Your favourite bit of having a baby.

[DoubtingMyPatience]

Feeling a bit poorly today, horrendous trapped wind pain. 26weeks and the post 20week scan blues are setting in.

I just can’t wait to meet her and do all the jobs that everyone hates, I can’t wait to change nappies, I can’t wait for baths and I’m even excited for waking up in the night to tend to her. I can’t believe she’s going to be ours not long after the new year.

So because I’m feeling like a bag of white potatoes. I wanna lie in bed feeling her wriggle and read some of the moment you’ve loved about bringing baby home and the newborn stage.

I know the novelty of all these jobs will wear off very quickly, as everybody keeps telling when when I tell them I’m excited to just care for her. But it’s exciting here and now.

Give me your favourite new born moments please!

I loved being pregnant, it was brilliant.

I loved the night feeds, just myself and my son in the middle of the night cuddling, feeding and him just looking at me with beautiful eyes.

His tiny little hand gripping my little finger for comfort

His smell is just something I can't describe, ooh it's beautiful.

Then you get to see them really developing into their own little person, my son has just turned 2 and it is just the most amazing thing, he is hilarious, cheeky, but loving, polite and caring.
He knows too much and remembers everything which can bite me on the bum at times, but just pure joy (tiring, messy joy, but joy non the less)

I always thought the point I was at at the time was the best bit, then it would shift to "no,nows the best stage", truth is, there isn't a best bit, it's all brilliant (IME)

Wow, it really is amazing .... I could have another one when it's listed like this.

Congratulations, it truly is wonderful, tiring, messy, smelly, stressful and the hardest but most rewarding thing ever !!!

Oh the snuggles!!! He sleeps through the night now, and although I'm loving the solid 7 hours, I miss our own little bubble 3am snuggles.

He's is 3 months old now and has found his voice, I lay him on his mat and he just chatters away to himself and the dog. He had to cutest little squeal and giggle, tedbert (dog) lays next to him with his head on the baby's belly, it's just adorable, he really loves his little brother.

He seems to have managed a lot in the past week, he rolled Wednesday, blew raspberries today and stays awake longer during the day, I'm loving wearing him and talking to him while doing housework.

He's also started snoring 😂 sounds like his dad so I've got one either side of me now, and tedbert at the end of the bed too, it's wonderful.

The middle of the night feeds/cuddles.

It's hard. Bloody hard!

But when it hits you that she ONLY wants you. You're her everything and it's amazing. All day, other people coo all over her. Cuddle her. Want to see her. At night it's just you two

Obv DH was very involved too all the time. But my DD was EBF so I did the feeds of course.

She's 8 months, the sleeping isn't great at the minute, but I still just find it amazing. I'm literally her whole world. I'm a big deal 😀

Sniffing their heads. I still sniff her head when I put her to bed (she's 2), I'm convinced I can still smell the magical baby smell

When my baby girl smiles at me it honestly makes me feel high, it’s like a drug! It’s this euphoric feeling that washes over you and makes all the tiredness and stress just instantly vanish. I agree with PPs that it just gets better, I have a 2.5 year old as well and yes sometimes it’s like living with a tiny insane person but my God it is so much fun, she cracks me up and amazes me every day.

The powerful rush of love you feel when they simply fall asleep in your arms. When they are brand new they are asleep in your arms about 20 out of 24 hours... But even though the novelty wore off everything else, that oxytocin kicks in every time they do this. Just sniffing their hair is better than any drug I've ever taken. When my youngest of 3 nearly 3 year old falls asleep in my arms every day I still get that newborn protective feeling.

The smell they come out of the womb with. Utterly intoxicating. DH spent hours sniffing the top of DDs head. We didn't bath her for 10 days, he was a bit devastated on day 11 when it was finally gone.

That smell is like what love smells like.

Listen when people tell you to enjoy that time when your baby is tiny because it will fly by. They are so right. Savour every moment.

DS1 was a terrible sleeper and I was a zombie, but I can still remember him waking up in the night and needing me so much - tiny and helpless and yet loud like a siren. Sitting in the dark silence, feeding my baby, it felt as if we were the only people in the world. I loved those times. I can honestly say I would give up my sleep to go back there.

I forgot lots...

The first time the say mummy / mamma
Lying in bed with them watching them sleep and wonder what they dream of
The nape of their necks
Their eyelashes
The squidgy cheeks
When they are being held by someone else and reach out for you.
Their chuckle
Watching them play when they don’t know you’re watching them
The sound they make when they drink or are being fed.

I have three children and I hope the last things I see in my mind or think of before I die will be the second each of them were laid on my chest immediately after giving birth and a part of my heart leapt into theirs and was sealed forever.

Putting them into little warm and cosy babygrows, wrapping into a blanket and cuddling and that feeling of enormous pride in your child.
Hormones are a wonderful thing, look at how every mother in nature nurtures her child and cares for them.

a part of my heart leapt into theirs and was sealed forever

That's exactly how it feels!!

Top baby moments have to be:

On the chest seconds after birth.

Searching for a feed soon after.

Our little hospital stay - I remember sitting in the bath after labour (prepare yourself for that, looks like a horror scene after you leave) and just constantly looking at him, feeling so excited about getting to know him and feeling so in love with him at the same time.

Sleepy cuddles - DS was an upright baby so lots of feeling him nuzzle into our shoulders and necks.

First bath.

Smelling his head.

Putting on a new outfit for the day and being super chuffed at how amazing he looked in each one (biased opinion).

Seeing his wonder at silly sounds and noises, or colours, or mirrors.

That wonderful snuffly noise he made whilst feeding.

Late night feeds - we had the tv on all night so when he woke every 2hours I had something to keep me awake and focus on. It was just me and him sharing a lovely moment.

Co-sleeping - we still do it and occasionally, he let's me snuggle right into him and its amazing. I never slept deeply whilst we did this when he was newborn - could never switch off enough (natural apparently.

Don't let the naysayers get to you. It's truly magical. It took a year or two but we are trying for no.2. Terrible 2s are not so terrible really when you understand their frustrations.
There will be bits you will love and bits you wont enjoy so much... but the overriding feeling is this all consuming love for your new baby.

Very excited for you!

The snuggles, the smell and when their eyes light up at the sight of you. I also love seeing the adoration between dc and DH.

Breastfeeding. We're definitely not having a third, neither of us having any desire for a third at all but when I see a baby breastfeeding it's the only thing that gives me that ache of longing for another baby.

The smiles, squeals and excited let kicks when we collect her from the cot each morning (even if she does call us both Dada!)

Snuggling them when they're tiny and kissing their soft heads.
My 10 week old has the most adorable cry ever so I don't mind being woken in the middle of the night by it.

My 20mo (despite her current behaviour) is hilarious! She falls asleep with her Whinnie the Pooh teddy every night and last night I could hear her chattering over the moniter so I looked at the screen and she was saying "ready, steady, gooooo" and then launching her teddy across the cot 😂

Aw that lovely baby smell, it makes me smile just thinking about it. Plus bath times, feed times, nappy times, baby smiles, sleepy yawns, angel sleep, pushing prams, walks in the park and that absolute feeling that this little person absolutely 100% loves you and you 100% love them back. It's all bloody amazing and I'd do it again a million times over if I could.

That dazed, happy 'milk drunk' face.

God, this thread is making me well up. Stupid perimenopause hormones.
I loved the baby stage. Just loved it. I adore my kids now they're grown up. Of course!
But something about seeing your own baby for the first time. Magic. All those private, special moments between mum and baby in your own little world of the two of you.
I never underestimate how very, very lucky I was to be able to have children and even though it's in the dim and distant past for me now, I will never forget the fierce, instinctive love I had for those tiny creatures who are now my beautiful AC.
OP many congratulations and I wish you every happiness with your LO

This is amazing! I had a party to attend yesterday so I’ve been too busy to check the thread, I’ve definitely come down with a cold so this is cheering me right up! 🥰🥰🥰🥰

As a mother of a 14 yr old and a 12 yr old this thread is reminding me of those lovely times! And it's still lively as they get older. My DS is almost as tall as me now and his cuddles have turned into enormous bear hugs!

Mother of older kids here too. Reading all the comments is making me so nostalgic .
My happiest moments with all three were when they first took to the breast ...the connection was dynamite !

Meeting them.
There are no words. Holding them for the first time, feeding them for the first time. I also think the first time we feel them move in the womb is breathtaking.
Every hug I give my kids, I revisit our first one, no lie.
17 years of hugging my babies. It never ever ever ever ever gets old. My heart swells every time we hug.

Everything
Their skin
The way they move
The noises they make
The way they need to be with you at all times
Tiny limbs
Knowing that as long as they are held, loved and fed, they are fine
Doing it all your own way
Loads of attention
Time off work
Making new friends
Just all of it. Except birth.

Hi OP, don't want to put a downer on this lovely thread but I've made an account specifically to reply because of what you said about horrendous trapped wind pain. I had this at 34 weeks (accompanied by vomiting, swollen ankles and some other bits and pieces that seemed inconsequential at the time), went into the maternity assessment unit to get checked out and left hospital 8 days later with my baby. Turns out I had pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome and needed an emergency C-section. Please phone your midwife/maternity unit for advice if you still feel unwell.

Just wanted to say thanks for this thread :) - I'm nearly 20 weeks and just had a lovely scan done and found out it's a boy, but starting to get a little panicky and worried about actually raising a kid and wondering if I'll even enjoy it (I know I will most of the time though)
I've had many people tell me so many negatives, it's so nice to have a thread of positivity