Things I Had Forgotten About Newborns…

…that I’m quickly remembering

Newborns feed.  A lot.  An awful lot.  In fact, in the last 8 days, that’s really all Little Pea has done.  I’ve barely seen his whole face, just one half at a time while it’s butted up against my boobs.

Newborns poo a lot.  Second only in frequency to feeding.  However, the smell of newborn poo is strangely alluring.  I say alluring, that’s probably not the right word, but when compared to post-weaning poo, that bright yellow, seedy mess definitely has a fairly pleasant quality.

Sleep deprivation sucks.

Cluster feeds are really rather frustrating, Yesterday Little Pea had his first day of cluster feeding.  At precisely 9.30am I got up to use the bathroom.  I didn’t leave the bed again until gone half 4, and I left a screaming, starving, red-faced bundle in the bed for the five minutes I was gone.

Cluster feeds are really enjoyable when you get into the spirit of it all.  A day in bed?  Yes please!  Chance to slepp when the baby sleeps?  Yes please!  Bladder perforation?  Probably.  Still, I spent a day in bed!

No matter how many baby grows you have bought/recycled from the last time, there’s never enough.  It’s too easy to forget that newborns generally need changing a gazillion times a day, thanks to vomit, exploding poo, flying wee…

…newborn boys wee upwards, sidewards, and twenty feet across the room.  I never had to deal with this before.  I’m not a fan.

They change every single day.  The way Little Pea looked when he was born (well, twenty minutes later anyway) was completely different to the way he looked the next day, and today he looks different again.  He’s getting stronger and pinker and more beautiful by the hour.

Life with a newborn requires doing a lot one handed; typing, eating, drawing with the other little one.  For all expectant mums, I suggest in preparation for the arrival of your new baby, you spend a few days with one hand tied behind your back while getting on with every day tasks.  It’s an important skill you will need to learn.

Newborns are fab.  They feed, they poo, they sleep.  There’s not much to it outside those three things, but they make life complete, they make your heart explode with love, and they don’t stay newborn for long enough.