There are a lot of things I've learned as a mum that I wish I knew before, just so I was prepared. I think of them from time to time but never remember to tell you guys. So here's a few things you may like to know:
Babies eat for a really long time! Breast fed babies seem to take about an hour per feed to begin with (once your milk is in, I think it was a lot less time with colostrum). Bottle fed at least 20-30 minutes. 3 hours is probably the average length between feeds (2 hours is common as is 4) but feeds, like contractions are timed from the beginning so that leaves 2 hours for nappy changing and naps (or sometimes less than this). This isn't just for the first few weeks, this is for many months, though there may start to be longer gaps at night after a few months and feeding may take less time.
DD needed burped a lot to begin with! Every ounce when bottle fed, every 5 mins when breast fed. This continued until 2 or 3 moths when we only had to burp 3 or 4 times per meal. After 4 months she only needed burped at the end. Sometimes burps take a long time to come out. We still had to wait for them otherwise she would throw up lots.
Breast feeding is really painful to begin with - it made me cry. After a short time (a week or 2 I think) if baby is latched on it will be painless. Lots of my friends use breast feeding pillows and needed their OHs to help position the baby for the first couple of weeks.
Meconium washes off of real nappies no bother.
Babies often poo when you change their nappy. Sometimes they poo many times. Our record is 6 poos in one nappy change (using 3 nappies because of the amount of nappies we put on that she pood in straight away
)
Babies poo a lot. DD used to poo at least 10 time a day. She's now 20 weeks and still poos 4 to 6 times a day. Some babies at this age only poo once a day or less so maybe you'll be lucky
When you get home, if baby won't sleep in his/her moses basket/crib/cot warm it first with a hot water bottle or microwave wheat bag (removing the hot thing before putting baby in). After all, who likes going in a cold bed? The midwife taught us this trick after our first night at home where we took it in turns to sleep as she would only sleep cuddled up to one of us.
The first trip into town is scary! Check now to see where you can
have lunch with a pushchair
go to the loo with a pushchair (either disabled toilets or the John Lewis in Aberdeen has a section with sinks and 2 loos that you can close and lock off)
change nappies (Mothercare in Aberdeen is horrible, I avoid it)
feed your baby if you want more privacy (the door to the baby facilities in John Lewis opens to display feeding mums So you're as well sitting on a comfy display sofa! Boots has a glider chair - I always go there )
Visitors claim to be there to see you so make sure it is convenient for you. You chose how many visitors, what time and how long they stay. Next baby I'm going to have a function, somewhere that's not my house, with a start and end time so everyone who can see the baby and I don't have to spend 4 weeks with visitors every evening when I'd rather be sleeping! Thereafter people would genuinely be visiting you rather than wanting to say they saw the baby.
Different shops sell clothes of different sizes just like a size 14 in one shop is bigger or smaller in another. Newborn is particularly changeable. Watch out for it as some newborn clothes is 7.5lbs and there's a good chance it will be useless - DD was 8lb5oz and couldn't wear some new born stuff at all. Next newborn is up to 10lbs I think and is about the same size as Tesco's 0-3 months.
Take presents you don't want back to the shops. Because I did this we got £30 Sainsbury's vouchers, £100 Next vouchers, £150 Mothercare vouchers and £60 Monsoon vouchers to spend on things we wanted.
Stock up on thank you cards and keep a list as you get things because you quickly forget what you got from whom.
And some mummy stuff for after labour:
If it hurts to pee, pee in the shower. It might be a bit gross but you really don't need extra pain.
Ice packs or frozen sanitary towels are REALLY good. Make sure you have some ready.
I wish I'd checked out what I looked like before stitches. It looks a bit weird in places but maybe it always looked like that!
That's all I can think of for now. Hopefully more mummies will add their tips too.
Babies eat for a really long time! Breast fed babies seem to take about an hour per feed to begin with (once your milk is in, I think it was a lot less time with colostrum). Bottle fed at least 20-30 minutes. 3 hours is probably the average length between feeds (2 hours is common as is 4) but feeds, like contractions are timed from the beginning so that leaves 2 hours for nappy changing and naps (or sometimes less than this). This isn't just for the first few weeks, this is for many months, though there may start to be longer gaps at night after a few months and feeding may take less time.
DD needed burped a lot to begin with! Every ounce when bottle fed, every 5 mins when breast fed. This continued until 2 or 3 moths when we only had to burp 3 or 4 times per meal. After 4 months she only needed burped at the end. Sometimes burps take a long time to come out. We still had to wait for them otherwise she would throw up lots.
Breast feeding is really painful to begin with - it made me cry. After a short time (a week or 2 I think) if baby is latched on it will be painless. Lots of my friends use breast feeding pillows and needed their OHs to help position the baby for the first couple of weeks.
Meconium washes off of real nappies no bother.
Babies often poo when you change their nappy. Sometimes they poo many times. Our record is 6 poos in one nappy change (using 3 nappies because of the amount of nappies we put on that she pood in straight away
)Babies poo a lot. DD used to poo at least 10 time a day. She's now 20 weeks and still poos 4 to 6 times a day. Some babies at this age only poo once a day or less so maybe you'll be lucky
When you get home, if baby won't sleep in his/her moses basket/crib/cot warm it first with a hot water bottle or microwave wheat bag (removing the hot thing before putting baby in). After all, who likes going in a cold bed? The midwife taught us this trick after our first night at home where we took it in turns to sleep as she would only sleep cuddled up to one of us.
The first trip into town is scary! Check now to see where you can
have lunch with a pushchair
go to the loo with a pushchair (either disabled toilets or the John Lewis in Aberdeen has a section with sinks and 2 loos that you can close and lock off)
change nappies (Mothercare in Aberdeen is horrible, I avoid it)
feed your baby if you want more privacy (the door to the baby facilities in John Lewis opens to display feeding mums
So you're as well sitting on a comfy display sofa! Boots has a glider chair - I always go there )Visitors claim to be there to see you so make sure it is convenient for you. You chose how many visitors, what time and how long they stay. Next baby I'm going to have a function, somewhere that's not my house, with a start and end time so everyone who can see the baby and I don't have to spend 4 weeks with visitors every evening when I'd rather be sleeping! Thereafter people would genuinely be visiting you rather than wanting to say they saw the baby.
Different shops sell clothes of different sizes just like a size 14 in one shop is bigger or smaller in another. Newborn is particularly changeable. Watch out for it as some newborn clothes is 7.5lbs and there's a good chance it will be useless - DD was 8lb5oz and couldn't wear some new born stuff at all. Next newborn is up to 10lbs I think and is about the same size as Tesco's 0-3 months.
Take presents you don't want back to the shops. Because I did this we got £30 Sainsbury's vouchers, £100 Next vouchers, £150 Mothercare vouchers and £60 Monsoon vouchers to spend on things we wanted.
Stock up on thank you cards and keep a list as you get things because you quickly forget what you got from whom.
And some mummy stuff for after labour:
If it hurts to pee, pee in the shower. It might be a bit gross but you really don't need extra pain.
Ice packs or frozen sanitary towels are REALLY good. Make sure you have some ready.
I wish I'd checked out what I looked like before stitches. It looks a bit weird in places but maybe it always looked like that! That's all I can think of for now. Hopefully more mummies will add their tips too.
Thanks 
It was weeks before I wasn't really sore. 3 or 4 I think, certainly at day 10 I remember crying to my friend whose baby is 6 weeks older than mine asking when the pain would go. And it only stopped being occasionally achy (when doing pelvic floor exercises, sitting on the stitches themselves by sitting up at the theatre) at 4 months.
