Mommy Truth

I read about this over at My Family Loves It and had to put in my two cents. You know me - I always have a few cents of my own to put in. Discovery Health and Parent Bloggers Network are asking blogging mommies to chime in on this question:

What is it about pregnancy, parenting, and motherhood in general that only a girlfriend will tell you? Tell us what you wished you knew before becoming a mom.

My basic take on the topic is that there are a lot of things I didn't know or understand about being a mom before I became one. It is quite possible someone did try to reveal some of these to me ahead of time, but I didn't listen. Aren't pre-parents always smarter? There was no way I could understand how all-encompassing being a mommy is, how the center of your universe changes and what it's really like to have to take care of these kids 24/7. It's an all the time thing! I never really understood what that meant. And I don't know how I could ever explain it to a non-parent in a way they could understand.

There is one thing I can think of that no one told me before I became pregnant that I kind of wish I had known. I would have appreciated some practical knowledge about the changes the body makes during pregnancy and after childbirth. In other words, why didn't anyone tell me my boobs would get bigger? And sometimes they don't return to their normal size. It seems like a simple enough piece of information to pass on. And maybe I wouldn't have let my husband buy me all those expensive bras when we were first married if I had known. That's $100 (or more) right there that could have gone towards someone's savings or hospital bills or something.

I have one other piece of "wisdom" I'd like to pass onto new parents. Diaper changing really isn't a big deal. Really. If you think about it as something that just needs to get done and not something gross, it's a piece of cake. Oh, but you might want to have something on hand (like a cloth diaper or rag) to cover them up during the change. At least for the first little while.