rarely sleep, but it hasn't been hard at all. I had never been around babies and i thought it would be a really trying month, but it has been mostly just awesome! I love her to pieces and just want to be around her all the time! Also, c section recovery had been way easier than I expected.
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@mrsjyw: I was going to say pretty much the same thing. We were super blessed with a very easy, laid-back baby. I anticipated the worst (espeically after hearing horror stories from friends), so I was pleasantly surprised when he latched perfectly from the get-go, he slept like a dream, he rarely got more than a cold, and even with reflux he was a generally happy baby! We reach a year of first-time parenthood on Friday (OMG), and it's been an absolutely incredible experience.
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Going back to work. For sure. I thought it would be terrible but it wasn't at all.
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@JoJoGirl: Oh yeah, definitely! SAHM is definitely NOT in the cards for me!
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Going back to work. I built it up to be an awful, terrible, no-good thing, but in reality, I am much happier when I can feel productive!
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Sleep! I got REALLY lucky with Xander that he could always fall asleep on his own and was STTN (7 hours) fairly early, so we never had to sleep train! So thankful!!
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Our LO is by no means an easy child, but several things have been easier than expected (thankfully!):
-getting rid of the paci
-weaning off the boob
-STTN
-teething
-traveling (he is awesome on airplanes)
-going back to work -
Breastfeeding! I'm the first to BF on my side of the family, and they were highly against it. I EP the first 6 weeks of DS's life bc he was itty bitty being an IUGR baby so he couldn't properly latch on (my boob was too big for him, and I have small boobs!). We always try to nurse before each bottle feeding session of expressed milk and he never took. Then miraculously on week 6, he latched on like he's been nursing since birth and we've been doing great ever since!
Being out and about - DS is an awesome traveler and is totally chill! This allowed us to go out and eat with friends in the evenings and even take a vacation as a family when he was 5 months old!
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Weaning! LO was a bf addict and I was nervous about how I would wean him eventually. However, at seven months, he just stopped showing any interest. Since my bf goal was 6 months, I took advantage of the opportunity and we weaned without any issues. My boobs adjusted really well.
Basically, I had been dreading it for a while but it took zero effort or planning. Way easier than I expected!
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Transition from the crib to a twin bed. No sweat, even though I was dreading it for months!
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Recovery from birth. I was up and taking walks in a week.
Losing the baby weight. Between bfing and tons and tons of walking the baby to sleep it came off without trying (though I expect some to creep back when we wean).
Working as a team with Dh during C's colicky months. We had issues of course but I was pleasantly surprised how well we worked together during the difficult times.
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Functioning with less sleep. I got a solid 8 hrs each night (if not more!) pre baby and was dreading giving that up, but it's been much easier than I expected it to be.
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Work/work life balance/day care drop offs - I dreaded my return to work during my 4 month leave but it helped me feel like a human again. I thought I wanted to be a SAHM until I returned to work.
Diapers - I remember so much of the newborn care class I took seemed to talk about diapers and the time spent changing them. No big deal.
BFing with one boob. Nobody has called me out on my lopsidedness yet. oO
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Cloth diapering, breastfeeding, losing the baby weight, and cosleeping. All were fairly smooth sailing! I've been blessed in that regard.
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Recovery from the actual birth (both times) and handling sleep deprivation. I mean, obviously I'd like to be rested, but I was sure that I'd be a crazy person without sleep but I handle it quite well!
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Losing the weight
His nighttime sleep
& weaning paci & bottle
do you think that you had particularly low expectations? Or do you think that you just have an easy baby + the right lifestyle/temperament to enjoy it more than you anticipated?
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