Oooh can we have a thread about things you said and thought about your Precious First Born which make you blush looking back on it

[Anchovy]

Following on from the other thread which was veering that way.

My mum said she had seen a baby on the telly who was the same age as DS (three months) who seemed more alert than DS. I cried into a muslin.

These are all excellent.

My DH worked with a woman who used to constantly go on about how advanced her grandchild was and how she was doing things well ahead of time to which DH replied, ''d be worried if I were you, if she keeps it up she'll be pregnant at 16!' Apparently that shut her up!

Have to say I'm glad to see that this is a PFB is something that we all go through and I'm not completely mad!

I'm with you MrsHarry, a bit bewildered! I was intending to go to baby massage and baby yoga (if only just for something to do) when this one is born. Are they so bad or just a sign of naivety? And I kinda thought you shouldn't leave the baby for a shower and the loo etc. if only because they'll cry otherwise...
Even though I'm laughing as I'm reading these, I'm secretly thing ooh that's a good idea. I don't think there is any getting away from PFB moments, I can pretty much guarantee that despite reading all these post I WILL be doing every single one of these!

First time pregnancy here too!
As far as I'm aware baby massage and baby yoga are good ideas, if only because my baby massage instructor said it helps them to sleep. I suppose when the baby's your 2nd or more you just don't have the time to go to these things!
I have to say I've wondered about leaving the baby in the moses basket while I nip upstairs to get something? I can't really understand the problem with it but maybe I will in May!

we're laughing about it as a shared experience though

it is something you go through, its part of adjusting to being a parent, I think

sometimes, yes, you go too far, but thats cos you're learning to do the job

so don't worry. you will have pfb moments, its unavoidable.

The other side to this is every parent has done it, its normal!

oh but baby massage

its nice, imo. but doesn't actually help with sleep or anything

fun as a parent-child bonding session. Also cos you get to meet other parents with perhaps, ahem, similar views. This is NOT to be dicounted, its important

Pretty useless though for anything else

look anything that gets you out of the house and meeting a whole new set of women who are in exactly the same position as you, ie getting used to their new role as a parent, is fabulous. With or without the added benefits I would strongly recommend building a network of friends you can go out with, hang out in each other's houses and share stories and experiences

so don't discount baby massage and yoga and even weaving lentils into nappies .. if it attracts you as a new parent then it will most probably attract other people you would like

when you become a parent you get the chance to make lots of new friends - something that isn't that easy since you left school

enjoy it

and be mad, happily

Definately worth trying all the baby massage etc as long as its with an open mind. I went to a combined baby massage class and Mummy Yoga. The babies had their massage then when they were relaxed (yeah right) we did a bit of gentle yoga. My DD nearly always slept when it was the massage bit and yelled when it was my yoga bit. Whilst she was sleeping during the massage the teacher suggested I did some extra pelvic floor excersices. I wanted to stick pins or pinch dd to wake her up so I could massage her, sod doing EXTRA clenching or whatever I was meant to be doing . But I went with girls I had met at my post natal group and it was a real laugh. Doubt DD gained anything but we all had a giggle so worth the experience.

Luckily all of my own personal pfb experiences have been mentioned on here already, but nothing beats my dh's ex-wife telling his mother that she couldn't change their dd's nappy because her tetanus booster wasn't up to date

I remember having to take DS1 to the loo with me.

I also remember not being able to leave him in the kitchen in case a sharp knife leapt from the drawer and injured him.

I obsessively checked his breathing and temperature.

I changed his nappy every hour (it cost a bloody fortune)

And I was obsessed with his fontanelle.

laughed at "ringing mw when baby had cried for 2 hours", tne dh kindly reminded me that i made us go to a & e on a saturday! night when ds had bad colic, "in case it was something really serious". still he had a good ncheck over by the doc.

Took 2 month old DS1 to join the library. Reading to babies is so important you know.

Rang NHS direct as 2 week old DS hadn't done a poo that day.

[bush]

DH has just suggested I take our 17 week old to Caterpillars (a music and movement group) for 0-18 month olds.

The only movements she makes with any predictability are mostly contained in a nappy and her response to music is to go to sleep (yes lovely but I don't want her to sleep all day and stay up all night thanks all the same).

Also, am I the only one to get hyper stressed the day before her immunisations about the possibility of anaphalactic reactions and watch her like a hawk for the next 24 hours, interpreting every whimper as the sound of a baby struggling to breath? She cried for about ten seconds (placated by the magic of mummy milk) when she had her shot last Friday, I cried for hours AND wanted to punch the doctor for hurting my LO!

I didn't really like my first born - called her the Howling Orange Faced Fiend, and probably wasn't very nice to her. In my defence, she wouldn't sleep and fed every half hour, absolutely enormous amounts (12 oz EBM a go at 10 days old) so I was very drained, in every sense of the word.

DD2 used to sleep all the time, wake up, eat small (ie normal) amount every four hours and go back to sleep again. She slept through the night from 5 weeks. She never cried and was always lovely and smiley (DD1's normal expression for the first 3 months of her life was a glare). I asked the health visitor if she thought DD2 was "normal" or "perhaps a bit slow mentally".

I took PFB to music group, swimmimg lesson, baby massage, gymfants....I think that was it..

All you first time mums ignore this thread and do it, and then laugh at yourself in 5yrs time.

It a sign of enthusiasm (Ok over enthusuasm) but that's a good thing.

Besides you've got to do something with the time, and you always go for a coffee after

Sorry MrsS xposted my flippant post before seeing yours.

Although if they're a nightmare it's sometimes even more imporatnt to go out

Message withdrawn

I'm PMSL at this thread, yet I know I'm going to be the most over-protective, hysterical mother for the first few months.

Maybe I should copy it into a Word Doc and refer back to it for a sanity check after I've had this baby.

In the late stages of pregnancy with dd1, I went out and bought white card and a black marker pen and prepared lots of handmade flashcards for her

I enrolled her with the local library when she was 2 weeks old. (DD2 is 21 months old and still hasn't joined, she just shares dd1's books.)

When dd1 was about 3 months old, I took photos of her every 10 minutes all day to illustrate a 'day in the life of dd1'.

If I was visiting anyone with pets , as soon as I got home I had to take all his clothes off and completely wash them all even his coat and wash him to get all those animal germs off him.

I would not let my brother hold him as he wore rings and they might scratch the baby and would not wear any myself.

I bleached my kitchen every night

I would not put him down, and would not let anyone help

MMm.. some of these things I still do now he is 7

Mine is now 8 weeks old and so far...

went to baby rhyme time at the library at 2 weeks.
joined up to library and took out books at 4 weeks - read these to him (ie show him the pictures) at least every other day.
went to singing classes at 4 1/2 weeks (had been planning to wait until 6weeks but happened to be passing and he was awake - have gone back every week so far!)
took him swimming at 7 weeks (am taking him again today as he seemed to really enjoy it, the big bath at home is just not the same!)
Just about got over my waking in the night convinced I have sufficated baby when he is in the cot - I have fallen asleep once when winding and drifted off whilst feeding once as well so guess these panics are slightly justified!
Re: shaken baby syndrome - at 6 weeks we went jogging as a family (dh pushing pram, no way i'd have the strength) - have decided now this prob wasn't the best thing to do and will wait a couple of months!
Plus am signed up for baby massage / yoga and very much looking forward to it.
Am sure there are other things I have done that people think are crazy.
Right, ds has fallen asleep just as his schedule says he should so i'm off to sleep too!

I've been laughing so hard reading these! Of course now that I know "better" I'm warning everyone to let me know if I get crazy when the time comes...

I do recall my step sister royally pissed my father off when she had her PFB. She wouldn't let him hold the baby because he "didn't know how." This after he raised his six siblings and had two kids of his own. My father STILL holds it against her but to be fair, her PFB AND her PSB are in their teens and she STILL is an anal retentive pain in the butt about them. God forbid they should take the bus alone. The boy is SEVENTEEN!

y bil and sil picked us up once when dd1 was 3 months old, was convinced pfb had to go in the front of the car, was extremely upset that they wouldnt let him cos sil gets claustrophobic .... of course they were right, he was in the back, with us!

Oh gOd, Mrs S, your children mirror mine. DS1 was v unpleasant for the first year. He cried non stop and always had an angry scowl on his (naturally handsome) face

DS2, however is a picture of tranquility. He sleeps, he smiles and is an all round good boy! (he's only 5.5 months thouigh, so there;s still time)

I got in such a state about keeping stuff sterile. I had worked in a cell culture lab where something ceases to be "sterile" if it is even exposed to ordinary air. So if Ds1's dummy dropped out of his mouth (which happened about every 5min) I would immediately whisk it away and produce another, and when I ran out I would rush around trying to sterilise more while carrying him the whole time because he basically wouldn't be put down without a dummy for the first few weeks. It was a good few months before I realised that such caution wasn't entirely necessary .

I also remember thinking that every other mother in the maternity ward must be envying me because my baby was so much more beautiful than theirs .