Things You Shouldn't Take For Granted Before Having a Baby

When I was pregnant people would tell me how having a baby would be life changing.  Mostly, how the baby was going to consume all of my time and about the many diapers I would have to change, but I feel like they didn't tell me about the little things that would change. Here are some of the things that I took for granted before having my baby:

Taking really long showers - I use to enjoy my long showers (mostly singing in the bathroom), but I had to cut it down to half the time! I am still breastfeeding my baby, so I have to be available when she is hungry. Most of the time, she gets hungry when I decide to take a shower. Now that I know her sleeping schedule, I know what time is best for me to hop in the shower.

Using the restroom with the door closed - TMI (lol), but TRUE. I am a stay-at-home mom (for the time being) and I have to leave the bathroom door open so I can hear the baby when she wakes up.  When my boyfriend is home, he watches the baby, but I'm home alone with her most of the time so I end up leaving the bathroom door open all the time.

Intimacy-  Yes, you should value your alone time with your significant other because once the baby is out, you are on the baby's schedule.  Finding time for alone time is hard, especially the first few months because you have to get use to the baby.  When you do find the time alone, (usually when the baby is sleeping) you better hope the baby doesn't wake up and interrupt (lol).

Enjoying a meal-  I swear my baby had some sort of sensors that told her when I was about to eat!! The first few months she would cry EVERY single time I was going to eat. All of a sudden she was hungry too!(lol) So, I had to feed her first and wait to eat.  Now that she is a little older, (if she's awake) she wants what I eat! So now I share a meal with her, which I don't mind, but can momma enjoy a meal?! (LOL)

Many glasses of Wine-  Occasionally, I use to enjoy my glasses of wine (yes, more than 1 glass lol).  Now, I have to make sure I have enough pumped milk to be able to drink.  I have not had glasses of wine in a really long time. Honestly, it is a lot of work for me because I have to make sure I have enough milk for the baby to eat. So, this means I have to pump and store milk for the occasion and then, I will have to "pump and dump" the milk that is no good after I drink.  I do miss my outings with my girlfriends and I might decide to do this soon, but for now I'm not drinking.

Spontaneous outings with my boyfriend- My boyfriend and I never really made plans before, we sort of just went out WHEN ever and WHERE ever we wanted to.  Well....., we can't do this anymore. We can't be spontaneous because we need to know someone will be able to babysit. The baby gets all of our attention and maybe because this is our first child, we don't want to be away from her for too long. Most of the time we are too tired to even do anything anyway. Don't get me wrong, we still do things together, we just have to plan things now.

Getting Ready to go out- Ok, so I confess..... I use to take an hour or so (maybe longer...maybe, sometimes....) to get ready to go out anywhere. Shower, makeup and then deciding what to wear, (all while watching my favorite TV show) it all takes a long time.  Now, I take twice as long because I have to get myself ready and then get the baby ready. Then, there are those days when the baby decides to take a poop that goes through her clothes and I have to change her again!! It's just impossible to get out of the house on time sometimes.

Shopping for myself- I know I can't be the only one that goes out shopping with the intention to buy things for myself, but end up going home with bags of new baby clothes or baby gadgets!  As if the baby needed more clothes! (technically, I don't either, but I like to shop).  I use to shop for myself all the time. Now, I'm more attracted to baby stuff!!! Everything I see is cute for my baby to wear (lol).  I think its the mom instinct (to think about the baby first) that makes me do this. I still buy things for myself, but most of the stuff ends up being for the baby.

Sleep!!! - The first few months with the baby at home I was running on no sleep.  The doctors let you know that the baby has to be fed every 2 hours.  Let me tell you, they were not kidding! My baby would let me know she was hungry EVERY 2 hours!!  It was like an alarm clock. I think I finally had some good sleep when my baby turned 4 months. At 4 months, she was waking up 2 times during the night to feed. Now, she finally sleeps through most of the night. Sometimes, she wakes up at 3am to feed and then goes right back to sleep till about 7am.  It depends on what time she fell asleep the night before, but she is an early bird.