Ridiculous Baby Bucket Items

As I said in my last post, there are so many unreal things they tell you to do before having a baby. Let's count them down...

7. Perform a random act of kindness.  Yes do this because you will become an evil shrew after you have a child. Seriously? I feel like I am kinder now that I have a child.  Never stop doing random acts of kindness.

6. Develop a hobby. Great piece of advice, because after baby you are going to have so much time for your hobbies. Save the money from the scrapbooking supplies in your amazon cart right now and put it into a diaper fund.

5. Address any problems in your relationship. I am not saying this is a bad idea, but if you have some bad problems in your relationship you shouldn't have a baby bucket list. Kids put a tremendous amount of stress on a relationship, so if you aren't solid, but the baby on hold.

4. Buy your dream car. Sure go ahead and spend the money to buy your dream car. As if having a child isn't expensive enough. What you should be doing is saving your money NOW to pay off the insane medical bills from having a kid. The reality is that you will be cashing in your dream car waaaaay before you have it paid off, to get something kid friendly, like the Toyota the Muppets are singing in on that commercial. Yes I want one.

3. Enjoy an all-nighter. Ha! You are going to have plenty of these after baby. Do the opposite and get yourself some sleep now.

2. Take a career risk. Honestly, now is NOT the time for risking your career. You want something stable that you can take a long maternity leave and not worry about losing your job. Also health insurance is sometimes not available for the first 3 months of a new job.

And the #1 worst baby bucket idea is:  1. Have someone else's baby come and stay overnight. WHAT?! I have never ever heard worse advice. First of all, this just seems creepy. Second, if your child wakes in the middle of the night, it is vastly different than someone else's child crying at 3am.  Third, you will surely decide never to have children after that night and then a few months later concede. So do yourself a favor and skip this horrible step.

Have you read some terrible pre-baby advice?  What was it? Comment below.

Pregnancy 1 vs. Pregnancy 2

Pregnant again? Congratulations! Thinking about getting pregnant again? Here is what you are in for...  5 of the major differences between my first and second pregnancy.

You don't have time to think about being sick. The first pregnancy I was so obsessed with every little feeling, because I had time to obsess. When you are chasing a toddler or tending to another child you don't have time to dwell on how you feel.  The 1st trimester nausea will be there lingering in the background... but you have diapers to change and toddlers to force feed.

 

You appreciate what your body can do, instead of being scared of it. I was scared the first time I was pregnant. I was scared of stretch marks, extra pregnancy pounds, aches and pains, that when googled... always say something about "preterm birth, call your doctor NOW". Now I know my body will do its thing, and go back to normal when it's ready. Yes I will see my feet again, in the hospital, about 24 hours after the baby is out. That lower back pain will just get worse, until about 3 months AFTER the new baby is here. I will have a full nights sleep, when my youngest turns 18.

Tired in your first pregnancy, HA! When I was tired in pregnancy 1, I took a nap or went to bed early. Pregnancy 2 exhaustion, is unbelievable. Maybe because Kenzie was less than a year when I got pregnant, so I was probably still partially recovering, but my 1st trimester was horrible! I remember laying on the floor of Kenzie's nursery while she crawled around playing. I couldn't move, I just had to lay there. 2nd trimester gets better, but by early evening, I would count down the minutes until my head could hit the pillow.



Baby gate open, 10 seconds later

Pregnancy workouts are a sham.  I did a lot of prenatal pilates, yoga and walked every day in pregnancy 1. This time my doctor asked me what I was doing to work out... I said "raising a toddler."  There is no amount of prenatal workout that keeps the extra pregnancy pounds off like chasing a toddler that has just learned to run. The sales clerk at carters asked me if I wanted to sit down because I was winded trying to catch Kenzie dodging between in the clothing racks. To be fair to her, it did seem like a kickass game of hide and seek.

The celebration is over. All the nasty things you have to put up with for 9 months is balanced by the joyful attention you receive in your first pregnancy. The excitement of planning your announcement to friends, family and facebook. You spend hours talking about names, what activities they will be involved in, and what your first born will look like. Finding out the gender is probably the most exciting part in the whole 9 months.
Let's look at pregnancy 2 (this is just my experience and Kenzie was only 9 months when I got pregnant again).  Been there, done that. Yes the gender ultrasound is still exciting. We found out we were having a boy this time, and while one of each is ideal, my dreams of tea parties, Barbies, and playing dolls with my girls were over.  I am sure there will still be some tea parties, but I have seen Kenzie play with her doll... it usually ends up being run over by Dusty, her ride on airplane.

Add your pregnancy differences below!