Sleep now, while you still can, because you won't be able to sleep for the next 18 years of your life! And it will only be 18, if you're lucky!
Enjoy this time, because you will never have a free/happy/stressless/fun moment after the baby arrives!
Make sure you do ______ when you're at the hospital giving birth, otherwise you will suffer (insert most gruesome, horrible pregnancy complication you can possibly think of here).
Don't try to breastfeed, it will only make you and baby frustrated.
Do try to breastfeed, it's the best thing you can do for your baby, and if you don't do it, that means you're a horrible person.
Don't co-sleep, because your baby will die.
Co-sleeping was the best thing we did, we all got so much more sleep!
Etc., etc., etc.!
Out of all the unsolicited "advice" I've received, I've had TWO people, literally TWO people say something positive. The first person told me, "Having kids will change your life, and it will be the best thing you've ever done! We are so excited for you!" I was so surprised when this person said that, because I fully expected to hear "Having kids will change your life (insert something awful and negative about your life never being the same again)." It was a nice change! The second person was a complete stranger. We were helping clean up our church building one Saturday morning, and the daughter of one of the members of our congregation who lives out of town and doesn't attend our congregation was their helping her dad clean. She saw that I was pregnant, and asked how things were going, when I was due, etc., etc., and she said, with this amazing smile of sincerity on her face, "Oh, man. Having kids is the best thing ever! It will totally change your life for the better, and you'll wonder how you ever lived your life without these new people in it! I am so happy for you."
Best unsolicited advice ever.
I know I can't fully comprehend what it will be like, or how hard it will be to be a parent yet, because this kid is still inside me. But really, with all the horrible "advice" out there that people give, it's a wonder why people aren't having more children, or delaying having children until much later in life. People with kids make it sound like a death sentence.
One of the most inspiring things I've come across in regards to being a parent, was actually said by Chris Rock (go figure!) in an interview on NPR (see here):
One of the most inspiring things I've come across in regards to being a parent, was actually said by Chris Rock (go figure!) in an interview on NPR (see here):
"When I hear people talk about juggling, or the sacrifices they make for their children, I look at them like they're crazy, because 'sacrifice' infers that there was something better to do than being with your children. "
I don't know, maybe it's my naivete, or maybe it's super easy for Chris Rock to love being a parent, because he's rich and probably has a nanny or something, but I like that sentiment and it really resonates with me. Maybe it's because I'm becoming a parent when I'm older, and so I don't feel like parenting is making me miss out on a ton of things. Several years before I became a mom, I read a book called "I Am A Mother" by Jane Clayson Johnson (former CBS anchor of the Early Show, Latter-day Saint), and she talked about how everyone's lives rotate through seasons. We have seasons when we're carefree kids, questioning students, young adults exploring the word, newlyweds hopelessly in love, young parents who are frazzled, more experienced parents, grandparents, etc., etc., etc. The thing she said that really resonated with me is that everyone will tell you to try to hurry up and get to the next season, or that the season you are in isn't as good as another one (teenagers get this a lot--"Oh, you're just a teenager, you'll be done with this stage soon, and then you'll be a better person!"), but that this thinking is wrong! Basically, she said not to let anyone rob you of the season you are currently in, enjoy it and love it and learn everything you can from it. Nobody is better than any body else just because their life is in a different season, and each season has so much to teach us and so much potential joy that can be gleaned from it. I really liked that.
Any way, lots of deep and sentimental thoughts this time around on Ye Olde Bloggy Blog. I've been having a lot of them lately! (Especially about how to raise a girl in this crazy world. Seriously, I need to write a series of posts about that, just to get all my thoughts out of my head!)
