How Parenting is Different Than I Thought it Would Be

When I was pregnant, all I would hear from people is to get ready to lose sleep, because what a baby equals is NO SLEEP! Let me just say, I like my sleep. I've always enjoyed sleeping in and getting a good night's rest in a comfy bed. So the sound of hearing that I would never get to sleep again, until my child grew out of toddlerhood was disheartening to me! I still remember being pregnant past my due date and not being at all concerned that I was "overdue". All that was on my mind is that this is the time to enjoy my sleep. Oh, if only I could tell all those people that "warned" me about my potential lack of sleep that they were wrong!

Well, for the first two weeks I would cry every early morning as I woke up to breastfeed my son. I was TIRED! I also got a lot of advice telling me to sleep when the baby sleeps during his day naps. That didn't work well for me, I wanted to sleep in the nighttime like a normal adult. Well, two weeks passed and I discovered the greatest two things in the world: Co-sleeping and breastfeeding while laying on your side. Wow did these two actions save my sanity! Suddenly I was able to continue to rest as I fed my child. Whenever he was in need of a feeding, I would roll to my side and feed him beside me. What a wonderful thing!

I learned how to co-sleep safely and effectively and have never gone back to a bassinet. Every night since those first couple of weeks I have gotten adequate sleep. The number one question I would get when he was a newborn was "How does he sleep?" or "Does he sleep through the night?" I wanted to respond that we both slept beautifully and had our co-sleeping and breastfeeding routine down. So how is parenting different than I thought it would be? I haven't lost much sleep, even as a single mother with a baby! I never would have thought that was a possibility in the past, yet its very true and I'm so glad!