At the risk of raising alarm bells and being listed as a person of interest with DOCS, I would like to start this post with a disclaimer – Skye is a healthy, happy and all around delightful girl, despite her parents being completely clueless on many aspects of parenting. Lets just say grandparents are a wonderful thing, and we are relatively quick learners.
I was probably best described as naively optimistic about my ability as a parent during my pregnancy. We were so confident in fact that we wagged the second half of our antenatal classes because we figured that we would be better off learning when we had a real live baby to practise on, how much could I possibly learn from a doll? Well for a start we could have avoided sitting in the emergency drop off zone of the hospital frantically reading the car seat instruction manual while trying to work out how to strap Skye in securely enough to drive her home.
Ok, so there was that, and possibly the doll may have been helpful in learning how to dress a newborn baby – Skye was lucky to be born in the middle of a particularly hot summer because I was utterly useless at putting any clothes on her. In hindsight I really should have practised with a doll from the moment I found out we were expecting.
I probably should have taken it as an indication we were lacking in preparation the day I came home with a breast pump. I was a little embarrassed to show Luke because I thought it might freak him out but to my horror he pulled the pump straight out of the box and placed it directly over his own nipple for a test drive – I still think he was a little disappointed he couldn’t get it to work. Human Biology 101 – FAIL.
Fortunately Skye is now old enough to offer assistance (when inclined) in a lot of these tasks. It was an exciting milestone for our house when she was able to put her arms through her sleeves by herself and learned to step into pants. I would like to think that my lack of skill has helped to develop her independence, actually I think Skye is learning how to be a parent quicker than we are…
he he that was funny, especially the breast pump bit. I too used a breast pump with my first, and my husband always chuckled when he walked into the bedroom while I was using it... he thought it was hilarious as I had a double one it was like he stepped into a milking factory! lol Ahh good memories, and yes I was always afraid to dress or undress my baby as I was scared I was going to accidentally break his tiny little arms or legs when pulling the clothes off/on. The midwives were so quick at it and with so much ease but it would take me half an hour to take his singlet off, lol :-)
ReplyDeleteBut I think you've got the 'vibe', and that is the most important part! xxx
ReplyDeleteHaha Gemma! I would like to think the 'vibe' is all you really need :)
ReplyDeleteHi Lisa, I am so glad I wasn't the only one worried about breaking something, I was convinced I would catch a tiny finger or something. Aah breast pumps, so very amusing for everyone :)
No one knows what they are really doing when they start out parenting so don't stress! My babies have been 6lb 5oz, 1lb 14ozs and 7lb 6ozs and I have worried about 'breaking' them all.
ReplyDeleteI used a breast pump for 2months straight when Airlie was in NICU and the Dads always found them a bit of a laugh. Us Mums you to get together and have a chat while we were doing it and although it probably looked odd with a bunch of ladies sit around 'hooked up' it was a good time to catch up.
Wow Fiona, I think you are amazing to have pumped for 2 months for Airlie while in NICU. Yes that room probably did look a little like a milking shed, but it would have been wonderful to be able to support each other while you were sitting together.
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