So how much did you know?

[Grabaspoon]

Before you had dc1 how much did you know about babies? I was talking to a friend who told me that she had read several books about pregnancy but had never thought to actually read about babies and children.

She had, had no experience of babies ie first of the friends to have a baby, no younger siblings/cousins, didn't babysit as a teen, so was really dropped in the deep end.

If and when I have children I will have several years experience of caring for babies/children and relevant training.

So what did you know?

I knew an absolute zero
No wonder midwife was smiling at my question on the ante natal course
A friend gave me a basic second hand children book she got of oxfam
very useful still
so glad i did not know much about all pregnancy complication either
I had never held a baby or found them particularly fetching
I change with the birth and now I wish I could be just as carefree as I was before

"When DD got to about 4 I suddenly knew what to do! " Hahaha :)

Both me and DW knew virtually noting. I had never actually held a baby before DS1 was plonked in my arms.

We had one not very informative book on babies but when I read MN I wonder and indeed shudder at the important serious stuff we didnt know.

DW went to 2 ante natal classes but couldnt be bothered after that. I didnt go to any but took DS1 to get hm weighed and he seemed to be doing OK. DW hated BF and sent me to get a steriliser and bottles and formula.

Like I was supposed to be an expert!

Absolute zero. I was 37 and had never held a baby.
I remember weeping over the hospital crib.
It was 3 am the first night after DS1 was born and I had asked the midwife how often a baby needed the nappy changing..
She said as often as it needs it and left me to it. I didn't know where to start.

:)

Nothing. I remember in one of my last ante-natal classes they tried to prepare us for what it would be like by getting us to write down how we thought we would spend a 24 hour period with a baby. Then the women running the course started to tell us how many feeds we would have to factor in and how long it would take and various other realities and it was quite a shock.

Looking back I think that was the biggest shock for me - just how long I would have to spend feeding in the first few weeks. I had no idea that I would be sitting there with baby plugged in for such long periods of time.

oh inthesticks - that was me too

That first night in the hospital after a 36 hour labour, a ventouse baby with a bad headache, night staff that were so jaded and fed up of questions, DH kicked out, and DS did an enormous meconium poo that leaked out the nappy all the way up his back. Wrestling with alien poppers, worried about his neck/head, trying to clean it up using water and teeny weeny cotton wool balls, his screeeaaming, it went on for about 30 minutes.

I have never felt so totally helpless and alone in my life.

I am the eldest of 5 children and was always seen to have maternal instincts with children. Probably explains why I went on to look after 4 different sets of cousins every weekend and then my nephew. So I knew quite a bit about children and looking after them - feeding, changing and bathing and used to do it regularly from about the age of 16.

I read books before I had my two on the pregnancy and knew that I wouldn't struggle with the practicalities of it. I had to show my DH how to change a nappy and how to top and tail and stuff. The emotional side was strange for me though - all those years, I had been able to look after the boys (they were all boys) and although attached to them, I could step away from it. With my own (2 dd's) I did get quite frustrated as things weren't always as easy as I had seen. The bottom line being that my two are 24/7, the others were for a few hours at a time - 24-48 hours at most.

BertieBotts makes a good point - the theory is fine, putting it into practice with your own is completely different!