20 Things I Have Learned in the First Week of Being a Mother

I know everyone says you don't know this and don't know that until you are a mother, and boy are they right!  The following are just a few things I can think of off hand that I have learned so far:

1.  How fast you go from, 'me first' to 'baby first', it's amazing.
2.  How fast you can block yourself from projectile poop.  And the amazing colors it can be.
3.  The focus you can maintain on little sleep when it is for your child.
4.  At the same time, how that focus can be lost at 4am when you bring her into the guest room instead of the nursery to change her.

5.  How much support you have.  And how many people want to feed you.  Mainly chicken.  And I love chicken, so this works out quite well.
6.  How easy it is to forget to feed yourself.  Good thing we have so much chicken!
7.  How you can fall in love with your husband all over again watching him fall in love with your child.
8.  Yoga pants ARE pretty comfy.
9.  You will tell yourself a lot of things you won't do as a mom.  Yoga pants was one of mine.  FAIL.

10.  Hand me downs are a life saver.  And money saver.  My bff has stocked me for our daughter's entire life.
11.  For such a tiny baby, you will certainly do a lot of laundry for them!  Where did that little sock go??
12.  Pacifier clips are essential.  Finally got one today and am excited to not have to rewash the pacifier after the 9000th time in a day baby hulk darts it across the room.
13.  You can never have enough diapers, formula and wipes.  Anyone who gives you these gets to be called aunt or uncle.
14.  All nipples are not created equal.  I am not talking boob nipples, but bottle nipples.  Our daughter was sloppily chugging like nobody's business until we realized slow flow is the way to go.  And we thought she was just hungry!
15.  It will take you 3 hours to actually finish an episode of Mad Men.
16.  You will never sleep the same again.  You will check that they are breathing way too often and worry when they breath too loud.
17.  Newborns do not smile, they have gas that causes their lips to curve upward.  Even if your husband insists he causes all of her smiles.  Let him believe it, but it's what we now call 'puffies' because little baby girls don't fart.

I am puffing on your shag prop!

18.  You can actually stare at your baby's face for hours and not get bored.  You will try to memorize their face, knowing how fast they change.  And every time they open their eyes from a long sleep it is like winning the lotto.
19.  You will take too many pictures, post too many pictures and think, "Oh boy, now I am that mom."  And you are.  And that's ok.  Because the people who love you will be happy for you even if their news feed is 178 different views of your baby sleeping.  BUT I MEAN SHE HAS HER RIGHT HAND UP IN THIS ONE!
20.  You will feel you have found more meaning in life.  You will feel your heart fill to the brim with a love so strong, you don't even know what to do with it.  You will try to savor each moment while also looking forward to the next stage.  You will have a found a love you never felt before.

My husband wanted to add a bonus item he has learned:

"Little burps = big rejoices and big poop=big panic."

I will leave you with those words of wisdom.

We love learning about you, lil bean, can't wait until...right now :)
Bumpless Baby Mama