New Parents: Things No One Warns You About

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1. Sore neck – Seriously! No one told me that I would look down so much that it would literally hurt to hold my head up straight! For the first two weeks of my little guy’s life, I had terrible neck pain. My chiropractor said that’s typical in new moms, but OUCH! I found myself laying on my bed on my back with my head hanging off the edge on too many occasions. I would also stare at the ceiling while nursing. Both seemed to help…
2. de Quervain’s Tenosynovitis – WHAT?!? About a month after little Mr. J was born, I noticed my left wrist was starting to hurt. I figured I did something stupid, and just kept on living. However, it only got worse. One day I was afraid of dropping the baby, so I figured it was time to finally visit the doctor. (And the hubs may have threatened me a little as well. He doesn’t like how stubborn I can be!) After an x-ray to rule out any breaks, I was told I had “mommy thumb” which is pretty common among new mom’s, particularly in their non-dominant hand. After a week of nearly 24/7 brace wearing, I’m doing a lot better! A month later I am still wearing the brace to bed each night, but the pain is 95% gone! {I’ll wear the brace more if needed because the next step is a shot – no thanks – or surgery – even more of a no thank you!}
3. Pumping boredom – I had read all over the internet and in various books about what to expect with pumping. Honestly, it’s been pretty easy for me (thankfully!). However, I was not prepared for the boredom that has come with it! While working I was able to check e-mails while I pumped (thank you hands-free pumping bra!), but that got old twice a day. (My inbox has never looked so organized!) Now that I’m home full-time, I don’t pump as often. But when I do, I find myself catching up with social media on my phone. Not exactly the most useful way to utilize my time!
4. Doctor appointments – Thankfully I’ve been blessed to be pretty healthy this far into my life. Other than a yearly physical, I don’t head to the doctor’s office too often. Now that I’m a mom, it’s completely different! Our little guy didn’t gain weight like he should have to start with, so for the first five weeks of his life we went to the doctor’s office once a week. Once we started supplementing formula (which I was originally against), he started putting on the weight. Even now, however, we have appointments every couple months. I know this is typical, but it’s not typical for me! Having so many doctor’s appointments, even though I know this is “normal”, just seems like a foreign concept. It’s taken some getting used to!
5. Closeness – I know people like babies, but I didn’t realize how everyone would be in his face all the time. I’ve never just randomly walked up to people (especially those I don’t know) and started shooting off 100 questions about the baby while cooing in the baby’s face. Now, thankfully I enjoy talking about the little guy. But sometimes I feel like I should have a t-shirt made that says his current age, weight, height, milk intake, and other “vitals”. Heck – I should have him wear it! They’re that close to him anyway!
6. Personality – Obviously every person has their own personality, but I never guessed that a baby could have so much at just four months old! We are blessed to have a wonderful boy who giggles and smiles most of the time. He likes to play rough, get tossed in the air, and spend time rolling all over the place. I can’t wait for him to grow up so I can continue to watch his little personality develop, but yet I don’t want that to happen too quickly!