What to expect with a Newborn..

What to expect with a newborn baby in a nut shell is chaos.  For something so so small, tiny and incredibly cuddly, they can create chaos wherever they go.  If i had of known that before Hudson boy 1 was born then i think the shock wouldn’t have been as… shocking.

 

 

After years of trying for Hudson boy 1, 3 years to be exact.  My body decided to pop out 4 babies in 3 pregnancies in 4 years.  To say we were shell-shocked is to put it mildly.  Nothing really prepares you for your first child.  You can read all the books, which i did.  Panic, which i did.  Be super chill and what will be will be, which i was not.

So in an attempt to help anyone that is currently in the throws of panic of having a newborn human in their care!  I mean they let me walk out of the hospital with him and i didn’t even know what day it was!!  Ive complied a little list of Mel’s Top Tips to help you through.

Mel Hudson Newborn BABY Photographer Belfast

So here’s 3 to get us started –

Mel’s Top Tip No 101

Some babies are going to cry, they will cry if – they poop, want to poop, cant poop, they pee’d, want to pee, cant pee.  They will cry if they are hungry, just been fed, windy pops, they are tired, awake, just woken up, just falling asleep.

Basically they will cry but you gotta remember YOU are not making them cry you are letting them cry.  Hudson boy 1 was hit with colic at 9 weeks and this lasted for 7 hours every day until he turned 7 months old.  The screams where unreal.  I cried everynight for 5 months.  We used to have family come up because they didn’t believe it was as bad as it was.  After 2 hours they ran for the hills, i dont blame them, i wanted to run for the hills.  Then solid food kicked in and he became a little darling… so much so we wanted to give him a sibling.

Then BAM twins.  I remember telling my friend who had had twins that i was pregnant with twins and she laughed so hard and said… you are never going to cope.  I love her to this day because she was the only honest person in my life at that time. Everyone was hey it’ll be fine.  Then we brought them home and the real crying began..

We lived with crying in the background 24/7 for approx 9 months solid. If it wasn’t the twins it was Hudson boy 1 crying.  If it wasn’t one of the kids it was either me or Mr B!!  Our whole world had been changed overnight.

So remember YOU are not making them cry you are letting them cry. Repeat daily x

 

Mel’s Top Tip No 32

Sleep, you remember sleep? Its that thing you get to do when you close your eyes and when you open them again hours have passed and you feel rested, aww sleep.  Yeah you gotta forget about the good old days, it will only drive you insane.  Bubs just won’t get how lovely sleep is, sorry. To begin with you get interrupted because they are hungry or because they just dont want to sleep.  Then just when you think you’ve cracked it and are high five.ing each other in the kitchen, toothy pegs are going to start and you are up with sore gums, snot city and oh the nappies, well teething nappies are AWESOME.

So here’s my top tip.  You need to let bubs know who’s the boss, you decide nap times and during the day when he / she / they are snoozing you hoover, you bang dishes, you play that funky music white boy style.  Then come bed time Norah Jones that bubs to sleep.  Because they / he / she didn’t get a REM sleep during the day they pass out to sleep city at bedtime.  4 babies and they all sleep 12 hours solid. Put the work in now and you will be contemplating how easy this parenting lark is and bubs no 2 will appear.

So remember bring the noise during the day so you can have peace & quiet at night.  Also whoever came up with sleep when the baby sleeps is a liar!! Im calling time on that one!

 

Mel’s Top Tip No 213

This one is a biggie.  Pressure, dont be too hard on yourself, being in charge of a little human is a LOT of work. They are so tiny but somehow they take up all the room. Everywhere you look you can see them, I think its natures way of keeping you on your toes incase you get a delightful one that sleeps 22 hours a day…. apparently they exist, i didn’t get one! But thats not to say you won’t, stay positive.

Anyhow its very easy to get down in the dumps because you maybe had a hard day. Then the grumps arrive and before you know it you are both having a competition to see who’s the tiredest, grumpiest and most deserving of getting the last biscuit because you were both too tired to go grocery shopping.

Pressure you see makes you feel everyone else has it all sorted. Popping out a baby and everything turns into the Brady bunch just doesn’t happen.  “I should be able to still have my normal life and let bubs tag along”. Nope new normal is having to relearn everything all over again.  Leaving the house ill never be a 2 minute job anymore.  Trust me we are 13 years on and leaving the house still takes hours of preparation.  But your expectation that it should just take 2 minutes creates pressure and that just has no place in your home.

So the key to happiness is lower your expectations…. nope a little lower… still a little lower and there you go.  This little quote is on my wall of inspiration, keeps reminding me im the sane one in the house.

NEWBORN BABY PHOTOGRAPHER BELFAST

Mel Hudson Newborn BABY Photo Sessions CO ANRIM

 

 

So lets recap … babies are gonna cry, sleep when the babies sleep is a myth that only leads to No213 which is pressure.  What are we going to do about pressure…. we are going to lower our expectations.  If the only expectation that day is to keep baby alive, then everything else doesn’t really matter.

I hope this made you giggle, not cry, but if you needed to cry then thats ok too.

M xx

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