Please tell me the good things about having a baby

[roarfeckingroar]

I'm 16 weeks pregnant and overall very excited, but I'm a bit overwhelmed by how hard / expensive / exhausting it will be and how my current easy life is over.

Please would you share great things about having a baby / child? I really want the excitement to overpower the fear if possible.

Thank you in advance .

Newborns are just lovely, even more lovely when they get to six months or so and develop in to little people. EVEN more lovely when they reach 12 months plus and you can sit and watch them discover the world and everything is amazing. Hard work at times but you'll likely never doubt for a second that they are worth every bit of it

I never even wanted kids. Resisted til I was 34... currently pregnant with my second and it's the best thing I've ever done x

All the special days like Christmas, Easter, birthdays... so much fun with little ones around who are so incredibly excited and happy. And it's down to you because you've put the effort in. It's tiring there's no doubt about that, but it's worth it.

My youngest is almost 3 months and starting to smile and babble away, I can't tell you how much love I feel. Wish you all the best OP.

I'm going to sit down with a non alcoholic beer and read through all of these 😍

My 10 month old DD is my little best friend, she's so cheeky and the light of my life I don't think I truly knew what love is until she was born, it all sounds so dramatic and soppy but it's all very true

😘 @KitKatKit

Sniffing them. Mine are 3 and 6 and I still sneak in when they're sleeping to smell their heads/skin!

I had horrible pnd so I robbed myself of feeling joy for the first 8 months or so (I was terrified to seek help). But once I did, and the world became colour again, the feeling of love and knowing that my dd didn’t hate me was massive.

My DTs are now 2.5, and everyday is an adventure. Watching them learn and grow is amazing (even in the depths of my pnd), looking at them and thinking omg I made them! One of my favourite things to do is to watch them sleeping, I just explode with love.

I’m normally quite a wuss, but to protect my babies I’d fight to the death for them. I’ve even killed a wasp because it was in the house around them and wouldn’t leave them alone. They make me brave, and I literally couldn’t give a shit about anyone’s opinion now on how I parent, and if anyone is insulting about them I speak up which I never would’ve done before.

They’re exhausting and sometimes I think they’ll be the death of me, but I wouldn’t change my life for the world. They’re my joy, my little people and I adore being their mama.

Just to add, it's amazing to see the things they do as they grow older. My 6yo ds wrote me a song for mothers day this year. He was so excited he got me up at 6 am to sing it to me. Yes, I cried.
Then for Easter , he made a card and gave me, dp and his baby bro money out of his money box so we could get something nice. My dp cried at this.

Love like no other.

Cuddles.

Feeling fulfilled.

Dull boring groundhog Day babies grow into amazing cute little beings with their own personalities with the world at their feet.

Dts are nine and they are my best mates. I am relishing this time before they turn into a hormonal nightmare.

Sniffing them. Mine are 3 and 6 and I still sneak in when they're sleeping to smell their heads/skin!

This is true. Also the smell of their mouths when they wake up (just when they're babies though). Just the best thing in the world.

My son is 2.5. He makes me laugh every single day. I'm pregnant right now, and this baby is so lucky to be growing with all the loving hormones I have from spending each day with my son!

When they rally asleep on your shoulder, you can muzzle in and smell their lovely 'vanilla' pure baby smell....while resting your hand perfectly under their little bum. Priceless.

The first smile, first giggle.

The over-powering fierce do-anything-for-them love.

Mine are teens now. The love is the still the same with a tint of constant worry. I miss the little head on my shoulder and the cute little bottom in my hand.

Baby snuggles 🥰

I genuinely, honestly can't believe how amazing my son is. DH and I lie in bed at night talking about how great he is. I'm not saying there haven't been hard bits - I really struggled with the lack of sleep, for instance - but it's always been more good than bad and from about when he turned one it has been massively tipped towards good.

I don't know why that 'rally' slotted in there.

I’m a total sucker for it all too. I’m too old for more at 45 but boyo newborns are lovely. All ages have their good sides. Saving grace I have a big age range.

Also, when they're young - the absolute hilarious things they say. The time my ds bashes his front milk teeth out. As he learned to talk a lot of the time he pronounced D's as F's. Embarrassing when he announced loudly at nursery that he'd been playing with the "Little fuckies in the fuck pond!"

Every parent has their own stories. Ours have slipped into our family vocab.

At 4 DD thanks me sometimes on a night for a lovely day even if all we've done is sit inside and watch TV. She has such a madam attitude at the moment and stamps her feet. However I can't help laughing when I hear her telling her teddies mummy's being mean to her

She's the best thing ever to happen to us and we'd never have her any other way. Children are amazing and you go into their rooms when they're sleeping just to stroke their heads and cuddle them in their sleep. It's all worth it.

When I feel like the most hideous creature on earth because I have milk leaking and hair unbrushed and face dried up and smelling like fish because I hadn’t had shower for days.. vomit on one shoulder and the other sleeve pulled all the way down so I can feed her. And that bloated stomach of mine which seems so alien to the concept of model like body I’ve been working towards.:

But when I appear , my kids smile at the sight of me as if I’m the most beautiful thing they have seen. Flapping about with a grin on their face, when I suddenly appear with my scruffy look, with that adorable grin that was their first milestone, just so they can let me know how much I mean to them.

Nothing in the world makes them this happy, but the sight of me. Not only do I love them like I have never loved anyone before, but they taught me how to love myself and for that I’m truly blessed and empowered.

Ok these are really shallow but I think other posters have got the meaningful stuff covered.

Maternity leave. There is no better feeling than lying in bed hearing your dp close the front door to leave for work, knowing you don't have to go. This is especially the case in winter when you can also hear people scraping their cars.

Not every day of maternity leave was easy but it was always preferable to going out to work.

The love that kids give you is ridiculous. I'm a completely average, slightly lazy person who has made many parenting mistakes. Yet my kids think I'm awesome and don't hold back in showing it.

I liked the baby stage, the sleepy cuddles whilst watching Netflix etc. But the best for me is right now, DD is 2.5 and just becoming an amazing child, loves everything - art, dancing, mud, puddles - she's fun to be around and has such personality. She constantly comes out with impressive words and sentences, learning something new everyday.

Everything! Squishy little newborns are the best! Kids don’t have to be expensive, babies need very little.

Thank you for posting this. 36 weeks here and actually am just dreading it not looking forward to it at all 😔