Dear Pregnant Merfett,
There’s so much you’re thinking about, and wondering. SO much unknown. The Cliff’s Notes is this: It all happens. Yep. No matter what you do it’s gonna happen anyway. All the things.
– In the final weeks of your pregnancy you uglycry in the shower. You’re 40 weeks, and have a 9lb baby. You’re scared and not in control. Imagine, that? You. The Type-A planner, not in control. You pray in the shower that morning. Opening your eyes to the life fact that this tiny human isn’t yours alone. And you’re going to spend many morning showers for the rest of your life praycrying about how to raise him right.
– Labor hurts but it’s not impossible. You know childbirth has to hurt. I mean, Eve ate the apple – so that’s that. But you’re so present and aware of everything going on. You’ll be quiet and calm. You don’t scream or cry or yell at Merfman. It happens. Just like it has to. It’s sort of like this head-movie, that you’ll push the record button on for life. Your response will be – yea, I felt it, but I would do it again the exact same way.
– The nurses aren’t mean. You spend some time praying about the hospital staff in your final pregnant weeks. You know they may laugh at your birth “plan” and they could ignore all your requests. But they don’t. They are nice and patient with you. You won’t remember their names, but they’ll always be faces you associate with that day.
– It hurts to sit. Yea, no one’s going to tell you about the fun parts of recovery. Each day is a little better. You take some Tylenol right after the delivery, but that’s sort of it. You’ll be fine. Tender, but fine. You’ll be happy to get home and sit on your own bed. Memory foam is like God’s gift to a new Mama.
– Breastfeeding isn’t tragic. You prepare for the worst. You know it can be really really hard. You’re determined. Which is good. You’ll need that determination when it hurts. It will hurt. But in a few weeks it will hurt less. Hang in there. And drink lots of water. You thought your were thirty before, just wait.
– You were right to read the books. You’ll still google and read more, but your time reading wasn’t wasted. In your new Mama fog you’ll pull out some ideas that you read somewhere and it’ll be good.
– Leaving Merfbaby for work will break your heart. You thought this one would be no biggie. Nope. Day one and you’re already sick to your stomach thinking about having to leave him behind. You don’t see that one coming. But, you get a really awesome chance to bring him with you. It works and it’s awesome.
– You hit the Baby Jackpot. You know you could get any sort of baby, and you know whatever “type” you get in the baby lotto will be the right one for The Merf Family. This is SO true. You’ll often tell Merfbaby how thankful you are that he’s the one you got. And it makes so much sense.
So, there it is. Take a deep breath. It all works out, exactly like it should.
Love,
3 Month Mama Merfett
The Merfett 