Under my bed there is a box of motherhood-related mementos. One of them is a collection of notes I wrote for Heather who was six months behind me in her baby-having time table. I noted when my milk came in, where Julian slept when he came home from the hospital, when he lost his cord stump and other milestones in which I thought she might be interested.
Now that those events are years behind me, I see the value of those notes even more. Without them, I wouldn’t remember if we gave Julian a pacifier after a few days or a few weeks, and to a brand new mom, those are two completely different amounts of time.
Take some notes – or write emails to yourself – and keep them around for a friend who is going to want all your wisdom. Or for your future self. If you have a second pregnancy, you will benefit from your own insights.
As the benefactor of your wisdom I thank you. Ironically, I kept track of EIGHT FULL MONTHS of eating and sleeping data for both my baby sons and, when my friend called to ask me questions about it, I couldn’t find it.
And, to your point, I couldn’t remember a thing.
Ask doctors any questions. Never feel stupid asking. You are your child’s best advocate and she certainly can’t take care of herself.
This is such a good reminder. I am so thankful to have a slew of girlfriends who are great about sharing (most of) the pertinent information.
I’ve been doing precisely this! I started the “What I’ve Learned So Far” blog (http://www.weeksofexperience.blogspot.com/) when I was on maternity leave, with the goal of giving my pregnant friends a few pointers. Thankfully, I’ll have it to look back to for #2!