I just laid my screaming 2 year old down for a nap and now I’m sitting here starring at my DESTROYED living room thinking damn I just cleaned this morning but instead of cleaning again I’ll just scroll through Glow.

I used Glow to get pregnant with my first and I used it again with my 2nd whom is due this month.

One of the main topics i constantly see is “advice for FTM” or “Help FTM here”.

So I thought I’d share my top 10 experiences to hopefully help someone out. You know while I have some “free time”. Such rarely used but beautiful words. Lol ok let’s get started.

#1 (Before baby) Do not overpack your hospital bag. You do not need a robe or slippers or snacks. The hospital will feed you. Unless you have serious complications or a c-section, you will have your baby and get to go home within 1-2 days. (Had my first at 3:51p and got to go home the following day by 4:30p) It’s not a spa and aside from leaving to go home you will most likely not even leave your room.

#2 Trust your motherly instinct. If you think your child is sick or not feeling well or something is wrong. Take them to the doctor. Who cares if Susan sitting across from you doesn’t think your child is sick. Go tell Susan to shove it and be “safe than sorry”

#3 Do not buy wipe warmers or diaper genies. They are a waste of money. How are you going to warm wipes when you are away from home? You’re not. Diaper genies only hide the odor when you first change the bag but get about 10 poop filled diapers in it and see if it still smells like roses.

#4 Do not buy 12,000 bottles and binkies. The more you have the more you have to wash. Majority of bottles come apart in 3-5 pieces or more. So even if you have a dishwasher, it’s annoying to put them back together at 3am and believe me you’ll be in that predicament.

#5 (This is kind of a pet peeve & advice) NURSERIES. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON BUILDING THE PERFECT NURSERY. While a lot of you ladies have BEAUTIFUL nurseries your babies will not be in them for the first couple weeks or months of their lives. You may think you are going to go in there and sit in your nice comfy chairs everyday but no you’re not. You’re going to sit where it’s most comfortable because after holding a sleeping baby for an hour, your butt, arm, back will hurt. Do not waste your money on expensive crib sheets and bedding because 9x out of 10 they will be covered in poop or spit up that won’t come out. All those cute T-P tents that you have set up in the corner will be torn down before it’s all over the with and anything that you’re using as a decoration that is on the floor or close to it will be put high up by the time they can crawl. Just don’t worry about it yet. Do a room for them when they are 2 & up.

Had a beautiful pink and polka dot nursery set up for her but where are we.. yup in my chair in the living room where we repeatedly slept like this for the first month.

#6 DO NOT let strangers or really anybody kiss your child’s face! My daughter caught HSV (Herpes Simplex/ cold sore virus) from someone with an active cold sore who kissed her and almost died because it spread inside her mouth and her symptoms mimicked Tonsillitis, thrush, and pharyngitis so she wasn’t getting treatment for the right thing and was getting sicker until one doctor figured it out. Let your kids be kids and let people hold them but realize that germs and their little bodies are DANGEROUS. So when people say they need germs to build their immune systems, yes, but be cautious.

This is her mouth once the healing process started. Still full of blisters and legions that became infected due to the virus.

#7 If you can afford it whether you get government help or have good jobs or whatever. Put your child in daycare. Yes, it’s great to have grandma watch them for free but believe me the skills and character building that they learn from being around other little people their age is amazing and I don’t regret it. My first has learned so much from it and is advancing more each day. Plus the “me time” is nice too.

#8 Don’t get embarrassed. Babies cry. Kids throw temper tantrums. Majority of everybody you see out and about either has kids or grandkids so they know how it is. Do what you need to do to get them calmed down and go on about your day. I guarantee you that Tonya and Martin aren’t going to go home and have an hour conversation about that woman in Walmart who’s baby was crying or the toddler that threw a fit over a sucker.

#9 Speaking of suckers. Let them have candy. Let them have junk food. In moderation of course. But chips and chocolate is not going to hurt them. It will make them a little hyper but hey this is what you signed up for.

And finally, the best for last,

#10 (THIS IS A BIGGY for me) TAKE YOUR CHILD/REN OUTSIDE! Yeah for babies they mostly sleep all day but if it’s nice and they are awake, let them get a little sunshine. Go for a walk, lay on a blanket with them under a shade tree, etc. For older kids, PLAY WITH THEM. My nephew can work an iPhone better than I can but his personality is so bland. Me and my oldest go outside everyday and play. Believe me they need it and it will round out their character.

Thanks for reading and if anyone else has any advise to add, go for it!

***UPDATE***

Thank you all for reading and posting positive comments especially the ones about my baby and her healing.

On another note the one’s saying there are points they don’t agree with and to the few kind of trying to start a debate over why they don’t agree with my points.

STOP IT. Just move on. This post was in no way, shape, or form, put up to start arguments as to why someone might like something but another person doesn’t. As I said in the very beginning they are MY experiences. That doesn’t mean that since I didn’t like diaper genies or wipe warmers you can’t have them. Hell go buy 20 of them. You could also call this post kind of like a review? Maybe someone was at the store looking at wipe warmers saying “hm should I get one” and sees my post and says no I won’t. Said person will either be happy with THEIR choice or not. For the people being rude about the daycare topic. STOP IT. I work 3 12s a week and hubby works 5 8s a week. She is in daycare for 8 hours 3 days a week only on the days we both have to work. (Which I really shouldn’t have to explain to anyone) SHE LOVES IT. If you don’t want your child in daycare. COOL. I’m not trying to pressure anyone to put their child in daycare. I’m simply sharing MY experiences as to why I think it’s a good idea. As far as nurseries. Yeah my thoughts don’t really change with those. I spent a lot of money on my first borns nursery. Pretty sheets, decorations, etc. It was beautiful in my opinion. She never wanted to be in there even when she got older the only thing she’d do was drag stuff out and it became more of a play room. But if you want to do a nursery. By all means DO IT.

My point... take robes, and slippers, and snacks to the hospital. Buy wipe warmers and diaper genies. Build nurseries. Do put your child in daycare, don’t put your child in daycare. These were MY experiences with these things. It’s really sad when someone posts an innocent topic just to try to maybe help someone out who isn’t sure or whatever and can still get run down and made to feel like you didn’t do something right or made to feel like a crappy mom.

Thanks to all the positive people though. Even the positive ones who bought fucking wipe warmers. ✌️