What you should appreciate before you have your first child

[bumperlicious]

folling on from the 'what you are looking forward to...' thread i thought we should have a 'things you should appreciate before you have your baby thread. i don't want to scare you or be negative i just really want you all to make the most of these things

ok here goes:

-reading the newspapers at the weekend
-being able to hear people on the phone
-typing with both hands & using capitals
-being able to finish a mn post in less than 20 mins

I have more but see above point!

Having a lie in.
Eating at a reasonable time and not 8pm after baby has gone to bed.
Being able to go to the cinema.
Being able to pop for a drink after work.
Reading.
Having clothes that aren't covered in snot or banana.

Time of your own , you can choose how , what and where to spend it or not
Lying in bed , sleep ,having the light on to read, sleep, have sex(!) weekend lies in while leisurely reading the paper and having breakfast
Eating at your chosen pace not stuffing you face in between screams/feeds
Having a pee when out and about without having to manoeuvre pushchair/baby into a cubicle
Not having to plan outings as a military campaign around naps, feeding, accessibility to pram etc
Spontaneous outings to cinema, theatre, library

what everyone already said about sleep/lie-ins....especially in the case of having a night out. The worst thing is not the reduction in nights out, it's the not being able to sleep it off the next day.....

Oh and sitting down without being pushed off the chair to practice jumping.

Jesus this is a depressing thread... Making me really look forward to motherhood

It's well worth it

as for the people who say sex
how many children do you have?

Going on holiday somewhere which doesn't revolve around childcare/convenient and short flights/the ability to buy appropriate food and nappies locally.

OOOh like a nice adventerous trip to the jungles of Belize. Or scuba diving in Thailand. Or trekking in the Himalayas. Or driving across America.

Message withdrawn

ClaphamLauren - there are lots of good bits too, else why would anyone have more than one child once they'd experienced motherhood .

btw, really didn't mean this to be negative. all the wonderful things about having a baby is a whole new thread, i just wish i had appreciated all this before having dd!

Bumperlicious - totally agree, I would definitely have done a few more holidays, fell pregnant first time quicker than expected! Was planning a trip to Costa Rica at the time. Will have to be put back now until about 2025.....

long, leisurey, quiet Sunday mornings in bed with a hot cup of coffee and the newspaper
the ability to be spontaneous
hours long boozy and gossipy lunches with the "girls"
your pre-pregnancy body
the pleasure of solitude
Sex

please also record what's great about being a parent here

This thread had me chuckling, well done ladies Have to say though 90% of the things you have to give up you will get back eventually, in our case took a couple of years, the other 10% never seem quite so important.
And what you gain is worth so so much more than the Sunday lie ins or unscratched furniture. 100% unadulterated adoration from a small, often unclean, untidy, infuriatingly wonderful little person...absolutely priceless
So much so we're having another one in about 3 weeks YIPPEE!!!

Having a wee in peace. I remember DS would always call me/come in/chat through the door etc etc. Now that he's all grown up, it's the cat that comes into the bathroom with me when i have a wee now!

Being "tired" after staying out til 2am

Reading a whole paper (I bought one last Monday... read 2 pages )

Going out of an evening at the spur of the moment, not having to find a babysitter.

Pheebe that's good to know

Going to the cinema
Going to concerts
Going out at all really!
Your figure (boobs & tummy particularly)
Reading
Being able to flush the chain at night time (and not worry about waking baby up!)
Boozy lunches
Getting on OK with Mother-in-Law (all changes when children arrive!)
Sleep
Going to the loo whenever you want to!

Surely you don't have to lose your figure, sex drive etc?? Arrggghhh I'm all scared now! Just called my dp and had a full on panic down the phone at him... Going to read the other thread now to cheer myself up!

I have got my Mum to agree to doing a sleepover every other weekend until midday so even if I don't go out I can catch up on sleep... Think that I'm maybe being crazy unrealistic now!!

The shape of your nether regions.

Trampolining without wetting yourself.

Varicose vein free legs (and other bits)

Hair sprouting all over (whats THAT all about?)

God I sound like quite a catch don't I?

Claphamlauren - please don't panic, you'll be here a year from now chuckling at these things. It does all sound horrendous but you get used to it. Your life does change, however much you don't want it to (how many friends have I had who swore having a baby wouldn't change them, that they would just take it to the pub with them etc etc etc - HA!)But it changes in a good way as well as bad and I guess it all balances out. Whatever happens though, however hard it is, I can guarantee you won't regret it.

What you should appreciate before having your first child is that there will be, in the future, someone who loves you. No matter what you look like, sound like or feel like!

Your baby won't care if your....
roots show
belly wobbles
cookings crap
attendance at NTC workshops was zilch

If you breast feed
if you don't breast feed

If you don't have the most modern super duper pram! so what.

Your baby will love you, he/she may cry/scream/refuse the breast/bottle/ pooh on your new carpet, scream all night, sleep all day.......

But it will be worth it, eventually

BEING ABLE TO CHOOSE WHEN YOU SLEEP

nuff said

the hardest thing I've found is the vast, uninhabited prairie that's opened up in my head, where New York City used to be. IYSWIM.