This past spring we added our fourth baby into our not-so-little crew.
Preparing for her arrival I was pretty confident in my mommy skills. I mean, this wasn’t my first rodeo. I’ve done the newborn thing three times already! She would be a piece of cake. Right?
Wrong.
You see, there are almost 12 years between my oldest and youngest, and almost a seven-year gap between my two youngest.
I was in for a rude awakening.
Thankfully, our baby is truly what people call an easy baby. She eats well, sleeps well, handles sicknesses like a champ, and is very chill and easy going. But even still there have been times these past six months that I have been finding myself asking so many questions, texting friends with younger babies, and when they aren’t available – googling.
10 Things I Googled as a First Time Mom (Again)
- What does newborn, formula-fed poop look like? (and yes, I spent hours comparing my newborn’s poop to poop images online)
- Does my newborn sleep too much?
- Does my newborn sleep enough?
- Will I ever sleep again? (not even kidding)
- Can my baby have Tylenol?
- How much should my baby eat? How often? What type of formula? Should I use nursery water? Should I sanitize her bottles? (Ok, so fine – this was five questions rolled into one)
- What is an acceptable amount of baby throw up?
- Am I crazy if I call the nurse line more than five times a day? (Those poor ladies!)
- Does my baby have a fever even if the temperature says she does not? She feels hot. She must be sick. Right? Right?
- Can my baby wear sunscreen? Can she go into the pool? Will chlorine make her sick? What if she drinks pool water? (see what I did there again?)
Seriously, these were not the only TEN questions I had. I was brimming with them. And now with each new stage she grows into, I can add 100 more questions. I’m not even kidding. And for the record, I consider myself to be a pretty laid back mama. Or at least I used to be!
When my bigs were little, I was the first of my friends to have babies, and Google wasn’t a huge thing yet, so my resources were limited. This time around, I feel like I have SO much support. From friends who have recently been through the baby phase to the doctor’s office that now knows me by name to Google, which is just a keystroke away.
I am thankful for the online community, such as this one, who makes me feel sane even if I haven’t showered in a week, who cheer for me as I re-learn how to be a mommy to a sweet little baby, and who are a wealth of knowledge and encouragement.
If you are a new mama, what have you googled lately? Share with us all!
