This is a product-provided, sponsored conversation that contains affiliate links. I received one bottle of Colief Infant Drops for my own personal use. All opinions, text and experiences are my own.
There are times that I look back and think to myself that despite all of the pregnancy and parenting books there are still things that you will learn or need to learn when you become a new mom. Like the amount of blood a woman seems to shed during labor and after is far higher than I thought possible without dying. The same goes for your tolerance to pain and your ability to block things out. But the following 5 things are the ones that I wish someone had told me before I became a mom. I wouldn’t have been sweating them so much all the time.
1. All babies (children in general) are different – Since I’ve become a mother I’ve heard this from lots of other mothers also. Especially mothers with more than 2 children as that is all I have. Both of my children are different in nearly every way. The way they came into the world, the way they look, and their personalities. They are like night and day. It’s best to go with the flow and learn and adapt to your children’s differences and embrace them. Don’t make special privileges for them though. Life should be equal in parenting siblings.
2. Gross becomes tolerable – Showering every day is a thing of the past unless you have a nanny in your house. Having poop on your hands probably happens at least once during the day. You might even have spit up in your hair but it’s ok because your baby just giggled for the first time. Both of mine had tummy issues and only seemed to spit up on me instead of their father. Life is a mess when you add kids into the equation but it’s a fun mess. There is a whole chapter missing in the pregnancy books about the gross things your body does to push a baby out and healing after the baby arrives.
3. Colic sucks – I’ve talked about this before with some great tips from Dr. Sears but it is something that has become more apparent now. We are told not to eat certain things while pregnant but there has been a rise in conversation about GMOs and their effects on autism, allergies, and other illnesses. It’s also something that affects our babies that are breastfeeding. Generally, it’s a food sensitivity or allergy that is causing the discomfort and colic in our little ones. One tip is to try. Colief contains the enzyme lactase, which eases digestion, thereby reducing the lengthy bouts of fussiness and crying that is associated with colic. It’s safe, effective, and clinically-studied to help ease digestion. Check out The ABC’s of Colic: Answers to Baby Colic and Digestion from Colief video.
4. You can function on less sleep than they said – Not only can you get by without 8 hours of sleep you have inherited a form of sleep that only Mothers have. It’s like an additional superpower. Being able to hear what is going on around you and get up the moment you need to. But despite cramming your life into the short few hours that you get after your kids go to bed and when you go to sleep, you should try to get those 8 hours so you don’t get sick or overstressed.
5. Cleaning counts as exercise – I don’t know about you but I don’t have time to go to the gym. Plus, kids make a mess, every. single. day. So picking up after them (and your husband) totally counts as exercise, or at least hitting that 10,000 steps count you are supposed to hit. I can break a mad sweat vacuuming the floor and bending over to pick up LEGO’s that I just stepped on in agonizing pain.
The one thing I heard about but never quite understood though was how happy I would become when I became a mom. It’s my proudest achievement. My heart is bigger than I thought possible. There is a type of love I didn’t know was possible. It’s extremely rewarding even though I’m overweight, sleep-deprived, and smelly.
