Confessions of a New Mum - As Time Passes | Motherhood

This post was originally published in October on the amazing Zanni's blog, Heart Mama. I decided to re-post it here today as it's truer now than it was just a short month ago. With Mia on the verge of turning 1 I am oh-so aware of how fast this year has gone, and I've been doing a lot of reflecting on those first early months of being a brand-new Mum.

The first few months of Punky’s life seem a bit of a blur now, looking back 11 months after the fact. As any new Mum can attest, nothing can quite prepare you for the rollercoaster of emotions and worry that you’ll suddenly find yourself on in those first few days, weeks and months.

While I was incredibly in love with baby girl I was also incredibly scared of her. Well, not of her, scared for her, I guess you could say. Being the oldest of 5, and having friends with babies, I had a slight idea of what to do when it came to the basics of looking after a baby.

Regardless, I still second-guessed everything I was doing.
I had doubts, lots of doubts, about the best way to care for this helpless little creature, about the right and wrong way to do things. Doubts about breastfeeding, doubts about sleeping, doubts about friends and relatives holding my baby for too long. I even had doubts about my doubts.

Being a bit of a control freak, and liking to know exactly what I am doing, I searched everywhere for answers. In books. Online. From my Mum, family, and friends. I don’t have to tell you that everyone has an opinion on the best way to do things with a baby. The internet is a murky pit of contradictions and conflicting advice, and at 2 in the morning, when your baby is screaming and won’t feed properly, and you feel like your world is going to end, reading all of that advice only makes things seem that much worse.

If there is one thing I have learned in the last 11 months since becoming a Mum, it’s to trust my instincts. To do what works for Punky and myself, and not worry about what everyone else in the world is doing or thinks. I’ve learned not to worry about spoiling her, or setting up bad habits. If I could have that time with Punky again I wouldn’t bother looking on the internet for different ways to get a baby to sleep, or to check if she should really be feeding every hour. Now that I know how quickly those first few months would go, I’d just concentrate on soaking up every moment with my tiny, newborn baby. I’d cuddle her and hold her as much as I want, feed her whenever she wants, lie down and have a nap together on the bed.

I hope I can remember this when it comes time to have a second baby. I hope I remember that the newborn stage is exactly that, a stage, one that passes all too quickly, and that, despite the sleepless nights and worries about feeding and everything else, this stage will pass in a heartbeat. I hope I remember to trust my instincts, to not worry about what everyone else thinks is the right thing to do, and to do what’s best for myself and my baby. Because as long as there’s love, it will always work out in the end.

I am still looking for guest bloggers to write their confessions on being a new Mum (and it's not restricted to first time Mum's you can write about being a new mum to a second, third or more babies) for 2013 onwards. If you are at all interested I would love to hear from you. Please email me at kylie(@)kyliepurtell.com

Previous Confessions...
Confessions of a New Mum Part One - Learning Curves and 'Un'Enjoyment
Confessions of a New Mum Part Two - Stitched Up
Confessions of a New Mum Part Three - The Part-time SAHM
Confessions of a New Mum Part Four - Mum Appreciation
Confessions of a New Mum Part Five - Losing My Confidence
Confessions of a New Mum - Kelly from Handmade Tears and Triumphs (Guest Post)
Confessions of a New Mum - Bron from Big Brother, Little Sister & the Baby (Guest Post)
Confessions of a New Mum - Jenn from Mountains & Musings (Guest Post)