Preparing to become a parent for the first time

Preparing to become a parent for the first time

*collaborative post*

Today’s guest post is all about preparing yourself to become a parent for the very first time. I was 22 when I first became a mum, it seems like such a long time ago now, a different life almost! I don’t think anyone can ever be completely prepared when it comes to parenting but it definitely does help to do some research and get organised as much as you can. If you are expecting a baby and are about to be a parent for the first time then hopefully you will find this post useful.

Preparing to become a parent for the first time 

If you are about to become a parent for the first time, you are probably a mixed bag of emotions. Your bag will mainly be filled with two big emotions: fear, and excitement. While nothing can prepare you for the experience of being a parent, there are a few things you can do that will make parenthood a whole lot easier.

In today’s post, we are going to be looking at a few preparations you could make that will help relieve a little of the pressure that comes with parenthood. While some of our suggestions may seem obvious, you would be surprised to learn that for most, it’s the simple things that often get forgotten.

Embrace The Fear

As we mentioned briefly earlier, fear is one of the two emotions that you will likely be experiencing at times during your pregnancy. One of the most important things to remember is that being scared is not only normal, but it’s also necessary. If you are feeling fear, this is just your mind’s way of telling you that you are switching into parent mode. The truth is, you will start to fear everything around you and notice things that you will see as a threat to your baby, embrace this, this is your natural mothering instinct kicking in. You may be familiar with nesting; this is yet another thing that comes with the fear you feel as an expectant mother. Nesting will be your way of creating a safe and warm environment for your newborn when you both return home from the hospital. 

Embrace The Sales 

If there is one thing you should start to take advantage of as an expecting mother, it’s the sales. Something that you will learn from the day you realize that you are with child is that babies are very expensive.  The first thing you should be doing is looking at shops very closely. Wherever you go shopping, you should be looking at things for both yourself and baby that you will need moving forward. For example, for yourself, you will need a lot of clothes, both for the pregnancy and after. For after the pregnancy, you should be looking for a lot of loose-fitting tops and also some dresses that give you the ability to move freely and quickly. Of course, this isn’t all you should be looking for. Whenever you see a sale on baby clothes, baby equipment, and especially diapers and wipes, you want to be buying as much as you can in every size. Allow us to say this; there will come a point where you think you have overdone it, and you have too much, especially with diapers. The truth is, the moment you think this, you have dramatically underestimated the amount of poop that is coming your way.

Good baby

Start Your Nursery Early

By now, you probably have a vision of how your baby’s nursery is going to look. You, like many people, have possibly watched a ton of movies and TV shows that make you think that creating a nursery for a baby is a beautiful and stress-free time. So, let’s look at the facts. Have you been to IKEA? Have you had the joy of trying to assemble a piece of furniture with a name that you have absolutely no idea how to say? Well, if you have, imagine doing this, but heavily pregnant. If you want to avoid stress, make sure that you get your nursery done in stages and that you are doing things as early as possible. While there are many beautiful celebrities that glow and seem to love painting the walls of a nursery while eight months pregnant, the truth is, it’s not pleasant, in fact, it’s far from it.

Make Sure It’s Not Just About Baby

While you are pregnant, it’s quite hard to lose a sense of who you are. In fact, it’s quite common that an expectant mother will spend 90% of her time talking about the baby, baby things, and everything baby. One of the most important things you can do is make sure that you are still in touch with not only who you are, but also with everybody around you. You should make sure that you are communicating with your other half and still finding time to enjoy each other’s company. We, of course, know that having a baby puts a lot of pressure on mum, but from time to time, we can forget that it puts a lot of pressure on dad too. When it comes to the man in your life, while he may be amazing at supporting you, he will maybe also be terrified and need to have some time for just you and him occasionally. 

If you are stuck for a few things to do, you should make sure that you treat yourself every now and then, a mummy spa day can be an amazing thing, and you will leave feeling incredible. When it comes to family, arrange something simple like the cinema or even a little crazy golf.

Finally, you should also make sure you are keeping your relationship strong, especially with an impending arrival. Maybe once per month, set aside an evening for a date night. One of the best things you can do together is to keep the intimacy and the spark alive. While it may seem simple, it could be one of the best things you do for your little family unit.

While this has only been a few things, there are, of course, countless other things you can do to ensure that you are as prepared as possible for your new arrival. The final thing we should say is this, while your little one is still tiny, embrace every moment and prepare what you can. The early months are hard but incredibly rewarding, so the more you prepare, the more time you can have with your little one.

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1 Comment

  1. November 20, 2020 / 8:00 am

    Parenting is a challenging and exciting job. Every day is a learning experience for first time parents as you learn from your kids as well while you raise them to be good individuals. It is the most rewarding role for me.