One of the biggest trends I have seen on social media is all the posts "what people don't tell you about......" People always ask - why don't people tell us about this, why can't they prepare us? Well, the truth is, because we forget! Pregnancy, breastfeeding, and lack of sleep brain are a thing! When we are in the moment, we are not thinking of writing it down and letting people know. We are dealing with it as it comes. And by the time we have lived to talk about it, there is so much more going on that we have forgotten the other things.
Pregnancy, childbirth, and being a new parent is hard. It is an experience that is always different, no matter how many times you have gone through it. No 2 are alike. Which makes it even harder to help "warn" you about what to expect. Because if 1 mom had an easy and uncomplicated pregnancy and childbirth, they aren't able to prepare you for the hardships, because they haven't experienced them yet!!
I have 3 children, each pregnancy was drastically different. My 3rd child had colic for 8 months and the doctors looked at us like we were nuts because we didn't know what she was going through. We were completely unprepared, but because we had 2 other children, people thought that we would just know what to do (especially with my job!!). But she took it next level!
Some of the things that I have learned from my own pregnancies:
Heartburn is real and awful. There are many things that you can do to relieve it, however, some heartburn needs to be helped by something stronger than Tums. If the heartburn is impacting your diet and your sleep, it is time to speak to your doctor.
Tonic water works wonders for Restless Leg Syndrome. There are a ton of tips and tricks that you can do for restless legs, and some work better for others. I drank a small can of tonic water before bed and it helped me get to sleep. The worst part of it is that I HATE tonic water!! But it worked
Sense of smell is SOOOOO much stronger. You can smell everything. And you will also discover that some smells are more appealing than others. I used to go to Walmart and just stand in the tire section to smell the tires. Something about the smell just made me feel good!! But yet the smell of a restaurant with so many different foods turned my stomach - thank goodness for delivery!
Advice - everyone has advice to give you. Everyone
I work very hard to "keep it real". My goal is to help parents move into this next phase with a realistic perspective, not to sugarcoat anything for them. We talk about all the tips and tricks that they have learned, or heard about, we talk about myths and truths and how to tell the difference. We also have a long conversation about taking advice.
Fellow parents aren't purposely keeping things from you, we promise! We are just moving on to the next stages, and forgetting the rest. We remember the important milestones, but the rest gets overshadowed by the good stuff! And you will get there, you will get through it, and you will understand!