First Time Mommies

They are a pediatricians worst nightmare; they are blamed for their eldest childs issues and they exhibit classic signs of OCD. I always told myself I wouldn't be a typical first time Mommy because I've helped my husband raise his eldest son and his other two children from the time they were four and six. There is a BIG difference between birth and four years old!!!

I held out bringing our newborn into bed with us about the same time all the help left town. When you're up every few hours for milking duty and you have to work the next day you do one of two things a)sit in a chair with that Boppy thing hoping to God you don't fall over on your sweet newborn or b)snuggle her up to you in a cozy bed with one of those thingies that hold infants upright and keeping you from rolling over on her. I caved. A girl's gotta be somewhat coherent at the office!!! Anyway, bad idea #1. She liked the sleeping arrangements for the next year and a half much to the chagrin of the dog(who also likes his sleeping arrangements on our bed).

I never could stomach the sound of an infant crying. My daughter would cry at bedtime, so I'd stay and play or feed her another bottle or whatever it took to get her to not cry. Babies cry, sometimes for no reason, but mostly to manipulate Mommy. I figured that out too late. I'd do the checklist: Is she wet? Is she hungry? Is she hurt? No, Daddy didn't drop her tonight. Hmm. What can I do to stop the crying? Feed her, change her, check for injury and put her little butt in bed. Again, I learned 18 months too late.

I saved the best for last...At A's one year appointment, I asked the pediatrician if I could get a prescription for an Epipen. He asked me what I needed it for. I explained that I was worried A would get stung by a bee or eat something that she was allergic to and swell up like Violet in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and I wanted to be prepared. I don't think he'd heard that one before. He kind of laughed (not in a good way) and gave me one of the "are you kidding me" looks. Apparently they don't just give out prescriptions for Epipens until your kid actually gets stung by a bee or swells up like a grape and seems to be allergic. Well, how was I to know if I didn't ask? Careful how you phrase questionable questions to pediatricians.

If I had another one, baby that is, I would probably do everything my husband told me to do with A. I guess a girl's gotta do what she feels is correct at the time and have another one to actually get it right!!! Live and learn.